Taxi Driver Online

Shopping centre management refuse Council officers request to lose face and withdraw from £22 k contract.

Now down to politicians to make their prescense felt.

I wouldn’t expect too much from you politicians. To go to War over this contract would cost a lot of money, and the law and justice are two different things.

If this ever does make it into court, and it’s fought on the cheap, under the wrong premise, your council will simply throw their hands in the air and say, “what can we do, we’ve tried.”

There may be other ways to bring about pressure on this shopping center lot but that would mean you and your mates taking direct action over a prolonged period. And to have any chance of winning you would have to get the public on your side, and that’s not easy.

If we refer across to the Pepipoo forum, there's been cases in there of private parking companies suddely charging for use of previously free car parks at shopping centres. After a lot of digging, it was found that the original plannin permission for the shopping centre was for FREE parking. Maybe have a look in the plannin g application for this centre to see what it says about the cab rank.

Also, the CC have recently ruled on freedom of access to all bus operators using bus stations owned by one company. The other companies may have to pay to use the facility, but the owning company no longer has the right to prohibit the operator the right of access.

When the shopping centre management co "sold out " to whoever, was that done on a tendered bid, did other companies have the chance to tender openly and freely for the contract? Or was it done by "brown envelopes"??

It's open for debate; airports, railway stations and ports are soemwaht different from shopping centres as railway stations have always been covered by different Acts as someone pointed out above. I know the Port of Dover gives right of access to certain bus operators who run sightseeing tours from Western docks, but AFAIK there's no restriction there on taxis using the place.

Good discussion with senior Councillors this morning regarding the way forward.
We await a report of all options from council officials by 4 pm Tuesday. Hopefully will include original planning conditions and how they were purified, though not specifically asked for.
Trade meeting organised for 7 pm to decide the best course of action.

Whatever politicians or Council can do or not the Trade has to show its collective strength and stand up and to be counted.
If it does it will win, if it lies down it cannot expect politicians or anyone else to.

The deal was never tendered or made public just announced as a fate accompli by taxi company.

Today the lines have been drawn, literally. Double yellows round the car park leaving just four rank spaces. A new remote feeder being set up elsewhere.

As one politician put it, yellow lines ! They might as well write Santas not coming if you park here for all the authority they have.

Exactly. double yellow lines on private property have as much meaning as a politician's promise. Why not just carry on ranking there anyway? there's very little they can do about it. After all, if the English police are anything to go by when we had wheel clamping, the standard reply was "it's a civil matter sir" and leave the 20 stone gorilla to clamp your car and demand money with menaces.

The only way they can keep other cabs out is by erecting barriers or getting an injunction on every driver.

Ploughed through most of cases and references and I may well have missed some crucial points.
But if anything it only highlights the differences in Scots Law and English Law.

The majority of the references anyway were to such as Railway property which have separate legislation and by laws, and it was in those that the judgements were mostly found.

In Scotland we have the Land Reform Act, and yes railways and airports are exempt.

Access rights
(1) (2)
(2A)
Everyone has the statutory rights established by this Part of this Act. Those rights (in this Part of this Act called “access rights”) are—
(a) the right to be, for any of the purposes set out in subsection (2A) below, on land; and
(b) the right to cross land.
The right set out in subsection (2)(a) above may be exercised only—
(a) for recreational purposes;
(aa) for the purposes of carrying on a relevant educational activity; or
(b) for the purposes of carrying on, commercially or for profit, an activity which the person exercising the right could carry on otherwise than commercially or for profit.

'Private land is private land'. Agreed but that means diddly squat in Law if restricting anyone access unless you own an airport a railway, a sports stadium or other specified places.

However, unfortunately

9. Conduct excluded from access rights
The conduct which is within this section -

bc) being on or crossing land for the purpose of taking away, for commercial purposes or for profit, anything in or on the land;
d) being on or crossing land in or with a motorised vehicle or vessel (other than a vehicle or vessel which has been constructed or adapted for use by a person who has a disability and which is being used by such a person);

Taxi protest stops traffic


ANGRY cabbies fear their livelihoods are being put at risk by plans to alter the town's busiest pick-up point.

