FROM THE OFFICE OF
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John Martin RHA Policy Manager for Northern Ireland.
GOODS VEHICLE OPERATING CENTRES - RHA SUCCESSFULLY CHALLENGES A DEPARTMENTAL DECISION In support of a longstanding established road haulage business within NI the RHA has successfully challenged the Department of Infrastructure’s refusal to grant a goods vehicle operator’s variation application and to remove a threat to require the operator to use a new operating centre. The operator had an operator’s licence with an authorisation for 7 units and 2 trailers and applied to increase their trailer authorisation to 7. The operator had no history of non-compliance and the business had been established at the same operating centre for well over 30 years with no issues. The variation application was considered straight forward with no anticipated issues or concerns. The Department received no valid objections or representations in regard to the application, however they decided to undertake an operating centre site assessment to determine if it was suitable for the proposed increase in the number of trailers. After the site assessment the Department wrote to the operator as set out below: “I refer to your application to vary the company’s operator’s licence and to concerns regarding the suitability of the operating centre. An assessment of the operating centre at *********** ******** by the DVA found the site to be unsuitable. A number of reasons were given including: safety concerns regarding vehicles entering/exiting the site at the junction with the public highway, concerns regarding manoeuvrability between the upper and lower parking areas, and safety concerns regarding the use of the shared right of way through the site and its lack of passing places. The Department has therefore refused the application under the provisions of Section 12(5)
of the 2010 Act as applied by Section 16(6)(c) given that the requirements of Section 12C (5) have not been met (the operating centre must be suitable for use). You have a statutory right of appeal against this decision, which must be lodged with the Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber), Tribunal Hearing Centre, 2nd Floor, Royal Courts of Justice, Belfast, BT1 3JF within one month from the date of this letter. An explanatory guidance note on lodging appeals can be obtained from the Upper Tribunal and you may wish to seek legal advice. You are advised that the licence holder can lawfully only operate within the existing terms and conditions of the licence until you either submit a fresh variation application which is granted by the Department, or you lodge an appeal to the Upper Tribunal which succeeds in overturning the decision to refuse this application. The Department can review an operator’s operating centre at five-yearly intervals. The next opportunity for the Department to review your operating centre will be 25 January 2023. Given the concerns over the suitability of the operating centre you should expect that a review will be held. You may therefore wish to give consideration to nominating an alternative more suitable operating centre.” (I have bolded some of the Department’s text) To put this into context an “operating centre” is the base or
centre at which a goods vehicle is normally kept. The operating centre in question has been in use for over 30 years with the operator’s vehicles being normally kept there when not in use with no material change to the operating centre layout, no additional houses have been erected on the laneway or no changes have been made to the access/egress point onto the public road or changes in speed limits on the road.
Shock & Disappointment The operator in question was disappointed not to be granted the additional authorisation given the premises had more than sufficient capacity, however the shock at being informed the premises were not suitable for their current fleet with the Department advising them they were going to review the operating centre and the operator may therefore wish to give consideration to nominating an alternative more suitable operating centre was devastating. Given the content of the letter from the Department the operator requested assistance from the RHA to consider what options were open to them. As a consequence, a request was submitted to the Department to review the decision which was refused. We also appealed the decision to the Upper Tribunal for determination. In the interim and in advance of this appeal being heard, the DVA facilitated a site meeting with the operator, political representatives, staff from Roads Service, the PSNI and
DVA with the RHA to discuss the Department’s concerns. After protracted discussions the DVA officials agreed to review their operating centre assessment report and resubmit to the Department for further consideration. Based on the discussions the Department overturned their initial decision and granted the variation application and removed the threat to review the operating centre.
Advice & Support The operator concerned commented: “The Department’s initial decision to refuse our variation application was a surprise given there were no issues with the premises, it was large enough and we have been based here for over 30 years. However, it was a greater surprise to learn they were considering closing us down and requesting we move to other premises. This would have been the death knell for our business, and thankfully we had John Martin, the RHA’s Policy Manager in Northern Ireland on hand to provide expert advice and support, to challenge the Department’s decision and without his assistance we probably would have closed the business if we needed to move.” Whilst it’s appreciated the Department have a difficult job to do and we don’t want to detract from that, they must work more collaboratively with businesses and not always seek to prosecute or take disproportionate or inconsistent regulatory action which can result in businesses becoming unviable.
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