Yeowart can stay pnasspsoield
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UMBRIA County Council has failed to persuade the Divisional suns that former Transport Secretary Norman Fowler acted unwfully in opening bus services in Whitehaven to competition (CM, lay 22).
Cumbria wanted the court to terturn the decision to grant aowarts Coaches a licence to in in competition with Cumber-, nd Motor Services. The court' as reminded that both the orthern Traffic Commissioners Id the Department of Transport Spector considered that Yeoart's service was against the Jblic interest.
Mr Fowler said that Cumbernd had exaggerated claims :out the threat to its rural serces and said he was satisfied at other operators could prode them. It was argued on his :half that he was not bound by e view of either the commisoners or the inspector.
Giving judgment last week, Mr istice Woolf said it was diffiilt to find any material to ippon the allegation that Mr mler had imposed a particular )licy, regardless of the fact.
He said he had no doubt that e Transport Secretary was enled to differ from the findings his inspector, otherwise it puld be the inspector's deck )ri and not the Transport :cretary's.
He added that he had no hesidon in saying that there was aterial evidence on which the ransport Secretary could iasonably say that he was not rtisfied, though the Commisoners and the inspector had 3en satisfied.
However, Mr Justice Woolf said Mr Fowler's decision letter was singularly bereft of positive findings or reasoning and it seemed unsatisfactory if the Transport Secretary was to content himself with merely repeating a series of matters about which he was not satisfied.
In spite of this Mr Justice Woolf did not consider it was possible to interfere with the decision merely on the basis of the inadequacy of the reisoning. National Bus found some comfort for itself in the judgment, saying that the traffic commissioners have "a duty to have a proper regard for the public interest and to explain carefully their decisions in specific cases on their particular merits".
An NBC spokesman added that subsidiaries would continue to stress the desirability of operating a network of bus services with cross-subsidisation between commercially attractive and socially-desirable services.