Cranleigh forced in front of TC by county council
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chris.tindall@rbi.co.uk CRANLEIGH FREIGHT Services says its future stability could be in “severe jeopardy” if objections over a licence renewal from Surrey County Council (SCC) place more restrictions on it.
The company must now appear before the Trafic Commissioner (TC) at a public inquiry on 21 February to try and renew its licence for 70 vehicles and 70 trailers after protracted negotiations with the council broke down.
SCC says it has received “a number of complaints from local residents” about vehicle movements on Sundays and during the night at the irm’s Dunsfold Park site in Cranleigh. As a result, SCC says it has asked the TC to review the licence conditions.
But the company says it is already required to operate in accordance with agreed conditions placed on all businesses on Dunsfold Park, and that SCC’s stance is putting at risk up to 150 jobs.
A Cranleigh Freight Service’s spokeswoman says the council is wasting money at a time when local authorities are under severe inancial constraints.
“The company is so concerned at [SCC’s] unreasonable approach that they have advised the county council that it will seek inancial compensation if this unnecessary action affects its business,” she says.
“With renewal of our licence, which operates successfully and well, we can ensure the company’s future stability. Further restrictions could put that in severe jeopardy.
“After all, these matters have already been fully tested at a public inquiry (PI) instigated by the local council; why then is SCC obsessed with repeating this process? There can be no doubt that revisiting these matters by way of another PI is an unnecessary waste of ours, and public money which is frankly, absurd.” An SCC spokeswoman says it was given an opportunity by the TC to resolve the situation with Cranleigh, “but they haven’t budged on anything and they have made additional demands” , she adds.
“Although supporting local businesses is important to us, as a responsible county council we cannot allow this to ride roughshod over the wellbeing and quality of life of our residents.” ● This is not the irst time Cranleigh Freight Services has battled over its site at Dunsfold Park. Back in 2007 it applied, but failed, to increase its O-licence to 100 vehicles from 70 after Waverley Borough Council objected to noise.