DEREG DILEMMA
CARMARTHEN COULD BE FACING “TAXI WAR”
Carmarthen is heading for a “taxi war” if the council doesn’t restrict the number of new cabs entering the town. Drivers have said ten- sion is building as competition for fares on Friday and Satur- day nights gets fiercer, with out-of-town cabs coming from as far as Swansea.
Local taxi firms and drivers are worried that drivers will be laid off, leading to violence between established and new cabbies. Noel Davies, who has been a cabbie for more than 28 years, told the Carmarthen Journal: “If the council don’t sort this out now, it will end up with a war between taxi drivers. “On Saturday nights, the number of cars in town is ridiculous. New drivers keep being given licences, but they only come in on weekends and take profits away from the drivers who work the rest of the week. “They are also under-
cutting prices; we can- not compete.”
Several reasons have been given for the increase in drivers. In areas such as Swansea new drivers must have a new car, but in Carmarthen cars can be up to five years old. And, unlike other areas, Carmarthen does not test new driv- ers on their road knowledge, and new drivers who fail tests elsewhere are said to head for Carmarthen. Letters from taxi firms outlining the problems and requesting action to limit the numbers of new drivers have been received by Car- marthenshire Council. But the council has refused to confirm what, if any, action it intends to take.
Council head of public protection Philip Davies said: “We do meet members of the taxi trade on a regular basis, and this will be one of the issues we will be discussing with them later in the year.”
TENDRING CABBIES TOLD TO PAY FOR SURVEY
Tendring taxi drivers will be balloted over whether they want to pay for a survey which could end in the num- ber of taxi licences being cut.
Cabbies claim too many permits are being issued by Tendring Council, which is affect- ing their livelihood. As reported in PHTM last month they threat- ened to abandon their
ranks or mount a blockade in an effort to force the council to cut the number of drivers. But following a meet- ing between the council, Tendring Taxi Drivers’ Association and the GMB Union, the 296 licensed vehi- cle owners will be asked whether they want to stump up the cash to pay for the sur- vey.
REPORT CALLS FOR 30 MORE TAXIS FOR EDINBURGH
Edinburgh could see more taxis on its streets after an independent report found there is significant unmet demand in the city. According to the Edin- burgh Evening News, consultant Halcrow has recommended that 30 new taxi licences are granted in the city. There are currently 1,266 taxis operating in Edinburgh - one for every 354 residents. Councillors now need
to decide whether this needs to rise.
The report also found that that the current fare tariff in Edinburgh is cheaper than in five other council areas: Midlothian, Aberdeen, Fife, West Lothian and East Lothian.
The council’s regula- tory committee will now consider whether to accept the findings of the report and act on its recommenda- tions.
CHESTERTAXI DRIVERS DON’T KNOW THE AREA
The following letter was sent in to the Chester and District Standard:
Last year the outgoing council voted to lift restrictions on the number of cabs licensed to work in Chester on the grounds that it would benefit the citizens of Chester and that it was also in line with nation- al government policy. The council was warned by our trade association that this policy was flawed and would lead to hardship as well as a deteriora- tion in the service provided. We now see numer- ous examples of new drivers unfamiliar with the area taking customers to wrong addresses, over- quoting on fares, etc. This reflects badly on all hackney drivers. There is effectively no restriction on new entrants, provided they pay the council their licence fee. There
appears to be no requirement to know the area, apart from a rudimentary test, and no need for a com- mand of the English language. The council would appear to want to flood the city with new cabs.
It was at one time pos- sible to make a decent living out of the taxi trade, that is no longer the case and recent entrants to the trade must wonder how they are to pay their way. To make matters worse a free shuttle bus has commenced service from the rail- way station to the zoo! I urge the council to put a hold on granting any further licences until an unmet demand survey (which would be fund- ed by our association) has been conducted. If this doesn’t happen then I fear a number of good honest local citi- zens will lose their livelihood.
Stewart Campbell Chester
QuoteMyCab.co.uk COUNCIL AGREES TO CAP STOCKPORTTAXI LICENCES
Councillors in Stock- port have agreed to keep a limit on the number of taxi licences available in the borough.
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At a meeting of the bor- ough’s licensing committee, it decided to issue a further five new licences per year over the next three years. The situation will be reviewed again at the end of this period. The decision followed mass protests earlier this year by taxi own- ers who feared full deregulation would have destroyed their livelihoods.
The latest decision was welcomed by David Hulbert, the chairman of Stockport Owner Drivers’ Asso- ciation (SODA) who
said it was a victory for ‘common sense’. Mr Hulbert told the Stockport Express: “I am pleased with the outcome given that the council was plan- ning to issue unlimited licences to taxi drivers. “As a result we have ended up with a better relationship with the authority.
“Prior to this there had been a certain amount of animosity between the council and the taxi drivers, but I am pleased to say that we have moved on and I am hoping that is something we can build on in the future. “The taxi trade as a whole is a public serv- ice which is privately run. We don’t get any public grants, so we
have to earn a living because without it we can’t take care of our families or our cabs.” A new member of the licensing committee, Councillor Sheila Bai- ley, said: “My view was that there was no evi- dence available at this moment in time to sup- port an increase in the number of taxis in Stockport.
“There is just enough work for the people employed in the trade. Hopefully, the council has learnt lessons from this situation.” Cllr Chris Gordon, the chairman of the licens- ing committee, said the decision to scrap the plan to deregulate had come as a result of further consultation with the taxi trade in
Stockport. He said: “We got to this position after fur- ther consultation with the taxi trade in the town. “At the end of the day it was decided to come up with some- thing which we as a local authority felt we could defend in terms of what the govern- ment demands. “We also think that the decision not to de-limit but to issue five licences per year is a fairer position all round. “There is no doubt that in the past there have been difficulties with the trade, but in recent times there has been an increased desire on both sides for some sort of genuine engagement.”
PHTM OCTOBER 2009
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