Taxi Driver Online

£50,000 cost order after taxi court case


A taxi driver who took Lancaster City Council to court over the word “taxi” printed on her vehicle has lost her case.

Elleran Willcock has been ordered to pay £52,500 in court costs after a judge ruled she was wrong in objecting to the council’s request to remove the word.

But Elleran’s partner Peter Hobart said the couple were now hoping to appeal against the decision, after getting support from the National Private Hire Association, who said they would be taking the matter on.

Bryan Rowland, the association’s general secretary said he was shocked by Judge David Waksman QC’s ruling at the High Court in Manchester on Thursday, and has demanded a full copy of his decision.

He added: “She bought the car with the signage on it, and the council licensed it seven times, then out of the blue they say ‘you’ve got it wrong, get it off’.

“It’s obscene behaviour. If they’re going to suddenly change things, surely they have a requirement to tell people properly.”

It is claimed the powers the council used to order the removal were incorrect.

Mr Hobart said: “This makes a total mockery of democracy. We’ve done nothing wrong and it should never have come this far.

“There should be some kind of middle ground we can work towards with the council.”

City council chief executive Mark Cullinan said: “I agree this matter need never have gone to court.

“The council tried on numerous occasions to get this matter settled in advance of court but the claimant insisted on going to court.”

source: http://www.lancasterguardian.co.uk/news ... -1-5591021

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Democracy ? Its a ph not a taxi

I'm not too sure - they license saloons in Lancaster

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Suppose,i was thinking it was on ph but i suppose it could be a Hackney saloon.

how silly of her did nobody explain a ph license is no taxi license to her i no beleve some one so stupid to chalendge a council an it not like she just start either she bee cab for a while

how often do they test? Are we looking at possibly three and a half years of testing and enforcement getting it wrong? If so I feel, although technically she is wrong, so are they to a certain extent. The court costs should reflect that, surely.

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My heart is heavy, but my consience clear,
I voted Yes, without any fear.

COUNCILLORS have decided that Lancaster City Council chief executive Mark Cullinan did not contravene any of the authority’s policies or procedures when he got involved in a late-night row with a taxi driver.

The council’s personnel committee made the ruling after meeting in private to consider a complaint from Andy Kay, chairman of Lancaster City Hackney Drivers’ Association.

The complaint was not upheld, and committee members also decided that the incident had no impact on Mr Cullinan’s role with the authority.

Mr Cullinan was with a friend, Graham Atkinson, who claimed he had been hit in the leg by a taxi, driven by Andrew Chapman, in a car park on North Road, Lancaster, at about 2.26am on April 23. Police investigated, but decided to take no further action.

Mr Chapman filmed the two men immediately after the alleged incident, and the video was then placed on Youtube, where Mr Cullinan posted three comments.

Mr Chapman filmed the two men immediately after the alleged incident, and the video was then placed on Youtube, where Mr Cullinan posted three comments.

Mr Cullinan also invited interested parties to come and see photos of Mr Atkinson’s alleged injuries on Morecambe Town Hall steps.

Mr Kay said that Mr Cullinan’s actions were inappropriate for getting involved in passing comment, and for making comments on the YouTube video, which has attracted more than 1,100 hits.

Following the personnel committee meeting, Mr Kay received a letter from Sarah Taylor, the council’s head of governance, who said that the committee “came to the view that the complaint has no impact on Mr Cullinan’s role as chief executive, and does not contravene the city council’s policies and procedures”.

Coun Paul Gardner, the committee’s chairman, said he was unable to comment on what was said during the meeting.

A council spokeswoman said it did not comment publicly on matters relating to individual employees.

Mr Kay said he planned to report the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman.

See this is what happens when folks don't think.

At the beginning having had the stickers for all those years it might seem a tad wrong if the council asked them to be removed, but if the vehicle wasn't a taxi then the council had no option other than to ask for removal.

Just because the council got it wrong seven times doesn't, IMO, mean they must keep getting it wrong.

And for the legal bill to be £52,000 to date, which I guess doesn't include their own costs, is complete and utter f***ing madness.

What it needed was for them to come onto TDO at the start and I've no-doubt folks would have said stop being a tit and change the stickers, it really ain't worth all the grief.

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IDFIMH

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

“The council tried on numerous occasions to get this matter settled in advance of court but the claimant insisted on going to court.”

complete madness

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

having gone through a few sets of licensing committee minutes - I must draw the conclusion that the cab trade in Lancaster do appear to be retarded.

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

A quick example of how councils work;

MOGO is a company that advertises each month in PHM - http://www.mogo.co.uk/

They sponsor NALEO events - where licensing officers attend and in turn get their councils to purchase MOGO products - of course these products cover more than just taxi and private hire - they include other licensing functions.

this was minuted on the Lancaster city council website from minutes taken in feb 2011


82.

New Door Signs

A representative from MOGO has been invited to attend the meeting to answer questions from the committee regarding the signage which they provide to licensing.

Minutes:

The Licensing Manager advised the committee that a representative had been invited from MOGO (Mr Gerald Hart) to attend the meeting to answer questions from the committee regarding the signage which they provide to licensing. It was reported that complaints had been received regarding the new door signs provided by MOGO.

Mr. Hart advised the committee that MOGO had been supplying local authorities since 1994, and currently supplied door signs, badges and plates to 222 local authorities. Mr. Hart advised that MOGO had supplied 13,100 door signs in 2010 and that they had never received a single complaint in the past. Members were informed that MOGO had experimented using different brands of polish, and that the only thing which they had found which would remove the print from the door signs was t-cut.

Mr. Hart advised the committee that he had contacted some of the local authorities to which MOGO provided door signs, South Lakeland District Council, Craven District Council and Chorley Borough Council had all responded to say that they had not experienced any problems with the door stickers. Copies of these responses were circulated to members for information. The Licensing Manager advised that she had contacted 848 Taxis and Coastal Taxis, who had both indicated that they were pleased with the new door signs. The Licensing Manager also advised that out of approximately 400 vehicles which had been issued with the new door signs only 3 or 4 drivers had reported issues with the stickers.

Members considered examples and photographs of the damaged door stickers which had been provided by members of the trade.

Members queried whether MOGO had begun to manufacture the door signs from different materials from the previous examples provided. It was advised that this was not the case, and that MOGO always used industry standard materials.

The Licensing Manager advised that she had contacted Signs Express to enquire as to whether they had experienced any problems with the adhesive on the door signs. It was advised that Signs Express believed there would only be a problem with the adhesion of the door signs if the vehicle had not been cleaned adequately before application of the sticker, or if there was a thin layer of frost on the surface of the car when the sticker was applied.

The Chairman thanked Mr. Hart for his attendance on behalf of the committee.

Of course the taxi and private hire trades pay for all of this.

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

This is the ultimate penalty for a private hire driver or proprietor that thinks his PHV is a taxi!

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

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