Minister and Agreements
Page 56
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AN agreement between Scarborough Corporation and United Automobile Services, Ltd., played an important part in an appeal by the company against the Northern Traffic Commissioners' action in varying a certain route in the borough, imposing certain restrictions regarding the picking up and setting down of .passengers and making a condition concerning a fare stage.
The official intimation of the result of the appeal states that "neither the Commissioners nor the Minister of Transport is bound by the terms of that agreement, but it is a document to which, in the Minister's opinion, the Commissioners quite rightly attached considerable importance when coming to their decision." The Minister found it extremely difficult to interpret, Sir H. Wynne, who heard the appeal, concluded that, under the agreement, the route concerned must be deemed a scheduled route, and that the agreement must accordingly apply. Whilst he does not dissent from this view, the Minister considers that it involves consequences which could hardly have been intended by the contracting parties. For instance, every U.A.S. route in the borough would be a scheduled route and the company would be unable to operate any vehicle in the borough without the consent of the Corporation.
Furthermore, every U.A.S. vehicle, whether on town, country, long-distarice, or excursion and tour services, would, when within the • borough, be an "operating vehicle" under the agreement, and financial and other provisions would apply to mileage ran by those buses in the Scarborough area.
The Minister considers that the parties intended that the service in question should not be regarded as scheduled and that the provisions concerning scheduled routes should apply only to those wholly within the borough. The appeal fails on two counts, but succeeds as regards picking up and setting down passengers.