58 PRIVATE HIRE AND TAXI MONTHLY
MARCH 2009 RANK RUMBLINGS APPEAL TO SAVE EVESHAM TAXI SERVICE
Evesham taxi drivers are asking townspeo- ple to save their local service.
Evesham Taxi Associa- tion want local people to lobby their local councillor or MP and support them in the battle to keep the main town centre rank in its current location.
Drivers are worried that when the High Street
Enhancement Project begins, trade will be affected and customers will suffer due to the plans which will see the taxi rank moved. Under the new plans, taxi ranks would be situat- ed on either side of the road. Keith Holloway of Eve- sham Taxi Association believes that moving the rank would have a
detrimental affect on vulnerable customers such as the elderly, dis- abled and young families for whom the service is a ‘lifeline.’ He told the Evesham Journal: “We again ask all our customers to support us in our fight. We are concerned about our livelihood and for our customers’ convenience.”
NORTH MANCHESTER RANK ‘WILL NOT ATTRACT TROUBLEMAKERS’
Residents have been assured that the arrival of a taxi booking office on Grimshaw Lane will not lead to increased crime in the area. Terrie Allen owns the property, which used to be a beauty salon, and made the application to change it into a private hire booking office. As reported in the Mid- dleton and North Manchester Guardian,
the application faced criticism from residents worried that there would be an increase in traffic and crime result- ing from the change. However, Terrie Allen has assured residents that there will be no such problems.
She told the Guardian: “It won’t be open all night. There’ll be no cars parked there. I know people are wor-
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ried it’s going to cause trouble, but they’re not going to see the cars. “I know it’s a crime hotspot and I have no intentions of adding to that as I live in the area myself.
“I’m renting it out to make use of the build- ing so it doesn’t rot away. I don’t want it sit- ting there doing nothing, being a target for vandals.”
WORKMEN ADD A NEW TWIST TO LISKEARD RANK
The fight to extend the taxi rank in the centre of in Liskeard took on a new twist when work- men extended the rank - but only by one metre. This happened just a day after it had been confirmed by Councillor Roger Jones that plans to extend the rank on The Parade were to be put on hold because of a lack of funds.
However workmen started work on the rank and confirmed the one meter extension - much to the confusion of Grayson Mitchell owner of Express Taxis who has campaigned for 18 months.
He told the Cornish Times: “Liskeard has around 30 licensed driv- ers, yet we only have space for a couple of
taxis. Recently, the licensing agency issued two more licences in the town. So they are get- ting our licence money yet provide limited places to park.” Mr Mitchell said: “It’s only being extended by a metre, which won’t make much difference. I was hoping they would extend it to enable another car to fit in.”
NEW TWO-DAY MARKET MAY GO IN TAXI RANK IN RAYLEIGH
Plans for a continental market in Rayleigh town centre have taken a step forward. Rayleigh Town Council has received requests to hold a two-day conti- nental market and an Italian food market in the High Street on Fri- days and Saturdays. The town council is look- ing at the possibility of using the taxi rank area outside Boots and
Rayleigh Lanes to hold the event.
The council held a meeting with cabbies to discuss the plans and will also be consulting the roads authority, Essex County Council. Chairman Cheryl Roe told the Southend Evening Echo: “The town council held a meeting with the taxi companies to discuss the feasibility of setting
a market up in the taxi rank, without causing any detriment to the taxi drivers’ business. “Both parties agreed the use of the rank may be possible if other sites can be allocated in the High Street for the taxis to wait. “Further discussions will have to be held with the highways authority before any decisions can be taken.”
TAXI RANK WRANGLE IN NORTH EAST LINCOLNSHIRE
More than 100 new rank spaces are being created for taxis across North East Lin- colnshire, doubling the numbers currently available.
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But the move, promised by North East Lin- colnshire Council in response to protests, has been branded as not going far enough by frustrated taxi drivers. They say too many licences are being hand- ed out, with 236 drivers vying for rank space. The 101 additional spaces, some new while others are exten- sions to existing ranks, will be created across Grimsby, Cleethorpes and Immingham. But members of the Hackney Carriage Asso- ciation said they were unhappy, claiming there would still be more taxis on the road than spaces. Welcoming the addi- tional spaces, council leader Andrew De Fre- itas said the move followed widespread protests about the lack of rank space in the area and consultation with the association, as reported.
That means that there could soon be a total of 195 waiting spaces in North East Lin- colnshire. However, Dave Atkin, the chairman of the association, said this was not the answer. He said: “I’m pleased that there will be addi- tional spaces but the problem is there are more and more taxis than there are spaces. “The council just keep giving out licences.” Figures released to the Grimsby Telegraph show there have been 34 new hackney car- riage drivers handed licences since April 2008 and an additional 54 private hire licences in the same period. That means there are now currently 236 licences for hackney carriages and 476 for private hire - a total of 712 taxi licences in North East Lincolnshire. There is no cap set by the council on the num- ber of licences. Taxi driver Andy King (46), of Scartho, said: “I’m delighted that there is going to be an increase of some sort but with the amount of
licences going up there going to be nowhere for them to park.
“I know there is a big thing about making sure people aren’t wait- ing for a taxi at the end of a night out, but driv- ers are losing livelihoods because more licences keep being given.” Dave Poucher,
the
council’s principal traf- fic engineer, said: “In consultation with the local Hackney Carriage Association, the num- ber, location and hours of operation of all ranks in North East Lin- colnshire has been rationalised.
“This exercise recog- nised that certain ranks were seldom, if ever, used and that other ranks were over-sized. “Ranks are in place to allow the hackney car- riages to wait on the highway while trade is low. “An increase in the amount of rank space available will not bring about an upturn in busi- ness. We can create plenty of rank spaces, but these need to be in the areas that drivers need them.”
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