Road Traffic Act 1960

173 Objections to certain applications for A or B licences

(1) This section applies to every application for the grant of an A licence or a B licence except—

(a) an application which the licensing authority is bound to grant;

(b) an application which, in the opinion of the licensing authority, is of so trivial a nature that it is not necessary that an opportunity should be given for objection;

(c) an application for a licence to expire not later than an existing licence under which the vehicles to which the application relates are authorised to be used for the purposes of a business which the applicant has acquired or intends to acquire ;

(d) an application for a short-term licence, where the licensing authority is of opinion that the application has been made with reasonable expedition and that the demand for the use of the vehicles to be authorised under the licence is so urgent as to render compliance with the requirements of this section impracticable.

(2) The licensing authority shall publish in the prescribed manner notice of an application to which this section applies specifying the time within which, and the manner in which, objections may be made to the grant of the application.

(3) It shall be the duty of the licensing authority, on an application to which this section applies, to take into consideration any relevant objection to the application which may be made by a person who is already providing facilities, whether by means of road transport or any other kind of transport, for the carriage of goods for hire or reward in the district, or between the places, which the applicant intends to serve:

Provided that on an application for an A licence, the licensing authority shall not be bound to take into consideration an objection made by a person who holds a B licence but does not also hold an A licence.

(4) In this section, " relevant objection " means an objection on any of the following grounds, that is to say,—

(a) that suitable transport facilities in the district, or between the places, which the applicant intends to serve are or, if the application were granted, would be, either generally or in respect of any particular type of vehicles, in excess of requirements;

(b) that any of the conditions of a carrier's licence held by the applicant has not been complied with;

(c) that in relation to a carrier's licence held by the applicant, there has been any such conviction or prohibition as is mentioned in the Fourteenth Schedule to this Act.

(5) The onus of proof of the existence of the grounds on which a relevant objection is made shall lie on the objector.

(6) In considering, for the purposes of an objection on grounds such as are referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of this section, whether existing transport facilities are to be treated as suitable, the licensing authority shall have regard to the relative efficiency, reliability and adequacy of the existing facilities at the date of the application and the facilities which the applicant will provide if his application is granted, and to all other relevant considerations, including, to such extent as may in all the circumstances appear proper, the charges made and to be made in respect of those facilities respectively.