Taxi Driver Online

Woking taxi drivers claim new private hire office will cause 'havoc' on the Broadway

Members of the Woking Taxi Association (WTA), which represents 170 hackney carriage drivers in the town, have "strongly" objected to plans for a new private car hire office in the Broadway, next to the proposed site of a new taxi rank. The plans, due to be debated by Woking Borough Council on September 5, would see Galaxy Cars move two doors down from its existing cabin into premises currently occupied by Pizza King.

The WTA's objections are the latest stage in an increasingly heated clash between hackney carriage drivers and private hire companies in Woking town centre , sparked by the council's proposal to move the taxi rank from the High Street to the Broadway, next to the Galaxy Cars office.

The plans for a new Galaxy Cars office have received 83 objections, almost all from members of the WTA. The association has argued there is not enough space on the Broadway to accommodate both a taxi rank and an office for a company like Galaxy with 100 vehicles.

The WTA's letter of objection said: "The pick up and drop off point which is being proposed by Woking Borough Council will end up having only private hire vehicles using the space allocated and this will not allow the general public to drop off or pick up on the Broadway.

"Due to the Hackney Carriage drivers being allocated space so near to [the proposed site], this will cause havoc between the two rivals (Hackney Carriage and private hire), which already causes heated arguments between the two trades and mass confusion for members of the public." The WTA also argued that the new offices would see an increase in people waiting on the Broadway to be picked up, blocking the public's use of the pavement.

Previously, the WTA has argued that relocating the taxi tank to the Broadway, part of the Woking Integrated Transport Project (WITP) , would damage trade. Commenting on the WITP, the association said: "If WBC relocate the taxi rank to the Broadway and also retain the...private hire office the two competing businesses are effectively operating from the same location. This is too close and the public will be confused.

"This will cause heated arguments between the competing groups of drivers and will ultimately affect the hackney trade the most. "Private hire companies are able to slash their prices to compete and generate more business. As WBC sets the mileage rates for the hackney trade rather than us setting our own rates it is likely that our potential earnings will drop as we cannot drop our prices."

The WTA said the use of the Broadway by Galaxy Cars added to congestion, and relocating the taxi rank would create safety problems as vehicles leaving the small Galaxy Cars car park next to its office would have their view restricted by the line of waiting taxis. The association has raised similar objections to another planning application seeking permission to retain Galaxy Cars cabin until 2020.

Mohammed Zubair, owner of Galaxy Cars, described the dispute as "a storm in a tea cup". He said: "What is the difference between moving from one door to the other? I can't see what the problem is. "I'm just trying to do a job."

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IDFIMH

Am I missing something here?

As a PH I would want my office as far away from a rank as possible.

Otherwise we would lose most of the walk in work to the other side.

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IDFIMH

would see Galaxy Cars move two doors down from its existing cabin

next to the proposed site of a new taxi rank.

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector