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Taxi driver's message to WBC |
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Nov 11 2011, 10:50 PM
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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$$?
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Nov 12 2011, 09:17 AM
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QUOTE 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.)
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Nov 12 2011, 10:57 AM
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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.
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Nov 12 2011, 11:09 AM
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QUOTE (Andy Capp @ Nov 12 2011, 11:05 AM) 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.
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Nov 12 2011, 11:10 AM
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QUOTE (Richard Garvie @ Nov 12 2011, 11:09 AM) 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!
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Nov 12 2011, 11:13 AM
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QUOTE (Andy Capp @ Nov 12 2011, 11:10 AM) 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.
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Nov 12 2011, 11:25 AM
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QUOTE (Richard Garvie @ Nov 12 2011, 10:57 AM) 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?
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Nov 12 2011, 11:40 AM
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QUOTE (NWNREADER @ Nov 12 2011, 11:25 AM) How is this reconciled with the OP? Not readily!
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Nov 12 2011, 01:55 PM
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QUOTE (Roost @ Nov 12 2011, 01:47 PM) 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? QUOTE (Roost @ Nov 12 2011, 01:47 PM) 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. QUOTE (Roost @ Nov 12 2011, 01:47 PM) 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. QUOTE (Roost @ Nov 12 2011, 01:47 PM) 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.
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