MORECAMBE COACH-STANDS DISPUTE.
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The Ministry of Transport Conducts An Inquiry into a Protest Made by Motor Coach Owners.
TIIE refusal of the Morecambe Corporation to allow motor coaches to ply for hire from promenade stands led to the various owners concerned lodging an appeal with the Ministry of Trans port. At the inquiry, held on April 24th, Mr. P. Butlin, for the motor coach proprietors, stated that the council decided, by ten votes to eight, not to permit motor coaches to stand on the promenade. The stands on the west end of the promenade weresituated where the majority of people congregated and the alternative accommodation was out of the way at the other end of the town.
The moving of the coach-standage facilities from the promenade would mean great loss and, in many cases, ruin to the owners. Many visitors came to Morecambe with the idea of going for drives, continued Mr. Butlin, and they would not walk nearly a Mile to the new stands. Incidentally, a petition had been signed by 2,500 people protesting against the corporation's decision. He said that the corporation alleged that the coaches caused congestion, but not a single complaint had been made during the '16 years in which coaches had stood on the promenade.
The town clerk of Morecambe contended that the Ministry had not the power to compel the council to make stands for the coach owners. The stands on the promenade were not authorized by law and had not been approved by the Ministry ; in fact, legally speaking, they were not -stands at all, and actually the coach proprietors had no right to Stand their eekieles there. He stated that owners had not tried to find other accommodation for this purpose for their vehicles.