CARRIAGE OF PARCELS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22223, 25 September 1935, Page 16

CARRIAGE OF PARCELS

TRANSPORT APPEAL CASE BOARD GRANTS REHEARING CRITICISM OF AUTHORITY ' * \ 3 [Bl* TELEGRAPH —OWN" CORRESPONDENT] r WHANGAREI, Tuesday s The Transport Co-ordination Board, - comprising Sir Stephen Allen, chairman, , and Messrs. L. W. Alderton and H. B. - S. Johnstone, opened its sitting this 1 afternoon at the Courthouse, Wha- - ngarei, for the purpose of hearing ap- - peals against decisions of the No. 1 5 Transport Licensing Authority. K. Erceg appealed against the decision of the authority, which refused to prevent the Whangarei Co-operative Dairy Company, Limited, from carrying any individual consignment of goods of 1001b. weight or under on ? the Whangarei - Kiripaka - Ngungurut Tutukaka route. 1 Mr. Steadman, for appellant, said • appellant operated a passenger, mail : and goods service. He carried a large • amount of small grocery parcels to ' settlers on the route, and up to two " or three months ago the dairy company > had operated only on a portion of the " route. The authority did not take any ' real evidence at the hearing and one member of the authority, Mr. M. A. C. Yarborough, was not present. ( "Handicap to Settlers" < It was submitted that if appellant's • income were reduced from any one of ■ the three sources of revenue h© would • be compelled to go out of business, j Erceg had the only passenger service on the route and if it ceased the ( settlers, particularly between Kiripaka; and Xgunguru, would be considerably handicapped. Mr. Johnson, for the dairy company, said the company went beyond appellant's service to Matapouri, and virtually took over the service of an operator who ceased to function. The company took goods only to suppliers, and it was fighting the appeal at the express : request of those suppliers. Mr. Steadman: The authority conducted the hearing under rafferty rules. The chairman stated that the matter would be stood over until Mr. Yarborough arrived, and I was greatly surprised to hear later that it had been dealt with without giving me any fijrther opportunity to call evidence. "Insufficient Evidence" The Chairman: You always have the right to ask for an adjournment if you find your client is being prejudiced. If wo were to take all appeals on the basis of ax rehearing it would create an impossible position. However, as there is . insufficient evidence on the file at present we will accept a rehearing, but it is not to be thought that that will be our usual procedure. Erceg then gave evidence. Evidence was also given by W. H. Milhngton, manager of the dairy company, who said that small parcels were carried merely for the convenience of suppliers, lne company in many cases financed the suppliers with goods until they were able to pay, thus accounting for a la ]\ g ® percentage of the goods handled by the company. Decision was reserved.