GTR MANCHESTER PROTESTS
FURIOUS TAXI AND PH DRIVERS STAGE PROTEST IN BURY TOWN CENTRE AGAINST CAZ CHARGES
Taxi and PH drivers across Bury took to the roads on 24 January, as they circled the town hall to protest CAZ charges. The Bury Times reports that taxi services were halted, while the protest carried on between 11am and 3pm. More than 300 drivers turned up, explaining their concerns that they cannot afford the daily CAZ charges, which will apply throughout Greater Manchester, even when they aren’t working. Drivers also stressed they cannot afford cars no older than five years old, and that the charges will impact the rest of the public as well. Raja Naveed, vice-chairman of Bury Private Drivers Association, said: “The
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clean air charges won’t just affect taxi drivers, but the general public as well. “I want to know where the money for these CAZs is going, and how it will make the air of Manchester cleaner. “Can the leaders explain where the money from road tax is going?” He added: “We are pleading with politicians not to do this, because they are throttling these taxi and PH firms and the local businesses that rely on them. “If I could speak to them now I would
plead with them not to go ahead with it, because these charges are ridiculous, needless and must be scrapped imme- diately, especially after a pandemic that’s left everyone’s pockets hurting.” The minimum licensing standards (MLS) meeting to decide whether taxi drivers must drive vehicles no older than five years old will be going ahead on February 7. Khalid Hussein, chairman of Bury’s HC Association, added: “This protest is important because we are essentially self-employed and can’t cover these costs. They are imposing unreasonable conditions and these charges must be scrapped for a different scheme.”
TAXI AND PH DRIVERS PROTEST CLEAN AIR ZONE PLANS IN BOLTON FOR SECOND TIME
Bolton town centre was brought to a halt on January 24 in a second round of protests against the Clean Air Zone charges led by taxi and PH drivers. The first protest on Monday, 10 January halted traffic around Le Mans Crescent and Bolton Town Hall for several hours and drivers sounded horns in a mass demonstration timed to coincide with a key council meeting. Other drivers staged a protest outside the town hall. In the second demo, around 100 vehicles and plenty more cabbies demonstrated outside Bolton Town Hall against the CAZ charges which they are due to incur as of 2023. There is also concern that, in order to avoid the charges, owners of commer- cial vehicles can be exempt if they upgrade that vehicle to one under five- years-old. The cost implications of this are possibly fatal to businesses, they say. Nick Astley, owner of Metro Taxis, was part of the first protest and said that no taxi driver during the pandemic had made any money and that the
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minimum licence standard (MLS) pro- posals - including rules on dress codes and police checks for drivers - were ‘badly timed’ under the circumstances. Feelings were intensified during the second instalment of the protests and if the organisers do not see any signifi- cant change, they warn that this will not be the last time it happens. “This is just a starter. There’s a main course and dessert to come. Unless the council and government sit down and sort this out, we’ll keep coming,” said
Mahmood Akhtar, vice-chairman of Bolton Private Hire Association. “We’ve been going through a bad patch as it is, for the past two years. Taxi firms are suffering. The drivers are suffering and the general public is going to suffer as well. “Unless they come back to the table and scrap this CAZ we’re going to see a lot of problems in Bolton.” Demonstrators repeatedly pointed out that ultimately it is not just them who are going to suffer the financial burden. Sammy Patel, owner of Orbit Taxis, added: “At the end of the day it’s going down to the customers. It’s them that are going to pay for it, because if we’re getting charged then it’s going to follow on.” Siraj Patel has driven a taxi in Bolton for 25 years and the Metro Cars driver echoed Sammy’s comments. He said: “I want to send this message directly to the public - if you think that CAZ charges are for the trade and not for you – no. It’s for you, not for us.
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