As of yesterday only drivers working for Clydebank Taxis will be allowed to pick up passengers from the taxi rank in the Coldstream North car park meaning other cabbies will be forced to pay an extra £80 a week if they want to work that patch.

Some of the town's frustrated drivers have now warned the measures will lead to increased traffic congestion in the surrounding area bringing it to a standstill and have said the customers will be burdened with the impact as well.

More than 40 furious cabbies also recently staged a protest which saw them switch off their engines for an hour to highlight the potential knock-on effect for residents and staged a drive-through to show the impact on the area's traffic routes.

Last week, one taxi driver who didn't want to be named, told the Post: "If we are being kept out of the Asda rank we will have to Drive up Coldstream Road and see what happens. If there's 50 cars driving up Coldstream Road they will be consequences.

"A group of drivers got together and the aim was to show, A, what would happen to the rank with nobody in there to pick them up, and B, what would happen with the cars on the public road.

"It will just block up the roads all day and nobody will be able to get into the Asda car park.

"The protest certainly showed the solidarity of drivers - there was at least three different kinds of operating groups along with independent street cars - and it showed the consequences of keeping 40 odd cars out of the rank.

"It's their livelihoods - That rank is the main source of income all day, where do these 40 cars go?

"In and around the shopping centre is where the hires are. Going in and out of there is their main source of income.

"Now we'll get charged £80 to drive in and work where we have always worked.

"It's very difficult the drivers are being squeezed for various reasons. The town is a struggling economically, from an entertainment perspective there's very little going on in Clydebank. The taxi trade suffers from that, all we have got left is trade from the shopping centre during the day that's why we have got concerns."

Clydebank Taxis is owned by transport tycoon and Rangers investor James Easdale. No one from the firm was available for comment when the Post went to press on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for West Dunbartonshire Council said: "Our Licensing Team was made aware on Tuesday afternoon that Clydebank TOARS Ltd had entered into a private agreement with Clyde Shopping Centre that the taxi rank located in Coldstream North car park would be for their sole use.

"This was confirmed to us by the centre manager the following day. We are considering this matter and seeking to find a satisfactory resolution."

A spokesman for the police said the recent protest was peaceful and passed without incident.

source: http://www.clydebankpost.co.uk/news/rou ... -traffic-/

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

So, if you go and wait on the "forbidden rank" what's the worst that can happen? The land owner can't fine you; they can't clamp or sieze your car; they could ask you politely to leave. they could sue you for damages for trespass, but in my opinion they'd be onto a loser there as the cost of damages for trespass would outweigh the amount of damage your car causes by "trespassing" on their road!

Unless the laws of trespass are different in Scotland.

There is no trespass law up here.
What they should do as someone mentioned regarding the stations is check with the council planing as to if a rank was agreed at the planing stage, if there was they are free to rank

No such thing as trespass in Scotland.
And a court would not entertain such a trivial loss as damage to the car park surface.
If their loss was due to filling up car park spaces they would have to prove the car park was full at the time and as the centre comprises 4 car parking areas in total, which have never reached collective capacity in 30 yrs I doubt it.

So whilst those who have succumbed sit in a remote feeder rank watching a telly, the strong minded independent can sit in a nearby parking space or on the double yellows if they are so minded and move into a rank space as soon as it is vacated.

That is until the Centre barrier off a rank. Assuming they don't need planning to do that.

But then with all the phone and app hires, not to mention the out of town PH pickups, in all the confusion who knows where this will end up.

Day 1 Wednesday 1st May.

