Bus Station Charges Decision
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1k LTHOUGH the Minister of Trans port states that future cases cannot be prejudged, he has indicated that he considers charges approaching 11d., per departure, as originally fixed for operators using Colchester bus station, would "usually represent a severe burden" on stage carriage operators. ' • This comment accompanies the Minister's decision in the dispute between Colchester Corporation and the operators who use the recently opened Lewis Gardens municipal bus station in Colchester. The bus station is used principally by the Eastern National Omnibus Co., Ltd.. and a number of independent stage carriage operators, of whom Moore Bros. (Kelvedon). Ltd., are the largest, and, to a lesser extent, by the Eastern Counties Omnibus Co., Ltd. It is also used for express services by George Ewer and Co., Ltd., and other operators.
The Minister has fixed the charges at 4d. per departure for stage carriage services, 6d. per call in transit for express and contract carriage services, and Is. per terminal visit for express and contract carriage services. In each case a further shilling is to be charged for parking for more than two hours.
Among the factors influencing the decision were the evidence that the new bus station was unnecessarily large, the availability of the old site to the Corporation and the amenity value of the new premises to the town. It is suggested that the size and layout of the site could be modified by exchanging the coach parking area with the car park and dispensing with six bus loading bays.