Rossendale taxi bosses slam decision to throw out plan for new ranksFURIOUS taxi bosses have slammed a decision to throw out plans for three new taxi ranks.
Lancashire Police and Rossendale Transport were among those who objected to the proposals for Hackney carriage stands in South Street, Bacup.
David Lawrie, joint chairman of Rossendale Taxi Association, described the decision by licensing bosses at Rossendale Council as ‘nonsense’.
Members of the licensing committee turned down the plans for three separate stands to house three, six and two taxis.
They were rejected, despite having been given provisional permission in October and December last year.
Mr Lawrie said drivers would be appealing the decision.
He said: “The plan was to adopt six spaces opposite Pickup Street, three on the other side of the road, then two outside the Welcome Arms pub, with double yellow lines opposite all these spaces.
“For some reason the police thought the noise of people getting taxis in South Street would be a nuisance to residents 400 yards away.
“Because of this decision, that part of Bacup is going to be completely congested.
“Rossendale Transport objected saying they need 50 feet to turn a bus.
“The licensing manager tried to argue that there was no such thing as a ‘feeder rank’, but every rank in the world is effectively a feeder rank as when the front taxi leaves, the ones behind it feed along to fill up the spaces.
“There is no reason these stands couldn’t have been appointed and then revisited later if problems were found.
“The Association will be meeting before the next licensing committee meeting to contest this decision.”
Around 25 members of the public, many of them taxi drivers, attended the meeting in support of the rejected stands.
Another proposal, for five Hackney carriage spaces in King Street, Bacup, was approved despite eight objections.
Nobody from Rossendale Council’s licensing department was available for comment.
source:
http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/ne ... new_ranks/
Login
Register
FAQ
