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Cheltenham coach operator loses battle with 'giants' but not unanimously
Page 44
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ASECOND attempt by Cheltenham coach operator Mr. R. S. Marchant to operate an express service from Gloucester and Cheltenham to the Butlin holiday camp at Bognor Regis was rejected by the Western Traffic Commissioners at Chelten
ham on Tuesday.
Giving their decision, the chairman, Mr. J. R. C. Samuel-Gibbon, said two of the three Commissioners regretted that they must again disappoint Mr. Marchant.
Associated Motorways and Southdown Motor Services Ltd., who objected to Mr. Marchant's application, were granted an express licence for three vehicles on Saturdays only during the summer season from Cheltenham coach station to the Butlin camp at Bognor.
Mr. Marchant had objected to their application and Mr. Samuel-Gibbon said that by a majority the Commissioners took the view that it was in the public interest to make the grant. He added. "It is always unattractive when one is faced with a situation where the big man tries to keep the small man out."
Mr. Desmond Keane represented Mr. Marchant. Mr. T. Corpe appeared for Associated Motorways and Southdown Motor Services Ltd.
Mr. Marchant said that he had operated a successful service to Butlin's Skegness camp. for some years but many patrons wanted a change of camp and sought a convenient direct service to the Bognor camp. The alternative service provided by .Associated Motorways was largely for the benefit of "pool" passengers from the North and Midlands; its timing was inconvenient to Cheltenham area passengers who lost some hours of holiday time on arrival and departure days as a result.
Mr. Corpe suggested that Marchant's bid was virtually the same as that refused by the Commissioners last year. It differed only in that picking up points in Swindon were now
specified, though there was no supporting evidence. It was wrong to subsidize uneconomic stage carriage services at the expense of the objectors, who also wished to enjoy the profitable long distance summer work. The timings of Marchant's proposed services, and the cheaper fares, must inevitably lead to substantial abstraction from the objectors' services, and he urged the Commissioners to support the revised services to Bognor which Associated Motorways desired to operate this summer.
Mr. G. A. Webb, manager of Associated Motorways said the backing licence for Southdown's service from Bognor to Cheltenham was granted in chambers by the South Eastern Traffic Commissioners in March, there being no objectors. Many of the vehicles needed for the revised service Associated Motorways wished to operate this year could be made
Two vehicles suspended
M.R. A. H. JOLIFFE, deputy North-Western Licensing Authority, suspended two A-licence. vehicles of Gobowen Transport Ltd., of Liverpool, for three months at a Liverpool hearing last week.
Ministry of Transport inspector Mr. J. D. Robertson said that commodities and goods not mentioned in the licence had been carried by one vehicle to the extent of 70 per cent of its journeying time. The other vehicle had made 14 journeys beyond the 30-mile limit specified in the licence.
The secretary of Gobowen Transport, Mr. Edward Meaney, said that three vehicles had been purchased from a Mr. Howard Hughes, an operator of four vehicles. He retained one for agricultural purposes, but, Mr. Meaney alleged, he continued using it for his customers, thus taking business away from Gobowen.
This business was promised to the company on the takeover, but increasing use of rail transport by the two major companies involved, Evans' Medical Co., and Silver Roadways, Ltd., together with Mr. 'Hughes' services, had forced it to seek other work, even outside the scope of the licence. available by rearranged services.
The Bognor service could only survive because of the cross-fertilization of services arising from the Yorkshire Pool proposals. Marchant's service from the Cheltenham area could abstract about 400 passengers from his organization. If Associated Motorways and Marchant operated between Cheltenham and Bognor it was likely that neither would "make anything of it". Mr. Keane urged the Commissioners to licence both services applied for.
There was no proof that his client's proposed service would damage the objectors at all. The Cheltenham borough council and several representative local witnesses supported Marchant's bid and there was an understandable desire by the Cheltenham area public to patronize on long-distance work a local operator who served them throughout the year. The Commissioners should balance the few clients likely to be abstracted from the objectors' services by the positive benefit to the Cheltenham public that would be derived if they licensed Marchant's conveniently timed services.
A further application by Marchant for an express service from Gloucester to Blackpool was adjourned. Objections from Ribble Motor Services Ltd., Bristol Railways and Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus • Co. Ltd., are lodged.
'One of the worst cases I've heard'
"VEHICLES engaged on heavy demolition site work require a lot of maintenance. They cannot be treated as light parcel vans, which will probably do thousands of miles before they need an overhaul," said North Western Licensing Authority Mr. C. R. Hodgson, in Manchester on Tuesday.
Robinson (Demolition) Ltd., of Blackpool, . was before him at a Section 178 inquiry. Ministry of Transport vehicle examiner Mr. Joseph Twigg said a vehicle he examined had been involved in an accident and been impounded by the police. His inspection revealed that the front brakes were totally inoperative, as was the transmission handbrake. All four rear tyres were worn through to the canvas.
Excessive wear in the steering made turning very stiff, while the nearside kingpin and bush were badly worn and unlubricated. The horn did not work, and the brake master cylinder was so devoid of fluid that depression of the pedal caused it to drain completely.
Mr. D. R. Robinson, general manager, said that the vehicle was purchased last September, and produced accounts to show that it had been "in and out of the garage" ever since. His company had dealt with this garage for seven years, and their instructions were to correct any faults they should find. Mr. Hodgson remarked that they had "not made a very good job of it", to which Mr. Robinson replied that he was now establishing a workshop with a qualified mechanic within the company. Said Mr. Hodgson: "This is one of the worst cases I have heard." He reserved his decision.