...PLIGHT


SHREWSBURY SET FOR SECOND MASS PROTEST


A second mass protest by taxi drivers could happen in Shrewsbury after cab- bies’ leaders declared their first action in the town centre against plans to overhaul licensing rules a huge success.


A large number of taxi drivers joined forces on Friday 28 January as they disrupted traf- fic during the protest. Richard Price, chair- man of the newly formed Shrewsbury Drivers’ Action Group, said the public had also shown their sup- port. At the end of a rolling roadblock through the town they handed in a petition to licensing officials at Shropshire Council to show their fury at plans to de-zone the county’s taxi zones. According to the


Shropshire Star, taxi drivers claim the move will lead to huge price increases for cus- tomers and could put some cabbies out of work.


Cllr Rosanna Taylor- Smith, chairman of Shropshire’s strategic licensing committee, said members had widely debated the policies involved and were currently in a period of consultation. Mmmm… The Shrews- bury dilemma is most certainly ongoing, and there has to be a lot more negotiation over the next few weeks regarding the thorny subject of de-zoning. Hopefully the protesters will get across the plain fact that once an area is de-zoned, it cannot be re-zoned, and the trade will be stuck with the consequences. – Ed.


TAXIS BARRICADE CLAMPERS FOR NINE HOURS IN SOUTHEND ON SEA


The call went out just after 7.30am. Operator Maureen Lansley’s car had been clamped and the clamper van was blocking her in until she coughed up the fine. But the driv- ers at AC Cabs knew exactly what to do. They sent in the taxi cab cavalry.


Within minutes, every available car in the area was racing to the aid of poor Maureen. Two cabs went into the car park and made sure the van was going nowhere. Others block- aded the exit and encircled the site keep- ing the van corralled. Oh, what a glorious moment for the ordi- nary driver against the curse of the clampers. For what followed was a nine-hour siege (‘ongoing dispute’ was the police’s phrase)


involving more than 20 taxis and up to 40 driv- ers at its peak.


Maureen’s car was eventually freed after her boss Ian Saxton gallantly paid an £80 fine to prevent his driv- ers facing arrest. Maureen was hailed as a heroine for refus- ing to bow to the clampers, not to men- tion avoiding the £150 penalty she would fur- ther have incurred if a tow truck had been called out.


The drama began as Maureen, 53, was set- ting off for work at the cab company. Her car was parked in her own numbered space out- side the flat where she lives in Southend-on- Sea, Essex. According to the clampers, it was not displaying a permit. According to Maureen, who does have a valid


permit, it had simply slipped down behind the tax disc.


Even when she pro- duced it, however, the clampers would not budge. They refused to remove the clamp until she paid £80, parked their white van in front of her car, and sat in it with their arms folded. Paul Sutton, 60, blocked in the clamper van with his cab. “I came off duty and headed here as soon as I heard it over the radio,” he said. “We are a brotherhood. We back each other up. I parked up to stop the clamper’s van from leaving. Then the police turned up.” The siege of Southend was quelled after police warned the taxi drivers they could face arrest for threatening


behaviour and public order offences.


Mr Saxton, the cab firm’s 58-year-old managing director, arranged to pay Mau- reen’s fine. “We came to support her because it was a com- plete injustice,” he said. “And taxi drivers will always rally round when there’s an injus- tice being done.” Mmmm… The ironic outcome of this episode is that it occurred on the very day before the Protec- tion of Freedoms Bill was published which, amongst other edicts, has barred the clamp- ing of vehicles on private land – which we gather is what Maureen Lansley has a permit to use. Roll on 2012, when this Bill becomes a grown-up Act! – Ed.


REDDITCH DRIVERS CALL FOR TALKS AMID PARKING ROW


Taxi drivers have called for urgent talks with council bosses after voicing fears that their livelihoods are being threatened by overzealous parking wardens.


Since enforcement of parking rules were handed over to Red- ditch Borough Council from the police in 2009, cabbies say they have been unfairly tar- geted with tickets being issued for leav- ing their cab on the rank while going to the toilet, while helping elderly passengers in and out of their cars and in one case for parking on double yel- low lines, even though they were clearly parked within the taxi rank.


The situation came to a head on Friday Feb- ruary 4 when Basharat Hussain was issued a ticket for parking on


MARCH 2011 PHTM


double yellow lines outside Steps Bar and Bistro on Evesham Road in Headless Cross. Although there is a taxi rank nearby, it only holds space for three cars but drivers say in the past officials have always allowed taxis to park elsewhere to avoid large numbers of people hanging around late at night. Mr Hussain told the Redditch and Alcester Standard that if the sit- uation continued it would force drivers out of business. “I have been parking there for the last ten or 11 years and have had no problems. There were two or three other cars parked up there that weren’t taxis, but he only issued me with a ticket.”


In response drivers decided to leave the area and stop working for the evening for fear


of being penalised fur- ther.


When news


spread that enforce- ment was taking place drivers in the town centre, who are forced to park outside the Unicorn Hill taxi rank at busy times due to a lack of space, followed suit.


It left hundreds of late night revellers strand- ed on one of the busiest nights of the week.


Safder Hussain, chair- man of Redditch Taxi Association, apolo- gised to the public for getting caught up in the dispute and said they wanted to meet with the council to find a solution.


“Some tickets are overturned, but it takes months and is a lot of hassle and run- ning around,” he said. “We’re not asking for preferential treatment. But if the signs are


clearly visible and driv- ers are working offering a valuable service to the residents of Redditch, at least be sensible about it. “The council have acknowledged there is a problem in Headless Cross, which is why they have agreed to extend the rank, so why take this action?” A spokeswoman for the council said they had organised a late night patrol involving parking officers and a police officer in response to concerns from residents about drivers parking in front of crossings and caus- ing an obstruction. “Any driver who con- travenes Traffic Regulation Orders will be issued with a Penal- ty Charge Notice. Taxi drivers are treated exactly the same as any other motorist, and of course are not


targeted,” she said. “It would be totally unacceptable for the council to ignore such matters.” Mmmm… Parking has always been a tangled mess, no matter where you are. It depends entirely upon where the vehicle is being parked or left, for how long, and under which circumstances. Obvi- ously it is an offence under local byelaws to leave a taxi unattend- ed on the rank, for any reason. So that one is pretty straightforward. Then there is the issue of feeder ranks, and how long the taxis can wait, and on which side of the road. Again that is a mishmash, and can only be sorted by a site visit. Vehicles parking in front of crossings and causing an obstruction obvi- ously cause their own difficulties. However,


we have recently had the Administrative Court case R on the application of Makda -v- The Parking Adjudi- cator [2010] EWHC 3392 (Admin) which throws some light on the issue of the pulling up of any vehicle – taxi, private hire or ordinary motor – on double yellow lines. As reported in last month’s PHTM, the case upheld that as a general rule of law, drivers are allowed to wait for as long as necessary on yellow lines for the purpose of picking up or drop- ping off a passenger and their luggage. But then you get the human element thrown in, and some parking wardens are more Jobsworths than others. Let us hope this council allows common sense to pre- vail. – Ed.


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