GREEN AND PLEASANT BELT
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He's not the only one. After years of peaceful co-existence it appears that West Lancs District Council doesn't want nasty lorries spoiling the Green Belt (see Industry News). It's despatched a crack team of enforcement officers to check that a handful of local produce hauliers have got planning permission. The problem is as old as the green belt itself. Traditional road haulier starts up a business serving the local community, providing jobs for the locals. Along comes a busybody who lives on the 'produce trucks move out of the countryside, but doesn't want to see trucks in the countryside. Even more at risk is the haulier whose once remote yard becomes surrounded by housing estates whose residents fight to close him down.Fortunately most Traffic Commissioners know how to treat those environmental objections. It's ridiculous to expect a haulier who's operated from the same yard for 40 years to have to jump through the hoop of planning permission. The good news is that the West Lancs hauliers have an ally in the shape of Environment Secretary John Gummer. Sure the countryside needs protecting, says John Selwyn, but it also needs businesses that provide jobs. In this week's legal pages we've highlighted the problems of a haulier having to deal with environmental complaints from residents. In this case the row has been resolved by a bit of give and take on both sides. The Green Belt is certainly something to be preserved, but not retrospectively. If local councils don't want trucks in England's green and pleasant land then they'd better start moving the roads.
• This week you'll find some changes in Commercial Motor. We've combined our news headlines and business news sections to create a five-page industry News section. We've introduced a new design to make our pages more attractive and easier to read. We've also extended our industry-wide :coverage with the launch of a monthly Driver's News page, a regular page on truckstops and drivers' views on our roadtest trucks. Whether you're a fleet engineer or owner-driver, ownaccount operator or traditional haulier Commercial Motor remains a unique source of the information you need to run a profitable business.