James Duddridge, MP for Rochford and Southend East, has today expressed his great disappointment at the Driving Standards Agency’s decision to close the Southend Driving Test Centre. Last December, the DSA announced proposals to ‘co-locate’ a number of driving test centres following an EU directive on motorcycle tests which required an off-road facility for more complex manoeuvres. As the test centre in Southend does not have such a facility the DSA launched a consultation proposing moving the centre to a multi-purpose site in Paycocke Road, Basildon.
Reacting to the news James said:
“I am outraged with the decision, especially as it appears the DSA and Department for Transport had already made their decision some time ago. The consultation formally began in February and a decision was reached today. However, Basildon District Council received an application in December 2007 for planning permission to build the test centre. Despite the fact that the decision was only announced today, the test centre building is now only three weeks away from completion.”
The proposal to close the centre was met with massive opposition from local residents who gathered over 3,000 signatures for a petition against the closure. Having met with representatives from the Southend and District Driving Instructors Association, James presented the residents’ petition to Parliament and held an adjournment debate on 3rd June with his colleagues David Amess MP and Mark Francois MP about the Southend Driving Test Centre. During the debate James took the concerns of local residents and driving instructors directly to the Department for Transport Minister Jim Fitzpatrick who James also quizzed with Parliamentary Questions after the debate.
James said:
“Given the opposition coming from local residents I raised this at the highest levels in order to show the Government and DSA just how passionately we felt about the issue. Unfortunately, as happens on so many occasions - it is clear the Government and the DSA were not listening”.
James added:
“The DSA and Department of Transport themselves admit that the large population of Southend on Sea and the distance to the site in Basildon breaks their maximum population and travel distance criteria. Add to this the fact that planning permission for the site was sought before the consultation even began makes me concerned that the whole consultation process was just window-dressing and that the Southend test centre never stood a chance.”
15 August 2008