DO YOU EVER SAY TO YOURSELF....“JUST LEAVE US ALONE!”
Well, unfortunately I have lost count of the number of times that this has run through my head over the forty years that I have been in the trade as a licensed proprietor/driver here in sunny Brighton & Hove. Why? Well because it just seems that we go from one thing to another to have to deal with both locally and nationally.
I really don’t think that there has ever been a couple of years or so of settlement for the trade, not only here but probably with almost every licensing authority where proprietors/drivers could just get on with the job of transporting people from A to B, and more importantly plan ahead. This is especially where local authorities control the metered fares.
RANK RELOCATION
So, what am I moaning about now? Well on 4th July we received an email from the council, via licensing, telling us of plans to ‘relocate’ a well-established taxi rank right by the station in Hove… although I would say: “shoved out of the way, out-of-sight and out-of-mind” is a better description. We were provided with the plans that showed bike lanes being put in place and because of this there was no room for the rank.
At this point I should mention that we are a Green con- trolled council that has been hell bent on putting cycle lanes everywhere. One hastily installed on a major road during the pandemic had to be completely removed because of so many objections, but we still have one on the seafront that is causing a major bottleneck most of the day.
About three years ago the very well-established taxi rank at Brighton Station was removed from the front and put at the back causing considerable resentment between the trade and the council, and also making certain journeys far more expensive.
What is so annoying is that as major stakeholders we were never consulted about the relocation plans for the Hove Station rank and incredibly we have been informed by a councillor on the Licensing Committee that the council was told that we taxi drivers were happy about this!
64 AUGUST 2022
Please imagine the considerable number of expletives that I would have liked to have inserted here… or perhaps make up some of your own.
I have often stated that I believe that compared to other areas we have a pretty good relationship with our council and are fortunate to be on first name terms with those who effectively control us. However, every now and then we seem to take a step backwards and this is especially relevant where our friendly councillors decide to retire, only to be replaced by others who have absolutely no knowledge of the trade.
The rank at Hove Station that has been planned to be ‘shoved out of the way’, has been in existence all the time I have had a taxi and indeed many, many years before then. I remember it being there when I was a youngster, so I reckon it has got to have been place for at least sixty years.
The photo shows my first taxi way back in 1986 using the rank before we all had to have a specific livery of white and aqua.
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