GLC lorries first
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POST OFFICE and Greater London Council lorries could be among the first to be fitted with London-only "hush kits" to meet the GLC's plans for a three-to-four decibel cut in noise levels, writes ALAN MILLAR.
This emerged in the course of last week's GLC transport committee meeting which approved plans to spend £100,000 on "hush kit" development and £48,000 on a pro-lorry ban publicity campaign. (CM, May 19).
Committee chair Dave Wetzel claimed that the Post Office had agreed to fit noise deadening kits to its entire London lorry fleet, and said that the GLC would convert its own vehicles. A Post Office spokesman told CM that no final decision had yet been taken.
The council plans to fund the fitment of kits to between 50 and 100 lorries in major transport fleets operated in London, and believes that the conversions can be undertaken for £500, or £200 more than the cost of renewing a standard exhaust system.
Senior transport planner Martin Foulkes told committee members that "quite a large number" of operators are prepared to co-operate with the GLC, and the Freight Transport Association acknowledges that major retailers are prepared to convert vehicles.
But the FTA still believes it is wrong that the GLC should become involved in an activity which is the preserve of national government.
Its case is backed by Transport Minister Lynda Chalker, who confirmed that the GLC has no power to set noise limits. The GLC wants to exempt quiet vehicles from its proposed night and weekend lorry ban, a further decision on which is expected next month.
Mr Foulkes dismissed the idea of pursuing a noise limit through amendments to the Construction and Use regulations, saying it was a "sledgehammer to crack a nut" which would take 17 years to work its way through the lorry population in London.
He also denied Conservative opposition claims that a hush kit would cost £1,500 to £2,000 to fit — a figure provided by the FTA. That figure, according to Mr Foulkes, is for a Daf system designed to meet Dutch regulations and is more elaborate.
"I am confident that our figure is right and the FTA's is wrong," he said, Conservative transport spokesman Cyril Taylor dismissed the basis of last week's decision as "a great deal of noise about nothing" and called for more information on the noise reduction measures being planned and on the times and routes of the proposed ban before taking a decision to spend money on this latest stage.