Hands off lorry call
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NE SHOULD not be too obsessed about lorries and the apparent misance they cause, Greater London Council assistant chief 3Ianner (transport) Martin Foulkes said last week.
He told an Association of Illetropolitan Authorities conferince: "We shouldn't see the orry as something which must Pe exterminated." And he went Pri. to say that children, animals, 3nd people's neighbours come nigh on lists of annoyances, and no one is suggesting that they 3hould be banned.
Mr Foulkes referred to recent predictions of a decline in tonne-nileage, and said that this was aven more likely in a period of -ecession, with a rapid loss of manufacturing industry and the nigh probability of there being a drastic thinning out of retail putlets.
He said it was wrong to expect that consumption of goods will rise in line with increased living standards. "Much further improvement in living standards will be in increased leisure and services, both of which have low freight generation," he added.
It is possible, according to Mr Foulkes, that industry will opt for reduced standards of freight service if this saves money.
He said: "This will in turn result in more consolidation and generally larger loads, and will increase the pressure to use larger vehicles, and water and rail. In Europe, such a shift has developed."
Mr Foulkes predicted a growth in the use of railways for freight traffic, despite the recent effects which the recession has had on rail freight, and pointed to a "continuing modest flow" of Section 8 grants for private sidings.
He concluded by putting forward a six-point plan for the future, saying that, if heavy lorries are to be accepted, they must form part of a tighter environmental package.
The 80dB(A) maximum lorry noise level should be set for new vehicles delivered after 1987, he said, with the possibility of an interim step more substantial than the present Government plans.
He wants a steady expansion of lorry routeing and local bans, but only as suitable roads are built, and calls for an adequate supply of road depot and warehousing sites to be served by adequate roads.
There should be more small haulier depots and freight complexes along the lines of those planned by the GLC, but in all conurbations, and port activity should be expanded in specialised services with associated industrial and commercial development.
Mr Foulkes also wants an adequate supply of rail depots which are accepted by both operators and the planning authority, ready to accommodate new traffics as they arise.