hire counties prepare to oppose 40-tonners
Page 5
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
E ENGLISH and Welsh C counties are about to iw their weight behind the wing anti-40 tonne lorry it was revealed last 'k.
he Association of County meils is holding its tire at .cot, but it wilt lobby the ?eminent strongly when results or a joint Departit of Transport and local horities study on the ness of Britain's bridges. omes available around. or July.
he county councillors ex: that the study will show bridges are too weak to
allow 40 tonnes.
"We should wait for the bridge assessment because it will give us inure ammunition," Bedfordshire Alliance councillor Janice Lennon told the ACC planning and transportation committee last week.
All councillors on the committee agreed to go along with Gwent County Council's request to oppose any increase in the present 3g tonne maximum. Strength of feeling ran across party boundaries, although the committee is politically hung, with the Alliance holding the balance of power.
Paul Harford, a Labour member from Cleveland, blamed "unbelievable' damage to carriageways through overloaded, or badly loaded vehicles, -The more you keep upping it (maximum GVW) the more violations you tend to get," he said.
"Somewhere we've got to stop getting bigger and bigger loads on the road," he added.
Another Labour councillor, George Edson' front Tyne and Wear, argued that it was up to the ACC to persuade the Government -before it makes up its mindon 40 tonners. He said the biggest lorries snarl up towns.
The ACC opposition presents another problem to the Freight Transport Association which is pressing for the UK nid Ireland to join the rest of the EEC in its change to a 40 tonne international lorry in the future.
The FTA's efforts have already been met by a 000,000 Friends of the Earth anti-lorry campaign which is aiming to extend the use of public inquiries for all London road building projects (CM, March 15).