David Holmes, managing director of Holmes of Heathrow, says that
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lorry ban enforcement in London Is a farce—and it's time to fight back.
• To sound off about a road transport issue write to Patric Cunnane (patritcunnane4 rbi.co.uk) or fax your views (up to 600 words) to tacky Clarke on 020 8652 8912.
d I'm sure most people reading this are hauliers. Does
that make them criminals? Most readers will have children or grandchildren and, like anybody else, will worry about their future. Some will be environmentalists—perhaps members of an organisation like Greenpeace or Amnesty. Some are school governors; some are magistrates. Why shouldn't they be? And why should they be treated like criminals? Perhaps you live in London or another city? Probably, like me, you have occasionally been disturbed by the sound of a passing lorry at night or in the early morning. Only a fool would believe a lorry operator sleeps more soundly than someone of a different occupation. Quite the opposite, in fact—with the current poor rates and high fuel taxes, I suspect only farmers sleep more lightly. Years ago, before the M25 existed, London's politicians (no doubt with one eye on being re-elected) decided to listen to residents' complaints about noise and ban lorries from most roads at night. Their problem was that a large number of lorries needed to be there serving the capital's needs. So, in a typical political fudge, they gave us all exemptions.
Almost everyone could get a permit. The net result: a bureaucratic nonsense. We carried on almost regardless. We filled in the forms, studied the poor maps they provided, displayed the permits and generally kept our fingers crossed—until one day, in my case, a summons arrived.
This alleged that I had, on five consecutive nights ( pity the poor, cold anorak-clad lorry spotter!) used a 100m section of road to access a Heathrow industrial estate without a valid permit. We had used this road at night for years—we still do. It provides access to a warehouse handling cargo for a major airline.
But, for that week, that specific lorry didn't have a valid permit. We had slipped up. However, the road didn't actually have a sign warning it was a prohibited road, so I fought back.
In court, the London Boroughs Transport Scheme officials produced a map (A4-sized) as evidence that I knew I was using a prohibited road. The LBTS law states that "the authority may erect warning signs". Note the word is "may", not "must". You can even instruct a driver not to use a prohibited road, dismiss him for failing to obey your instruction, call him as a witness and still be convicted as the vehicle "user".
Sympathetic magistrates fined me just £10. A triumph for the LBTS? Not a single resident benefited because we didn't pass a single house. I should have appealed but I was put off by the high cost. Commercial Motor recently reported that one major logistics firm has "hundreds" of LBTS convictions which now threaten its Operator's Licence.
I urge this firm to fight. It must fight. This bad law is an injustice. The LBTS has got away with it for years, presumably only because our trade associations have failed to win the argument, or pay for an appeal. The small army of LBTS bureaucrats are employed at taxpayers' expense and, presumably, any taxpayer looking at their conviction rate must assume that they are doing a good job. They don't realise the convictions rarely give anyone a better night's sleep.
And to add greater insult to injury, the new Greater London Authority is producing a draft London Transport Plan. After years of fining us for using London's roads at night, they might yet ban us during the day, too.
Enough is enough. We must all put our case. Write to your MP— an election, after all, is imminent and they want your vote. There can be no better time to apply the pressure. Get a letter off to your trade association too, and tell them you want an end to this nonsense. I simply cannot believe we have let them get away with this for so long. Those of you who have just paid up in the past, be warned: ignorance and apathy could cost you your Operator's Licence.