Taxi trade turned up as usual to ply for hire this morning. Holding pen removed, two ranks removed and replaced with double yellow lines. Single space rank at head of line increased to four.
Approved cars displaying new badges were ranked up in a remote pen controlled by one man with a radio, non approved cars drove straight into the old ranks.
Cones put out, which the police told marshals to remove.
After some disputes arose between drivers, fuelled by approved cars base instructions to jump queue a compromise was reached and non approved cars sat adjacent to holding pen and funnelled into ranks. Each respecting the others position in rank. Eventually the holding pen was opened to all.

Day 2

Same arrangement but Parking charge notices were handed out to 'non approved' cars sitting in line with ' approved' cars.
By 11am this ceased either at police request or they ran out of tickets.
New game started at the new four space rank at the head of the line.
Rank is coned of and as a non approved car approaches a parking attendant place a cone in at back of rank.
Driver gets out and moves cone, then drives in.
Parking attendant has done his job, all drivers are in line picking up hires, no more tickets.

You're doing well Cabhappy, but I think you are going to need to get a bit proactive. Have you thought about printing up flyers and handing them to shoppers, telling the customers about what's going on?

You only need to explain that the Shopping center is trying to restrict taxis in an attempt to sell, the customer on to this radio fleet for profit.You could do it on rotation. All of you could chip in a pound or so to cover the driver for his time for handing out leaflets at the rank or just pay a couple of guys to do it for you.

Oh and remember, once you have the punter in the back of your taxi you have a captive audience, hand them a leaflet and explain what the shopping center is up to and ask for their support by signing your petition.

Then take it up to your council and hand it in, they love public support when they can get it.

Yes skull being printed as we post. Great deal from local company.

Took your point about the customer being treated as some sort if commodity to be sold off to the highest bidder.
Very much the message being sent out.
Open letter also sent for publication In local paper.

Every customer I picked up this morning could tell me the already knew something from another driver so drivers are getting the message out.

Council criticises Clyde Shopping Centre over new taxi rank policy

The Convener of Licensing at West Dunbartonshire Council has criticised Clyde Shopping Centre for signing an exclusive deal with a local taxi firm that will ban other drivers from using its busy taxi rank.

The measure became public earlier this month and since then senior Council managers have been seeking to persuade Helical Bar PLC, the London owners of the centre, to reconsider their decision.

The Council fears the new arrangement with Clydebank TOARS Ltd will have a negative impact on other taxi drivers in West Dunbartonshire and wants a balanced playing field for all local businesses.

Councillor Lawrence O'Neill said: "I am of course extremely disappointed regarding the stance taken by Helical Bar as well as the lack of consultation with the Council or the local trade prior to concluding the agreement.

"I have asked the Clerk to the Licensing Committee to write to the Scottish Government to ask them to give power to Councils to regulate access to taxi ranks created on land that is not within the Council's control. I remain willing to meet with any trade representatives to discuss the issue and consider any other potential solutions that would allow all drivers to ply for their trade without restriction in Clydebank."

Since news of the taxi rank policy was announced, Councillor O'Neill has worked with senior Council managers to exhaust every available legal option to prevent the agreement proceeding.

He added: "I am advised that the Council ceased to have control over the operation of the Clyde Shopping Centre taxi ranks on the commencement of the lease. As the Shopping Centre has control over the car park, it can exercise control over the operation of the taxi ranks. Legal officers have studied the lease of the car park to ascertain whether there is any clause in it that would either require the consent of the Council as landlord to the contract entered into by HB or that would enable the Council to hold HB in breach of the lease. Unfortunately no clauses could be relied upon. Similarly legal officers were again asked to consider whether any other legal remedy might be available to the Council including looking at the possibility of interim interdict. Again, most unfortunately, the advice concluded that there were no legal options open to the Council that might have a reasonable prospect of success."

Throughout discussions with the Council Helical Bar have clearly stated that they believe they have a binding agreement in place and are intending to implement that agreement.

Page last update: 10 May 2013

http://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/counci ... -releases/

Warning sent : this is what happens in Clydebank Taxi owners home town viewtopic.php?f=12&t=21989&p=275761&hilit=Inverkip#p275761