Report may be late
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THE INQUIRY may not meet the Greater London Council, chairman last week's sessions, but he said it possible by then.
"The panel has looked at both sides of the lorry argument in great detail," said Mr Wood. "Although at first we seemed to be examining more pro-road firms and companies than antigroups, I feel we have redressed the balance and have seen many environmental groups over the last few weeks," he continued.
"The oral evidence has been helpful and this was due partly to the ability of the panel in getting a diversified field of study," Mr Wood said. He also thanked everyone who had submitted evidence, both written and oral. "The contributors have given their time freely and have approached the matter in a serious way," Mr Wood stressed.
At the end of the last day of evidence several panel members still had the enthusiasm to visit Archway Road and look at the serious lorry problems that residents were facing. In the pouring rain, they saw and heard the traffic thundering past the houses and quickly realised that it was almost impossible to hold a coherent conversation above the noise of general traffic.
Although the inquiry has now officially stopped receiving evidence, the Department of Transport will be seeing the panel at a date yet to be fixed. In the meantime, the panel has earned the industry's praise for its performance to date. A Road Haulage Association spokesman told CM that he was particularly impressed by Mr Wood's "incisive" and "persistent" questioning.
Freight Transport Association president Len Payne, speaking earlier this week, said: "London cannot function without lorries. The inquiry could do trade and industry a great service if it ended 10 years of uncertainty by confirming this necessity."