Door Half-open for Apiiellant
Page 34
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THE Transport Tribunal, sitting in Edinburgh on Tuesday, rejected an appeal by Mr. H. S. Smith, Duns, against the Scottish Licensing Authority's refusal to grant him a licence for a 4i-ton vehicle to carry goods within 100 miles.
Mr. Hubert Hull, chairman, told the appellant that be had gained in that the Licensing Authority "has halfopened the door to a successful application for a short-term licence."
Mr. Hull said that the Tribunal had reached their decision with some hesitation.
"The situation as it exists today is that as a result of the lapse of Government control, the business of sending stock to centres of disposal and then from those centres has changed very considerably," observed the chairman. "It is one of the difficulties and unfortunate features of this case that A32 although it is the existing state which must be met, there is a singular absence of precise information about when the change took place and the results which necessarily followed."
The Tribunal were left in the dark as to what was the present system, and what were present needs in transporting livestock to disposal points and markets. The only information that they had was that the stock was increasing.
For the appellant, Mr. A. R. Bennett said that there had been an increase in the sales of stock in the district and the appellant had increased his business. Inconvenience had arisen from the inefficiency of sub-contractors.
For the British Transport Commission, Mr. William Weir submitted that no evidence had been presented of inconvenience to customers. British Road Services had 21 vehicles stationed at Kelso and Greenlaw.