237 London depots under shut-down threat
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• Of more than 600 depots belonging to Road Haulage Association members in London, no fewer than 237 were last year under direct threat of closure through the failing-in of leases, compulsory purchase and dispossession by enforcement notice. This is revealed in the August issue of the RHA journal, following a survey by the Association on behalf of the Transportation Policy Group of the Transport Co-ordinating Council for London.
A questionnaire was sent to 1,800 firms, of whom 553 replied supplying information covering 628 depots and 12,620 vehicles. As well as the depots under direct threat of closure, another 47 concerns were in difficulty with rented parking space or completely lacked any depot facilities, while 164 had inadequate premises.
The manager of the policy group has suggested that one way of alleviating the situation might be to explore the possibilities of operating joint depots.
The group's report provides evidence that insufficient account has been taken of the special needs of road transport in terms of land use and costs. It recommends research into the location of haulage depots as part of a policy for transport land use in urban development plans.