DEREG DILEMMA
BASILDON WILL NOT LIMIT THE NUMBER OF TAXIS
Basildon Council has decided not to put a limit on the number of taxis in the borough. Members ruled out reintroducing a policy of imposing an upper limit on the number of hackney carriages at a cabinet meeting. The council also con- sidered several other taxi accessibility issues, which included keeping the existing arrangements for all
newly licensed hack- ney carriages to have wheelchair access. Phil Turner, councillor responsible for re- sources, told the Southend Evening Echo: “We need to get the balance right on delimiting hackney carriages and we want to work with the driv- ers.”
Ralph Morgan, a Basil- don taxi driver, said: “I think the council is
very wrong in not put- ting a limit on the number of taxis in the borough. Our drivers have to work 14 to 16 hours a day to keep the cash coming in. “We have been over- subscribed since the council delimited the service in 2005, and the number of car- riages on the road in this borough has gone from more than 110 to 240.”
WOLVERHAMPTON DRIVERS IN PLEA TO LIMIT LICENCES
Wolverhampton cab- bies have called for a ban on any new cab licences and have been asked to fund a report into whether it should happen.
Council bosses said they were going to add more ranks to Wolverhampton and Bilston at night to allow cabbies space to get fares. Two spaces will be located outside the Civic Hall in Wolver- hampton and a further 24-hour rank in Bilston
town centre.
The cabbies’ appeal was made by the Wolverhampton Hack- ney Carriage Drivers’ Association following the collapse of the £300 million Summer Row shopping centre scheme.
Drivers said that the centre was intended to boost visitors to Wolverhampton and claimed that there were now too many cabbies to cope with dwindling trade. Council bosses said
an unmet demand sur- vey would need to be done and that the cab- bies would have to pay the £15,000 cost. Nasim Ullah, of the association, told the Express and Star: “They need to cap the number of licences for 12 months.” Wolverhampton City Council said the num- ber of rank spaces available had been lim- ited because of work on the new £22.5 mil- lion bus station which started last April.
TAXI LIMIT TO BE IMPOSED IN CHESTERFIELD
Council bosses have agreed to impose a limit on the number of hackney carriage driv- ers in Chesterfield after complaints from cabbies.
Chesterfield Borough Council commissioned a survey which identi- fied there was not a significant demand from people wanting the black cabs, and last month it agreed to impose a limit.
David Hopton, of Chesterfield Hackney Owners’ and Drivers’ Association, said: “This was a momen- tous day when the council agreed with the hackney trade that too many licence plates
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had been issued leav- ing the town flooded with taxis.”
The council stated it decided in 1995 not to limit the number but insisted all hackneys be wheelchair accessi- ble, and a 2003 Office of Fair Trading investi- gation concluded limits were not in the inter- ests of consumers. The Association com- plained that increased numbers of hackney carriage licences were forcing some drivers to work longer, quote over-inflated fares and take customers on longer routes.
The council has now decided to impose a 110 limit but the exist-
ing 178 licences will only be reduced when holders choose not to renew them.
It said it had not issued too many hackney car- riage licences and the number would not have risen to 178 unless there was suffi- cient work, but after the survey identified a reduced demand, decided to impose a limit.
A council spokesman told the Derbyshire Times: “The council could have imposed a limit of 178 but mem- bers felt we should use the Office of Fair Trad- ing’s suggested ratio as the basis for impos- ing a limit of 110.”
CREWE DRIVERS URGE COUNCIL TO ACT NOW
A group of hackney carriage drivers con- cerned over the number of licences being granted in Crewe, say the council needs to act now before they are forced out of work.
Cheshire East Council has now said that it will carry out a consulta- tion into how hackney carriages operate. The three former dis- trict authorities - Congleton BC, Mac-
clesfield BC and Crewe and Nantwich BC - all had different approaches to issues such as fares and the number of hackney carriages permitted to operate in an area, and these different policies still exist. The consultation aims to find out if a more standard approach is preferred.
Mark Gallagher, who works for A-Line Cars Ltd, was a chairman of
the former Crewe and Nantwich Taxi Associ- ation. He told the Crewe Chronicle: “It’s all well and good hav- ing a consultation but the council needs to act on the findings.” Hackney driver Bob Bradbury, 62, said: “In 1982 there were around 32 people with permits but now there’s around 200 and there isn’t enough business. The council has to do something.”
SEVENOAKS DRIVERS CONTINUE PUSH FOR FEWER HACKNEY CARRIAGES
Campaigners have hailed a minor victory in their battle to reduce the number of cabs in Sevenoaks. The Sevenoaks Town Taxi Drivers’ Associa- tion has spent nine months lobbying Sevenoaks District Council about the sur- plus of hackney carriages in the town. Up until 2008, the num- ber of licence plates that could be issued
each year was limited to 192. In that year the limit was lifted and at the moment, 208 hack- ney plates are in use. The association argues that there are too many drivers com- peting for customers and that a feasibility study should have been carried out before the decision was made in 2008. Steps towards a reso- lution were made at a
licensing committee meeting on Wednes- day, January 26. According to the Sevenoaks Chronicle, Councillors recom- mended a consultation of taxi drivers in the Sevenoaks and Swan- ley district to see whether such a study should take place. If a 75 per cent majority is reached, it is likely to go ahead later this year.
NEW CALL TO LIMIT DUNDEE TAXI NUMBERS
A fresh call to cap the number of taxis oper- ating in Dundee has been made, supported by Dundee West MSP Joe FitzPatrick.
He believes such a move would benefit passengers as well as the taxi trade and pro- vide a greater level of income for drivers. The SNP MSP has contacted a number of Scottish authorities that have a cap to find out how they operate their taxi services. He found that in Edin- burgh taxi numbers are frequently re- viewed with demand surveys regularly com- missioned by the council.
“Glasgow City Council
has a maximum num- ber of taxi licences of 1,428 considered nec- essary to meet the demand and consid- ers there will be no significant unmet demand until the num- ber of licences falls below 1,418 and then it considers applica- tions for new licences according to a number of rules,” Mr Fitz- patrick told the Dundee Courier and Advertiser. “Perth and Kinross has a cap of 70 taxis in the city of Perth which it is soon to review having been open to consideration for about the past 12 months.
“Aberdeen City intro-
duced a cap in 1994. The decision was revisited in 2000 when the maximum number of licences was set at 915 but the limit was removed by the licens- ing committee on January 9, 2006. “So it would probably be correct to say that many, perhaps most, councils do operate caps, and it seems to me like an idea that needs to be given seri- ous consideration in Dundee.” Mr FitzPatrick’s views chime with the Dundee Taxi Associa- tion and the Unite union taxi branch which have for many years urged the coun- cil to impose a cap.
PHTM MARCH 2011
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