Driving centre consultation process comes under fire

9:47am Thursday 12th June 2008

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CRITICISM has been levelled at the consultation process which affected the decision to close Basingstoke's driving test centre.

Last week, The Gazette revealed the test centre in Brighton Hill will shut as it is not big enough to meet new European Union rules about motorcycle testing that come into force in September.

The new regulations require more space for motorcycle riders to perform complicated manoeuvres that must be off public roads.

Although the Basingstoke centre would still be suitable for car tests, Driving Standards Agency (DSA) bosses insist it is not cost-effective to keep it open just for car drivers.

No date has been set for the closure of the Basingstoke centre, but a new Multi-Purpose Test Centre (MPTC) is due to open in Farnborough at the end of August, and will be followed by another in Newbury at the start of 2009.

This week, The Gazette discovered that the DSA national public consultation on introducing new motorcycle manoeuvres was conducted more than five years ago - and it received little response.

In 2002, about 1,000 copies of the consultation paper were sent out nationally by the DSA to bodies and individuals interested in the training, testing and safety of learner motorcyclists, of which only 120 were returned. A copy was also made available on the DSA's website.

In 2005, the DSA revised its procedures for public consultation - but excluded the MPTC consultation. The decision was subsequently made to deliver the new tests at MPTCs from a national network of about 60 off-road test centres, costing in the region of £71million.

Thousands of Basingstoke motorcycle and car instructors and inexperienced learners will be forced to travel to Newbury or Farnborough when the Basingstoke centre closes.

Tony Young, chairman of the southern region of the British Motorcycle Foundation, said: "The consultation process was practically non-existent, carried out years ago, and failed to take into account the views of people who are really affected.

"My concern is that, with a decision that will force inexperienced drivers to travel long distances on unfamiliar roads, a proper consultation hasn't even been conducted.

"I've spoken with many members who said why haven't they asked us?' We've made many representations to the DSA, but it seems that they've made their decision and are hell-bent on seeing it through."

Basingstoke MP Maria Miller has described the decision to close the driving test centre in Brighton Hill as "absolute madness".

She said: "There are a thousand homes being built in Basingstoke each year and we need to give more support for services - not take them away.

"No one from the area locally was consulted over the decision and I've written to the ministers responsible and asked them to explain themselves.

"To ask all these inexperienced drivers to travel along the A339, which has a very bad safety record, is crazy - especially at a time when petrol prices are going through the roof and they will have to make longer journeys. This is a clear case of a lack of joined-up thinking."