•• int permits granted
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I OF the first 50 operators have their exemption 7mit applications processed
• the London lorry ban ve been successful, accord; to the Greater London itincil.
And most have agreed to laply with the GLC's "very )(lest proposals", its transrt committee chair Dave L.tzel told journalists this .ek. Well over 90 per cent Je agreed to fit hush-kits as -t of the deal.
He guaranteed that all ther permit applications revcd by October 1 will be )cessed in time for the i's planned introduction on cember 15.
Fwelve thousand applican forms have been sent t, and nearly 4,000, repreiting around 9,000 vehicles, been returned.
3ut he warned that there 11 be no period of grace for erators who are not !pared. "They can expect be prosecuted. The law is law," he said. Progressive phasing in of the fitting of hush-kits for some operators will bring only progressive benefits for Londoners, he admitted.
He stated: "If an operator comes to us and says his lorry is on its last legs, he's going to replace it soon, and the £400-or-so for the hush-kit will put him out of business, it's quite likely we will say 'fit a new silencer and we will look again in 18 months on the understanding that a new lorry has been bought'."
One operator with depots in London, the Midlands, Leeds and Scotland has been told it has up to a year to fit hush-kits to the Midlands and Leeds vehicles, and up to two years for the ones in Scotland, said Wetzel.
But Wetzel dismissed a letter from the British Retailers' Association, asking for the ban to be put off until after Christmas, as a red herring.
• THE GLC's independent lorry ban appeals advisory committee is taking shape — but the Transport and General Workers' Union's insistence on having a 'TGWU man as the trades union representative is creating problems.
The TGWU, United Road Transport Union, and USDAW, the shop workers' union, have been unable to agree on a single representative.
Both the URTU and USDAW want chairman of USDAW's transport committee Richard McSephney, but the TGWU is insisting on its London regional secretary, John Moore.
As we went to press the. GLC was considering how best to cope with the problem.
And the Labour-controlled Association of London Authorities, and Conservative-run .London Boroughs Association have also disagreed with each other and want separate candidates.
The other four members are: Freight Transport Association and Road haulage Association's joint member Ted Haim; the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders' Dennis Broom; Peter Bibby, from the Campaign Against the Lorry Menace Group is the London residents' representati ve; and Jonathon Roberts from Transport 2000 is the environmental nominee.