C-Hiring Transfer Upheld
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THE Transport Tribunal, in Edinburgh on Tuesday, dismissed a joint appeal by the British Transport Commission and five hauliers against the grant by the Scottish Licensing Authority to Mr. Sam Anderson, Newhouse. Motherwell, of a B licence for 10 vehicles previously operated under C hiring margins.
Mr. Anderson had applied for 15 vehicles on a B licence. The B.T.C., Mr. William Carmichael, Messrs. A, Ramage and Sons. Mr. Roche, Mr. R. Pollock and Mr. William Dobson objected to the grant.
Giving the Tribunal's decision, the president. Mr. N. L. C. Macaskie, Q.C., recalled that Mr. Anderson's original application had been granted only in part. The objections were on the ground that the applicant had not made out a case sufficiently justifying the grant, and that the granting of the application would result in excessive transport facilities.
The appellant's counsel had claimed that an important question was iPvolved, in the case of the four customers who had given evidence at the original hearing, until one had intimated that he would give up the whole of his C-licence discs. Thc others were unwilling to part with all theirs. said Mr. Macaskie.
There was also an important point of principle involved—that C-hiring operation on the part of Mr. Anderson had enabled him to create a new market for himself.
In the Tribunal's view, however, the question of whether the customers parted with their C-hiring discs was quite immaterial, and no real principle arose out of the case. Counsel should have chosen a more solid ground for his objections. The Tribunal rejected the contention that,po prima facie ease had been made out by Mr. Anderson as far as the 10 vehicles, for which the disputed licence had been granted, were concerned.
Rejecting a further ground of appeal, that the B-licensed vehicles be limited to 40 and 50 miles of Newhouse for carrying coal and building materials, respectively, Mr. Macaskie said that to limit them would be quite uneconomical and unreasonable.