Taxi Drivers Blame Badge Holders For Blockage
Friday 28th August 2009
A group of Salisbury taxi drivers is fed up with disabled blue badge holders blocking access to the taxi rank, preventing them from doing their job.
The issue came to a head on Tuesday when a car parked on double yellow lines at the start of the service road, which leads to the taxi rank in New Canal.
The obstruction led to nine taxis queuing onto New Canal for 40 minutes and parking on double yellow lines while they waited to get into the taxi rank, trapping a delivery van in the loading bay and making it difficult for buses to get past.
A civil enforcement officer issued a penalty notice and informed police but they said there was no one available to come out.
The taxi drivers were left with no option but to wait until another car, which was legally parked in one of the official disabled bays, left and allowed them to manoeuvre round the illegally parked car.
Nigel Crook, who has been a taxi driver for 16 years, said the problem has been ongoing for four or five years now and is always worse on Tuesdays and Saturdays, when the market is held.
Mr Crook said: “There’s disabled parking down at the end, near Sarum Jewellers, but when parking there gets filled up they start parking down the back road, blocking us from our place of work. It’s just becoming a joke.
“In the multi-storey there is a whole row on every floor reserved for disabled people. Why are people doing it when there are adequate disabled spaces provided in the car parks? A lot of people get out of their vehicles and go off shopping for two or three hours, if they can do that they can park in the multi-storey.
“When people go to the taxi rank and there’s no taxis because we can’t get to it they walk to another taxi rank, so we are losing money.
“When other cars are trying to come through, they start having a go at us to move, but there’s nowhere for us to move and we’re parked legally, trying to work.
“It’s a typical thing now, if you come here on a Tuesday or a Saturday you are going to get a lot of abuse. It’s very frustrating and it’s about time something was done about it.”
The taxi drivers are not the only ones concerned by blue badge holders’ parking.
WSB director Angus Shield said badge holders regularly park outside their office on Castle Street, partially blocking the entrance to the staff car park.
“It makes our emergence into Castle Street treacherous. We have to bring the car right out onto the pavement to see and then get locked on the pavement waiting for a gap. Someone’s going to get hurt.”
Despite complaining to the council and police, the taxi drivers have found there is not much they can do. A Wiltshire Council spokesman said enforcement officers often can not issue tickets because the badge holders are not in breach of traffic regulation orders and causing an obstruction would be a matter for the police.
However, if they see people park there they can advise them that they are parked illegally and call the police if they need to get somebody moved on.
A Wiltshire Council spokesman said: "While blue badge holders are permitted to park on double yellow lines, it is important they show consideration for other road users, and ensure they are not causing an obstruction. Our civil enforcement officers are patrolling the area on a regular basis, and will continue to do so."
No-one from Wiltshire Police was available to comment.
Source; SalisburyJournal.co.uk
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