Coventry City Council slammed for £15k plan to move taxi rank 20 yards
http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/c ... 4922397/2/
A NEW taxi rank in a busy Coventry high street is set to be moved back to its original spot just across the road – at a cost of up to £15,000.
Only a year ago, a rank for cabs was created in Earlsdon Street to cope with the large number of taxis picking up customers from bars and pubs at night.
But yesterday, the city council agreed to move it back to where it used to be – after complaints that the rank was creating too many problems.
Earlsdon traders branded the plan to move the taxi rank again as a waste of public money.
Andrea Pylyp, owner of clothes shop Pride, would see it moved right outside her store once again.
She said: “It’s a complete waste of money. I’m shocked that it would be moved outside the shop again.
"Whether it’s this side or the other wouldn’t make much difference. It’s going to be a bigger problem to know all this money is being spent. What was the point in moving it in the first place?”
Ben Colvin, general manager of Millsys bar, said: “I don’t see it as being beneficial.
"It’s money that doesn’t really need to be spent. It would have no greater or less benefit to change it again.
"If there is not enough of a reason to move it why touch it? The street in general is busy in the evenings anyway.”
Coun Allan Andrews (Con, Earlsdon) said: “There were worries over access for emergency vehicles on the road. If an emergency does happen there would be no way of getting through. It will also help traffic flow.”
In November last year the rank was moved directly outside the Albany Club on the opposite side of the road.
It came after residents were fed up with the noise generated from taxi drivers who left their radios and engines running outside their homes.
But the latest proposals were instigated after a complaint from a local bus company which claimed drivers were unable to pull up parallel to the kerb because of parked cars on the immediate approach to the stop obstructing the visibility of drivers.
Following a consultation meeting, 44 residents responded and it was found the number of people that agreed to the changes was the same as those who rejected them.
Work on the taxi rank, which will operate between 10pm-5am, will begin next month but if concerns are raised another meeting will be held before November 21.
At the Licensing and Regulatory Committee hearing yesterday Coun David Arrowsmith (Con, Sherbourne) voted against the proposals.
He said: “I don’t think we’ll ever be in a situation where everybody will be happy. I would just leave things as they are in its present form. I would not be in favour of spending public money for changes to a taxi rank.”
Other changes include reducing the limited parking bay by extending the bus stop further up the road.
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