HALIFAX BUS PROPOSALS.
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A Deputation Waits on the West Riding County Council Concerning an Application for Running Powers.
flHJi parliamentary committee of the West Riding County'. Council has recently considered the application -of the Halifax Corporation for consent to bus running on the following routes :— Halifax to Rochdale; Halifax to Oldham ; Halifax to Keighley; and Halifax to Bradford end Leeds
A sub-committee investigated the matter and recommended that the consent of the county council be refused. Since that recommendation was made the Halifax Corporation asked that the committee should receive a deputation on the subject, and in deference to this request the committee deferred consideration of the sub-committee's recommendation until after the members forming th3 deputation had stated their VieWS.
The chairman of the committee and the chairman of the highways committee, together with the clerk and the county surveyor, met the deputation (Alderman Hey, the town clerk and the tramways manager) at the County Hall, and have reported the result of the interview.
The 'committee is informed that the Minister of Transport (whose consent is also required) has intimated to the corporation that he was not satisfied that a sufficient ease had been made out to justify the giving of his consent, and that it was accordingly withheld.
It would appear, from discussions which took place between several Yorkshire and Lancashire corporations some time ago, that the ultimate intention is to enter into agreements whereby the corporations_ (including those of Oldham, Rochdale and Halifax) may run bus services between those towns, notwithstanding thatParliament decided that the corporations of Oldham and Rochdale should not run hoses beyond five miles from the boroughs.
After intimating to the corporation's representatives that in seeking to set up a transport undertaking of the kind now indicated, the corporation was going far beyond its proper and normal functions as a municipal authority, the county representatives made it clear that the county authority was not in any case prepared to give consent, without proper and reasonable protection being afforded to county ratepayers who desired to run bus services from the county areas into Halifax. It was therefore suggested that the Halifax Corporation should give an undertaking to secure a mutual exchange of facilities, i.e., for the running of buses in and out of Halifax by county ratepayers, in return for the consent of the county council to the running of the corporation buses into the administrative county, all applications for licences to ply for hire within the borough being properly and judicially determined, and not decided by considerations directed to secure a monopoly for the corporation, or similar preferential advantages.
The representatives comprising the deputation asserted that they had no desire to obtain any monopoly and said the corporation was prepared to observe such conditions with regard to buses proposing to enter Halifax from the county, area as it had already accepted in reference to a number of undertakings now running into the borough.
These conditions included : (1) All fares to. be of such amount as will protect the Halifax tramway undertaking ; (2) regular services throughout the day to be maintained; (3) standing places to be approved ; (4) all necessary consents of authorities to be obtained and vouched for. The representatives of the county asked whether the deputation would agree to recommend the corporation to enter into a written undertaking to this effect, but it is stated that this request the deputation refused to agree to.
In view of the attitude of the corporation's representatives on this part of the subject, other aspects of the application were not gone into, and, in the absence of any proper protection of county interests, the committee definitely refused to give consent.