Taxi Driver Online

i have been refused a taxi plate because my council have a restricted number of taxis. no plate has been issued in 17 years ( they are worth £35-£40,000) last survey was done 3 years ago and a new 1 is to be done this year. the licensing committee where new councilors who where out of their depth where taxis and p/h where concerned ,they had to be told the difference . they barely discussed my application and refused it. as i represented myself i found the commitee took advantage of this and asked me no questions about the trade and how it operated. i did write up a brief history of the local taxi trade and how it operated as a cartel supporting my case but they barely took time to read it

i can appeal to the crown court but i have no idea in how to go about this or indeed the costs involved . is there anyone who can give me advice on this issue.

many thanks
jon

Did you get a letter telling you exactly why the council refused your application?

Can you tell me exactly when the last survey took place, not ness when the council decided on it?

Has your council got a survey firm ready to go, or are they in the tendering process, have they set aside the funds for a survey, or are they just dragging it out?

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IDFIMH

Now to the likes of the GMB, T&G and NTA, that's heaven on earth.

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IDFIMH

thank you for your response.

i got a letter formally rejecting my application. it would appear there is no reason for my refusal no mentioning of no unmet demand .

on your second question the last survey was done between sept and dec 2004 and a final report submitted to the council in feb 2005

of the final question , i have been told that a survey will be undertaken in sept of this year and a tendering process will take place .i have been led to believe that the survey cost will be met by the hackney carriage licence holders with a increase in their fees .

So basically you feel you have some god given right to something that others in the trade have obviously had to pay big money for?

This is not a dig at you but why do you feel you are deserving of a free plate?

I'm not saying the situation is right but long term you'd probably end up paying more in court fee's than of you'd gone out a bought a plate.

If the refusal doesn't say you were refused on the grounds of 'no significant unmet demand', then the council are acting outside of the law.

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IDFIMH

If that happens then your council is in a good position to defend any action you take against them.

Unless you can prove the survey is flawed.

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IDFIMH

Remind me, how many plates aren't issued for free?

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IDFIMH

I think this could be similar to Edinburgh, but surly the cost of the survey must be met by the council and not come from licence fee's
Another case for JD against headless chickens and the we know best brigade

Ps what area do you live and tend to work jon

No licenses issued in 17 years ...................... so how many licenses are issued?

Obviously, as an advocate of council control via restriction regarding all policies I would suggest that a survey be held to asses demand for HC services ................. and if that survey recommends that 1000 need to be issued then a 1000 are released. However if 30 are needed I see little point in issuing 1000 or the further 970 will lead to no-one making money, and your exercise being fruitless as you will go bankrupt with everyone else.

Are you requesting plates for WAV or any vehicle type ................... what is your councils current policy ................... would you get a WAV if that were a requirement ................ would you buy a new WAV if that was a requirement?

I think that the right people should be driving the right number of cabs .......................... I think the council should be able to properly undertake the enforcement required to fulfil the licensing function in the best interest of the public.

But maybe your just like the dereg mob, and want a plate regardless of consequence ............... and maybe your happy to let your council release plates without ensuring they are in proper control by having adequate staff to ensure real enforcement/

Oh and don't think for one minute that all those who hold a plate got it for nothing (regardless of how Sussex likes to try and claim that they have), I suggest that most paid for them, and have committed themselves financially to make that purchase.

B. Lucky

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"Here's a simple solution. If you don't want to pay more for a premium service then wait in the queue, problem solved".
Skull on TDO

TF pi$$ed on his chips.

Eh??

Well councils generally issue plates for "free", except in a few cases when newly issued plates aren't quite so free, such as Edinburgh.

So either all plates are issued for free, or people like jon would be paying a bit more.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

the reason i had applied for a plate was simple, for some form of security in my work .

i pay £160 a week for rental of my plate i have no problem with this but my problem is the lack of security, i had 3 plates in 1 month . 1 was sold at a weeks notice another was taken from me because i did not work for a certain company and the 3rd was taken off my car at 1 HOURS NOTICE .

how can a driver plan ahead when this occurs ( i was going to buy a new car for the job but have shelved it ) when plate owners are acting in this way .

as to how many plates are issued there are 169 ,7 being seasonal. i can not reveal where i live as i have upset a few people and i am expecting to lose my plate for the audacity to apply in the legal way for a plate

You don't have to defend why you should have a plate.

You should have a plate for the same reason that 72% of the country's taxi owners, and 100% of the country's PH owners have one i.e. you go down to your council and get one on demand.

See there are some folks on here that think you are second class because you only jockie a cab. But many on here don't, thankfully.

What is really sad is that there are unions in the cab trade that actually celebrate you being treated as second class. But I'm pretty certain all the time Taxi Driver Online is going folks on here will show up those unions for what they are i.e. a f***ing disgrace.

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IDFIMH

Can you just tell me exactly what your refusal letter said, if not on here then via the PM function?

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IDFIMH