News

Southampton could house a consolidation centre for LGVs delivering goods to city centre shops if a scheme suggested by local haulier Meachers Transport gets the go-ahead. Meachers commercial manager Gary Whittle has already approached South-ampton City Council with the proposal, which would involve locating the consolidation centre at Meachers' headquarters in Mauretania Road.

Whittle says: "The centre would tick a lot of boxes. It's manic in Southampton city centre now, with a lot more  shops opening, so it makes sense for hauliers and retailers to have small loads consolidated onto smaller vehicles." A spokesman for South-ampton City Council says the proposal has been welcomed by its cabinet member for transport, councillor Gavin Dick, who also has responsibility for the environment.

The spokesman says: "We are currently investigating the best way to go about this and we are looking at other cities that have done similar schemes, such as Norwich." It is expected that the consolidation centre would be more of a help to smaller shops than the larger ones, which may already have their own distribution arrangements in place. Whittle says: "I think where it could really have an effect is consolidating into one vehicle, deliveries to three or four different shops, cutting the number of vehicles that have to go into the centre."

The council says the scheme is at an early stage, although it is possible that it could commence within two years. Initial funding  for the scheme could come from the CIVITAS Smile project, an EU scheme established to support initiatives such as this. CIVITAS has already provided backing for the Norwich and Bristol consolidation centres.