Illegal hush-up
Page 5
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Forcing London lorry ban hauliers to fit air brake silencer hush kits is illegal. According to to legal advice, sought by the Freight Transport Association this week, telling hauliers that their London lorry ban permits will not be renewed until they fit hush kits is "unequivocally unlawful".
Condition 11 of the London Boroughs Transport Scheme makes the fitting of hush kits mandatory, and the FTA has decided to fight the principle of the move. In a letter to LBTC acting secretary Graham McGowan, FTA director general Garry Turvey says: "As you know, we have always had the gravest doubts as to the legal enforceability of this condition, quite apart from the question of whether it was reasonable to seek to impose it given the fact that air brake silencers are still thought by some experts to be a possible source of hazard, particularly in winter. We have now obtained the opinion of Counsel who advise quite unequivocally that Condition 11 is unlawful, as it directly contravenes both Article 2A of Directive 71/320/EEC on braking devices and the provisions of Directive 70/157/ EEC as currently amended."
The FTA has told the LBTC that, as an organ of an EEC Member State, it cannot be exempt from Community law. It also points out that local authorities should be careful not to act "ultra vires", or beyond the scope of their powers, as it clearly believes the LBTC has done in imposing hush kits.
Turvey has asked the LBTC to immediately discontinue Condition 11 and to grant longterm lorry-ban permits to hauliers waiting for Condition 11 appeals to come up.
In his letter he hopes the LBTC "will not wish to put all parties to the trouble and expense of proceeding with appeals to which there can only be one outcome, namely the granting of a permit without further conditions."