Taxi driver's message to WBC Options

[spartacus]

Hold the front page. NWN have a non story.....
Taxi drivers are ANGRY.... grrr...
Did I miss something? Newbury town centre slow procession drive "will send a message to West Berkshire Council"

I was in town tonight.... I hardly think WBC will be quaking in their boots...

Apathy rules?
About 10 policemen had been called in to prevent any trouble breaking out at 5pm when the bollards were lowered.... but they waited in Market Place.... and they waited a little bit more..... and some more.... and nothing happened....

If this is the start of the taxi drivers' association Winter of Discontent tour then it's not exactly gone off with a bang.... a couple of damp sparklers....


When they go to the bother to alert the press, next time can they make bit more of an effort? I was expecting some sort of protest thing... Or are they going to start their protest around midnight when most of us have gone to bed and don't give a to$$?

[Andy Capp]

You are right; Newbury's taxis are like the electorate; happy with the way things are.

[user23]

Are you saying the proposed demonstration didn't go ahead?

[Neil]

a whole series of new risks and dangers to the public have been created

I'm struggling to think of any, actually. The wharf is slightly more inconvenient (by about 100m), but not by much, and I'm not sure that the wharf area is particularly higher risk?

I can understand the issue of taxis queuing to get one of the two spots in front of the Post Office, but is easily remediated by taxis *not queuing* - I'm not aware that the road laws would permit queuing here anyway? I propose (a) a prohibition on filling the Post Office rank otherwise than from the rank in the wharf, and ( some form of notification system, to indicate another taxi should come down from the wharf.

However, this pre-supposes that the Post Office will be a popular place to pick up a taxi. Are not most of the going out places closer to the wharf that to the PO? (Hmmm... Monty's / Chicago Rock excepted, perhaps.)

[Richard Garvie]

At the wharf, cabs are having to park on the pavements, some are in the road causing buses to line up behind them and it would appear to be a little bit too small for what is needed. I guess the council can adjust this with remedial work though.

The post office as a rank is a pretty silly idea, it's just bottling traffic up. But with Liquid closed, all the night venues are between the cinema and the Hogs Head (with the exception of the snooty). This means all the cabs want to be at the Post Office as nobody is really heading over to the wharf.

Back to the drawing board, me thinks.

[Andy Capp]

Just put it back in the Market Place for heaven's sake! Being in the wharf is crap. You cannot see from a distance how many taxis are there, or how busy it is.

[Dodgys smarter b...]

Mr Plod told the Council that it was and has been in everyone's best interest to get revellers away from the town centre as quickly and as smoothly as possible, once the pubs and clubs started to empty. Mr Plod has, on more than one occasion, told the Council that the idea of channeling everyone through a chicane type area outside the Hogs and the Document House was just plain daft, and would indeed, lead to more trouble.

Guess what?

[Richard Garvie]

OK, from speaking to cab drivers in this morning:

Over 40 cabs took part in the protest last night about the siting of the ranks and the safety issues they cause.
Ten police officers were in the market place, and the rumour is that a number of drivers were given penalty notices for various things.
The cab drivers say the CCTV in the Wharf area is not working, so groups of people heading to the wharf rank are clashing on the way to cabs and there have been no safety measures inplemented since the rank moved.
The post office rank is causing traffic disruption because cabs are lining up around the corner to pick up passengers in what is now regarded as the best place to pick up in the evenings.
Apparently this is not the first incident to take place, and if it had not have involved stabbings would have probably gone unreported.
If ten officers can be in the market place to intimidate cab drivers protesting, why are there no officers in the Wharf area / Market Place at 3am (kicking out time)?

The council need to take swift action to prevent further incidents, and if that means returning cabs to the Market Place this evening until proper safety measure are in place, that is what should be done.

[Andy Capp]

I totally agree with everything you say Richard. Does anyone know why our gibbons in Market St decided to move the rank in the first place?

[Richard Garvie]

I totally agree with everything you say Richard. Does anyone know why our gibbons in Market St decided to move the rank in the first place?

Both the Tories and Lib Dems pledge a traffic free town centre as part of the vision.

[Andy Capp]

Both the Tories and Lib Dems pledge a traffic free town centre as part of the vision.

But there is traffic in the Market Place in evenings anyway!

[Richard Garvie]

But there is traffic in the Market Place in evenings anyway!

Exactly. That's why we did the common sense thing and included the taxi rank in the market place as part of our manifesto. By shoving it down in the wharf, you open it up to all kinds of risks. It just doesn't make sense to move it, even during the day. What harm does it really do by allowing the cab rank in the market place? If anything, it just exposes the space as being empty.

[Andy Capp]

Agreed, although by having the rank in the Market Place during the day, you have the ignominy of berks ploughing in to the bollards every so often.

[NWNREADER]

One document I read said a single space would be outside Natwest, and the cabs in the Wharf would feed to the space as that taxi moved off.
All smacks of some very muddled thinking, with nothing being allowed to get in the way of a visionary outcome....

[NWNREADER]

OK, from speaking to cab drivers in this morning:

Over 40 cabs took part in the protest last night about the siting of the ranks and the safety issues they cause.
Ten police officers were in the market place, and the rumour is that a number of drivers were given penalty notices for various things.

How is this reconciled with the OP?

[Andy Capp]

How is this reconciled with the OP?

Not readily!

[user23]

So did the protest take place or not?

[Roost]

Lot of fuss about not very much.

In recent times, there were only 4 taxis allowed to be in the Market Place at any one time. Occasionally this was flouted by the drivers but there were never more than 5 or 6.

It is a whole 100 yds further to the Wharf. I'd be flabbergasted if the walk through to the Wharf is any more dangerous than being in the Market Place or indeed in any of the licensed premises around town. And, no, one incident that happened to occur on the same day that this was in the local rag is not irrefutable proof to the contrary!

Regarding any comments about taxis 'having' to block the buses or park on the pavement or causing an obstruction outside the post office, I would suggest that that is down to the taxi drivers and NOT any rules or regulations that they are meant to comply with.

Come on peeps, a little common sense, please.

[Andy Capp]

In recent times, there were only 4 taxis allowed to be in the Market Place at any one time. Occasionally this was flouted by the drivers but there were never more than 5 or 6.

And what is the problem with that?

It is a whole 100 yds further to the Wharf. I'd be flabbergasted if the walk through to the Wharf is any more dangerous than being in the Market Place or indeed in any of the licensed premises around town. And, no, one incident that happened to occur on the same day that this was in the local rag is not irrefutable proof to the contrary!

Of course it is not, but it is apparently against the advice of the police.

Regarding any comments about taxis 'having' to block the buses or park on the pavement or causing an obstruction outside the post office, I would suggest that that is down to the taxi drivers and NOT any rules or regulations that they are meant to comply with.

It is alleged that unlicenced cars are parking there. They can't readily do that in the Market Place.

Come on peeps, a little common sense, please.

If we were to have common sense, we would see the taxis retuned to the most obvious place, the Market Place. The wharf ideas is just plan stupid. Change for change's sake.

[Roost]

Don't disagree with you Andy, just think some people are making more of this than is proportionate.

That said, I guess it's relative to perspective so I bow out having put mine forward.