Eden taxi rank to close in High Wycombe
Eden’S only taxi rank is to close from April 1, less than a year after opening.
Wycombe District Council members last night agreed to remove the two-space rank from the multi-storey car park, saying it is not used.
It was opened in June last year to compensate hackney carriage drivers for the loss of the rank by the Tesco entrance when Eden was built.
But councillors heard the rank – at the second floor by the Tesco lifts – was not used by cabs as drivers had to pay if they stayed more than 20 minutes.
A report said: “This issue has been discussed with Eden management on more than one occasion although no solution to the problem has been found.”
Tesco would not allow advertising because it has a deal with a private hire firm including a telephone in the store, a meeting heard.
And the council said it would cost too much to advertise inside the shopping centre.
Officer Caroline Steven said it had been made ‘very very clear’ to drivers that the rank would be removed if not used. The cabs are hailed without booking.
It will not be replaced elsewhere, she said, as there are other ranks taxis can use.
Though provided free at present, Eden would charge £4,000 a year to keep the rank, she said. This would be paid from licence fees but cash could be better spent on other issues, she said.
This includes enforcement work ‘which we rarely get to do’ she said. The authority can clamp down on drivers breaking terms of their licence.
She said: “It comes down to the fact that the trade are unhappy about the location of the rank, the lack of adverts and grace period.”
Drivers wanted the rank by the entrance barriers to the car park but this breached health and safety advice, she said.
“There is literally nowhere else to put the rank,” she said. They could drive into the car park and pick up fares like the private hire firm, she said.
But Councillor Mohammed Saeed said: “By removing this rank we are trying to remove a service. It does take time to build up business.
“Time should be given for the public to become aware that there is a service within the Eden car park.”
But Councillor Joel Foley said drivers had their ‘toys out the pram’ and rejected ‘the best, possibly the only, solution’.
Councillor Roger Colomb said: “I cannot understand, if they have got customers, they don’t give them little cards telling them where they will pick up in Eden.”
The regulatory and appeals committee voted through the closure last night.
The meeting also heard an update on changes to hackney carriages.
The council used to set a limit on the number of hackney licences at 50 for the district.
But this was scrapped last year and members heard there are now 85 licences.
Existing drivers slammed the move at the time, saying it would create too much competition and push too many taxis onto the streets.
But Hackney cab driver Ghulam Rasool said he is “not that fussed” by the council's decision to close the “pointless taxi rank” unless cabbies are given longer to wait on the first floor of Eden car park.
He said: “We're not really fussed because we were only given 20 minutes to wait on the second floor of the car park and all the business is on the first floor.
“It also takes five minutes to drive in and five out before we got charged to use the car park and there is no chance of getting a fare in 10 minutes, it was pointless.
“We asked the council for a rank on the first floor of the car park outside Tesco or longer to wait at the very least – that would work.”
source:
http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/48 ... _to_close/
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