ECURITY lorry park is opening for business in Poole, Dorset,
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on iday, June 13, on a site adjacent to the roll-on/off terminal rated by the Harbour Commissioners and used exclusively by :kline Ferries, writes JOHN DURANT.
re park will be run by Roads Parks, a subsidiary of ds, the trading company set n 1978 to co-ordinate return ls and tb buy in bulk for the efit of members, who must )ng to the Road Haulage Asiation.
he site is leased by Seeatic, a ersified holding company, n Dorset County Council. The
park will be staffed by members of the Royal British Legion Attendants Company (RBLAC).
David Allen, managing director of Roads, told CM that largely because of reduced loads available owing to the recession the company now concentrates on quantity buying and discounts.
A major breakthrough had been achieved two years ago with an agreement with Shell for duel supply. Roads now has bunkering points at Penrith, Cumbria; Trafford Park, Manchester; Hove, Sussex; Southampton, Hants; Kilsby near Rugby; Newport, Gwent; Aberford, near Leeds; Chelmsford, Essex; and now at F. English (Commercial), at 2, Fleets Industrial Estate, Poole.
Mr Allen, who paid tribute to the far-sighted Wells Report which first suggested that the RHA should develop commercial services, said that when the Armitage Report on Lorries, People and the Environment was published in 1980, the company had seen the potential for lorry parking. Now it had joined with others, RBLAC and Seeatic, to provide security services.
John Fry, chief executive of RBLAC, said his organisation had been involved with security parks since one at Preston (since closed because of new developments) opened in 1971. It now mans the London Borough of Greenwich 100-vehicle security park near the Blackwell Tunnel.
He foresaw a busy future for a security hgv park at Poole — as does David Selby, managing director of Seeatic, who said that 70,000 lorries a year pass through the port. Next year repair facilities will be provided and in the long run a hotel. "We aim to link with Roads to build up the service," he said. The new park will charge around £3.50 for a 3pm/8am stay with refrigeration points provided.
Poole has a night parking ban on lorries in the town. Drivers coming off Truckline Ferries — many from France and Spain — often have more time on their hands than their journeys take before they are due at their UK destinations. However, it is expected that UK domestic traffic will also use this new security park.