70 lorry men back couple's fight for A6 garage access
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ASECOND access to an A6 garage and filling station at the north end of Penrith, Cumberland, which had the support of nearly 70 lorry drivers was the subject of a Ministry of Housing and Local Government public inquiry at Penrith last week.
The inquiry, held by Ministry inspector Mr. B. B. Whittacker, was into the appeal by Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Wilkinson, owners of the Townhead Garage, Scotland Road, Penrith, with Mrs. Wilkinson's brother, Mr. T. I. Kidd, against the refusal of planning permission for a new vehicular access to the property from Drovers Lane at the rear.
Penrith Urban Council, in refusing permission, had maintained that the new access would increase traffic congestion in a narrow part of Drovers Lane.
The appellants' solicitor, Miss Mary Reed, submitted lists of signatures supporting the appeal, including 12 names on a list from a firm of contract customers, D. and D. Transport, Dundee.
Mrs. Wilkinson said that they bought the garage in 1960 and by 1964 the business increased ninefold. Now much of their trade came from contract customers. Customers' lorries stopped for fuel on their way South and North. There were 28 customers with a total of 459 vehicles, all having to enter and leave by the Scotland Road entrance on the busy main A6 road. With a second access, vehicles could enter by one and leave by another. The garage gave 24hour, seven-day week service.
Mrs. Wilkinson was asked by the inspector if she expected her contracts with transport customers to continue if a service station was established on the motorway through the district. She replied that she thought service stations were not "terribly keen" on keeping storage diesel. She also understood that lorries did not refuel at motorway filling stations if one of their own storage points was within reach.
Giving evidence for the local authority, Mr. R. Pottinger, assistant Cumberland county planning officer, referred to the motorway by-pass at present being constructed round Penrith and it was expected to take 65 per cent of A6 traffic—but the remaining traffic was expected to increase by 100 per cent in ten years so that in the long term the volume of traffic past the
FREIGHTLINER START
PRELIMINARY site work began this week on BR's £250,000 Freightliner terminal at Millbrook, Southampton, due to be operative by December. There will be a daily service between Southampton and London, and Southampton and Birmingham, using three 1,100 ft. long sidings.
Townhead Garage would be slightly more than at present.
He added that by reason of its situation and the heavy traffic on the A6 which passed the garage, it was clear that only Southbound vehicles on the A6 would find it convenient to use. It was not the intention of the urban council or the highway author
ity to encourage the use of the station by vehicles which could be better served by filling stations elsewhere. There were several other A6 filling stations in the area which provided facilities on both sides of the road.
The site was afterwards visited by the inspector who will make his report to the Minister.