Inverness cabbies plead for halt to licence ‘free for all’
FURIOUS taxi drivers, who are struggling to make a living, are demanding urgent action to curb the number of operators in Inverness.
With more than 300 taxi drivers and only 30 full-time rank spaces in the city, drivers say enough is enough.
Despite holding a high-profile demonstration outside the Town House almost two years ago, Vic Rawlins, chairman of Inverness Taxi and Private Hire Association, says nothing has changed and that “feelings are running very high” amongst taxi drivers.
They want fresh talks with Highland Council to address the problem and the issuing of licences to stop.
Mr Rawlins says the situation is exacerbated at weekends when taxi drivers from as far afield as Thurso come down to Inverness to work, without knowledge of the local area.
“We are open to meet the council at their earliest possible convenience to resolve the issue, to find a common ground and move forward,” he said. “We want the council to sit down and talk with us. Then we will go to the drivers and say okay ‘there is a meeting’ or ‘no, there isn’t’ and ask them what they want to do.”
He would not comment on what action drivers would take if talks fail.
Archie Petrie, an independent taxi driver and member of the association, does not think the situation can go on.
“The biggest single failure is the council – they fail to acknowledge that they are not providing sufficient rank space but continue taking money and issuing licences,” he said. “When we approached them to see if there was any way of reducing the number of taxi licences they hid behind the European legislation that everyone has the right to work.”
James Aitken, of Kinmylies, has been a taxi driver for 10 years and says he and his colleagues are living on the breadline.
“The current situation is dire – I can’t put it strongly enough,” he said.
“We are now making part-time wages, it’s absolutely shocking. We’ve just had enough.”
Talks between the association and council took place almost three years ago but Mr Rawlins said they were just paid “lip service” and nothing ever materialised.
However, he hoped fresh talks might help resolve the situation.
A spokeswoman for the council said it would be happy to meet and discuss concerns if the association gets in touch.
A taxi driver licence from the council costs £224 per year, while a taxi operator’s licence, for a company, costs £349 annually.
source:
http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news ... y.php/aid/
Login
Register
FAQ
