London inquiry in public
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THE GREATER London Council's inquiry into the possibilities of large-scale restrictions on the movement of heavy lorries in the capital will last about six months, and the hearings will be in public.
GLC transport committee chair Dave Wetzel announced last week that the inquiry will, as promised before the GLC elections last month, be chaired by an independent lawyer or academic.
The chairman will be assisted by representatives of the environmental groups, trades unions both involved in and not involved in road haulage, the haulage industry, a London chain store, and a professional planning or transport expert.
He added that the terms of reference for the inquiry will include "an examination of the social, economic, and environmental effects of banning lorries".
Mr Wetzel said the inquiry will be asked to publish an interim report on the feasibility of night and weekend bans, and added: "We are not asking the inquiry to make any decisions on behalf of the GLC."
Both the Road Haulage Association and Freight Transport Association have indicated that they will give evidence to the inquiry, but after the recent trekking to Armitage Inquiry hearings, and to earlier investigations of London problems, there is a distinct feeling of deja vu at both camps.
And an R H A spokesman added his Association's concern that public hearings could degenerate into the anarchy which prevails at public inquiries, and said he feared RHA representatives might find themselves shouted down or booed by angry members of the public.