We refer to your Court Report (routeONE, 25 January) in last week’s issue about the Upper Tribunal upholding a ban imposed by Traffic Commissioner (TC) Sarah Bell.
I would like to point out that Carmel Coaches Ltd was granted an International Operator’s Licence on 1 December by West of England TC Kevin Rooney.
The licence was granted in full for 15 vehicles without any conditions or restrictions and Tony Hazell was nominated as Transport Manager (TM).
At the same time any restrictions previously imposed on him in connection with any other licences were lifted. This rendered your news report irrelevant.
We are now focused on rebuilding our business and with our associated companies in Exeter and Bristol are determined to regain our position as a leading player in the west country passenger transport industry.
We trust you can assure your readers that Carmel Coaches is very much back in business.
Tony Hazell
Director
Carmel Coaches
[The Court Report referred to, regarded a written decision issued to the press by the Upper Tribunal on 30 December 2016, and last week was the first available issue for its publication. At the time, we were not aware of the Public Inquiry (PI) to which Tony Hazell refers. In the interests of balance, we requested a case summary from the TC’s office, which is reproduced below – Ed]
The TC for the West of England has granted an operator’s licence to Carmel Coaches Ltd following a PI in Bristol.
TC Kevin Rooney also ruled that the repute of Anthony Hazell could be restored but refused to allow Michael Hazell to operate additional vehicles on his sole trader licence.
Mr Rooney heard that the proposed operation by Carmel Coaches will be significantly smaller than that previously run by the company. He was also completely satisfied that it would be an entirely separate operation to the existing licence held by Carolyn Alderton. Ms Alderton is daughter of Anthony Hazell.
The TC concluded that it was clear Ms Alderton, not her father, was in charge of that sole trader business.
He also heard evidence in relation to Anthony Hazell’s application to restore his repute as a TM, which he lost at a 2014 PI relating to the previous licence held by Carmel Coaches Ltd.
The regulator concluded that Mr Hazell had used the period of disqualification (18 months) to improve his knowledge of the industry and reflect upon what it took to maintain a compliant business. Mr Hazell also submitted a letter of recommendation from the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT).
An application by Michael Hazell to run extra vehicles was refused by the Traffic Commissioner because the operator failed to satisfy the mandatory financial standing requirements for the number of vehicles he wished to operate.
Mr Rooney concluded that too much of the financial evidence relied on by Michael Hazell was provided through credit cards. He said it was unacceptable for virtually all of his financial standing to rely on such a high-cost source of money.
Mr Rooney indicated that Carmel Coaches Ltd would need to provide an independent audit report on compliance systems if it wished to make an application for additional vehicles in the future.
