Clearing the streets of lorries
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Transport operators in London whose vehicles stand in the streets at night had best start looking for convenient off-street space for them. The GLC and the London boroughs clearly mean business in imposing a night ban on lorry parking over 60 square miles in the next two years. It is almost inevitable that the GLC will take up the option of widening the ban to cover the whole of Greater London within a few years and equally inevitable that many other cities and towns will follow London's lead.
There are few confrontations between the lorry and the public which arouse stronger feelings than the parking of goods vehicles in residential streets even in areas which a few years ago would have accepted them as part of the scene. It is the point at which road transport and the environment really collide. What other environmental aspect would rouse an MP to invite thieves into his constituency to remove streetparked trailers, as the Member for Shoreditch and Finsbury did n the Commons last week?
While deploring such an irresponsible solution, it is difficult to disagree with the main argument. There is no valid reason why some operators should use the streets as a free park while their competitors provide proper facilities. And the street parkers are not only benefiting at the expense of their rivals; they are creating a nuisance and getting road transport as a whole a bad name.
Ideally the vehicles should be parked in the firm's own depot or yard, but it is not entirely the operator's fault that this cannot always be achieved. Local authorities have been as reluctant to give planning permission for haulage premises as they are now eager to introduce their street ban. They cannot have it both ways: they must ensure that space is available for displaced lorries. The operator associations must see that the London boroughs adhere to their chairman's promise that action should include the provision of "'a sensible alternative place for these lorries to park-.