Special Sitting to Hear Ratepayer
Page 43
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BECAUSE a ratepayer sent a letter to the Northern Traffic Commissioners objecting to the route of a new service proposed by Sunderland Transport Department, an application, which would normally have been granted without a Court sitting, was given a special hearing at Newcastle upon Tyne, last week. The department was granted a short-term
licence. •
For the department, Mr. D. Snow said that the application concerned a new .Service between the town cetitre and the .High Barnes Estate, which they proposed to operate with one-man buses. The 'application had first been published on May 18, but subsequently the department had decided to ask for a route variation. In the meantime he understood , that the Commissioners had received an individual objection from a • Mr. W. Hall, who lived on the route of the proposed service. Mr. Hall was away on holiday and could not be present at the hearing.
"Jig-saw . Puzzle"
. The purpose of the proceedings, was to ask for a. short-term licence, said Mr. Snow. • .The department had been modifying. their routes and the "last piece in the jig-saw puzzle" was represented by the present application. The existing services ; which had been running since 1938, terminated in a large catchmentarea. Residents beyond the terminal points • had complained that they had difficulty in getting on buses. The service would relieve this situation.
They proposed to operate a 20-minute service of one-man buses, but it would be in' the, nature of an experiment. They Would like to give it a trial to see how it fulfilled the needs of the public.
Referring • to the letter of objection., . Mr.. J. A; T. Hanlon, chairman, said that Mr. Hall had raised two important 'matters. He had complained that the roads, which were only 16 ft. wide, with right-angled turns, were totally unsuited for buses, and also that there was no need for the service at all.
Mr. Hanlon said that the Commissioners did not think it right to proceed with the application without hearing Mr. Hall, but they were prepared to hear the department's plans.
Mr. F. Morton, general manager, said that there were over 1,000 people living in the estate. The new route, which had been well publicized, had produced only one household objection. The whole revised system would be jeopardized if the proposals were not accepted. The police had no complaints.
• Mr. Hanlon said that the proper way to deal with the matter was to grant a short-term licence for eight weeks, or until such time as the application and the objection could be heard and examined. By that time the public and the undertaking would have had an opportunity of seeing how the service was working.