County council loses fence-height appeal
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THE HEIGHT OF a fence at the exit to a transport yard was central to an appeal made to the Transport Tribunal by Surrey County Council.
The council unsuccessfully appealed against the granting of a new operating centre at Tadworth. Surrey for two vehicles to Ronald Ryback-Rajewski, trading as Blacktrak Surfacing Contractors, conditional on the height of a fence being reduced. The appeal
was dismissed by the "transport Tribunal.
South-Eastern & Metropolitan Deputy Traffic Commissioner Sarah Bell had made the granting conditional on receiving written evidence that all three sides of the hoarded fence adjacent to the exit of the site be reduced by (16 metres and maintained at that height or lower. This work has yet to he carried out.
The DTC made her decision
after being satisfied that the driver of a 7.5-tonne vehicle could not see over the fence to observe oncoming traffic or pedestrians when leaving the site.
Before the Tribunal, Nancy ElShatoury-, for the council, argued that the application should not have been granted before reduction to the fence had been carried out. She maintained that a condition could not be properly imposed if it required work to be carried out by someone other than the operator, or on land not under his control.
The Tribunal said it did not agree that the condition relating to the fence reduction was imposing a condition on the fence owners. The wording of the condition prevented Ryback-Rajewski from using the site until the reduction had been carried out to the DTC's satisfaction. No obligation was placed on anyone other than Ryback-Rajewski, the Tribunal added. If the fence owner refused to agree to the reduction, it was the haulier who could not comply with the condition.