RENTAL CAR LICENCES

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28133, 23 November 1956, Page 11

RENTAL CAR LICENCES

REVIEW OF POSITION SOON HORNBY APPLICATIONS TO BE CONSIDERED In view of the very large increase in the number of rental car licences granted a year ago, applicants would have to put forward very strong cafees to convince him of the necessity of granting further licences, said the No. 9 Transport Licensing Authority (Mr J; A. Bretherton) at a sitting yesterday. If there was a heavy demand for rental cars and the applicants felt they could justify their cases he would be prepared to direct a review of the position fairly soon, the Authority said. Bryce Duncan Willi&mson, of 59 Purchas street (Mr B. J. Drake) and William Chetwynd Minards, of Hornby (Mr A. C. Perry) made application for rental vehicle licences at Hornby totalling nine vehicles. The applications were adjourned sine die.

Since the Authority had said in July that a review of the situation would be held about 10 applications for rerital cars had been filed, Mr Drake said. In the opinion of the applicants there was still a demand for rental services and if this was so n would be unfair to postpone the review for a year from last July as the Authority intended. If the Authority could not direct a review to be undertaken immediately then he was instructed to ask for a hearing of his client’s application before Christmas, Mr Drake said.

The Authority: That would not be possible. I couldn’t hear two applications without the others.

Hornby had grown to a vast suburb in the last two years and no rental car licence was available, said Mr Perry. It could be that the Authority would grant licences for the district and not for the city of Christchurch.

The review could not be started before the end of January and the situation would best be met by his conferring with the Transport Department and asking it to begin a review as soon as possible, said the Authority. A hearing could then be held in the new year. A number of applicants were waiting to be heard and he had no desire to delay proceedings unduly, but he would not be happy to judge them without a proper survey.