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Mid-Wales struggles as Llandrindod closes
Page 6
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CM COVER STORY
HAULIERS in mid-Wales are struggling to adapt to life following the closure of the Llandrindod Wells testing station on 25 September.
Operators in the region remain unconvinced that viable alternatives have been put in place for vehicle testing. Michael Gough, partner at local haulier AE Gough & Sons, says: If VOSA and the government continue to treat our industry in this way, telling us that the closures are for our benefit and then supplying us with alternative testing stations up to 60 miles away, they will lose all the trust we need to have in them, and [they] will just alienate a relationship that has taken years to huild up."
Meanwhile, Andy Boyle, Road Haulage Association chairman and managing director at Herefordshire-based ABE (Ledbury). says: "We sympathise with hauliers that have traditionally used the Llandrindod Wells site, and are concerned they will now flood Hereford with requests, making it more difficult for the likes of us to secure slots."
VOSA says the nearest stations at Aberystwyth. Hereford and Shrewsbury all have the capacity to take additional bookings.
Newton-based garage Richard Yorke is scheduled to open as a Designated Premises (DP) for one day a week next month.
Owner Richard Yorke says: "All we can charge customers is a lane fee, while VOSA takes the test fee, so we don't expect to make mass profit. We already had 75% of the facili
ties in place, but there is no way operators can afford to start a DP from scratch. I won't be switching to [become] an Authorised Testing Facility (ATE) because this will give me less control, and more to VOSA."
• The Unite, Prospect, and Public and Commercial Services trades unions are backing our Stop the VOSA Closures campaign.
Collectively known as the VOSA Trade Union Side (TUS), it says its main objective is to ensure that alternative testing facilities (ATEs) are seen as supplements to VOSA-run test stations rather than replacements.
Kevin Warden, VOSA TUS secretary, says: -We're not opposed to change, but we fear it is becoming an estate disposal exercise rather than a service transformation programme."