NEW EFFORTS TO SETTLE " 20 " LIMIT DIFFERENCES
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By a Special Correspondent
SERIOUS negotiations between the Road Haulage .Association, British Road Services,the Ministry of Transport and the unions on the 20 m.p.h. speed limit for heavy goods vehicles have been reopened. The discussions are still on a fairly informal plane. and I understand that there is no hope of immediate agreement.
No Fare Protection for U.A.S.
DIRECTING the Northern Licensing Authority to allow Mr. Albert Cadman to run buses between Langley Moor and Low Spennymoor trading estate, the Minister of Transport has stated that he sees no justification for fare protection for United Automobile Services, •Ltd.
Mr. Cadman appealed against the Authority's refusal of a licence. The recommendations of Sir Maurice Holmes, the inspector, have been accepted by the Minister.
Past grants to the:appellant could not be regarded as favours, and the. need to protect an operator from abstraction • of traffic was not a factor to override others, says the Minister. An Authority' could properly take. into account the cumulative effect of licensing a number of similar services, but it remained his duty to do this afresh in the light Of each application.
"It would prejudge the, merits of future applications to lay down that no application having a certain consequence would be acceptable," the Minister • states.
Sir Maurice heard the appeal in Newcastle upon Tyne on February I, The Minister has made no order as to costs in his decision, which was published last week.
EARLY HOLIDAY REDUCED TRAFFIC THE early Whitsun holiday kept down all types of traffic using Victoria Coach Station, London, during last week-end, although all the services were well patronized, particularly on Sunday and Monday.
On Thursday, the new arrival area was used for the first time, the extension to the departure area going into service on Saturday. Both worked well and helped considerably in reducing queuing and congestion.
FUTURE OF COUNCIL'S BUSES AFTER a meeting of Grimsby and CIeethorpes representatives at which the future of the two towns' transport undertakings was discussed, the following statement was issued: "A joint report was adopted for submission, to the town councils. Details of this will be made public after consideration by the respective transport committees."
028 After negotiations by the -National Joint Industrial Council broke down a year ago there were, no further approaches on the subject until recently, Then Mr. Harold Watkinson, Minister of transport, took a lead in encouraging fresh overtures.
Since the R.H.A. annual luncheon on May 8. ,when Mr. Watkinson emphasized again his determination not to raise the limit to 30 m.p.h. until ail sides had reached agreement, the tempo of discussions has quickened.
At some meetings all four •partiesthe R.H.A., B.R.S., the unions and the Ministry-have .b e e n represented. Others have been less comprehensive. Tentative plans were made to hold further conversations between the R.H.A. and the unions towards the end of this week.
I understand that there is a fair measure of common ground between the R.H.A. and }I.R.S., although being autonomous, B.R.S. can more readily reach agreement than the R.H.A., who cannot positively enforce any settlement that may be negotiated, • Some haulage interests would concede the workers' claims, but the main difficulty is to find a formula that would guarantee employees against loss of earnings through completing their Work more quickly and give them a share in any increased productivity without upsetting the whole wages structure of the industry.
Progress has been made with basic principles, but much has stilt to be done before agreement can be reached.
BULK MILK COLLECTION EXTENDED
COLLECTTOIS. of milk in bulk from farms has been extended in Scotland. Seven farms in the Drummore district have installed Gascoigne cooling and Frigidaire storage. tanks, and milk is collected for the creameries, of the Scottish Milk Marketing .Board at Sandhead and Stranraer.
The Board have successfully operated a similar scheme in Kirkcudbrightshire. and indicated that they would support any promoted by .milk producers.
CWMBRAN TO RUN OWN BUSES? THE possibility of operating a muni1 cipal bus service is being examined by Cwmbran Urban District Council. When the New Town is fully developed, the population will have risen from 18.000 to 30,000.
A feature of the centre of the town is that vehicular traffic will be banned from the shopping streets. These will be for pedestrians only and covered.