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Judge rules over rival taxi row

by News admin on November 5, 2008 · 112 comments

in Berwick plates

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A judge has told Berwick Council to rethink its policy on taxi licences after Tyneside cabbies protested over an influx of rival operators.
Newcastle City Council brought the High Court case, complaining Berwick Council was issuing hundreds of licences which could be used anywhere in the UK.
The town has 672 licensed Hackney carriages, one for every 40 residents.
Berwick Council has now been advised by the court that is should only license taxis intending to operate locally.
The court heard the streets of Newcastle were flooded with Berwick-licensed taxis doing private hire work.
‘Local in character’
The border town’s cheaper and easier regime had seen a rapid increase from just 46 licensed Hackney carriages in April 2006, the judge was told.
The court heard Berwick licensed cabs were common in town’s across the North East and some drivers lived as far afield as the West Midlands, Wales, Liverpool, and Surrey.
Judge Christopher Symons QC rejected Berwick Council’s arguments that it is obliged by law to issue a Hackney carriage license to any applicant, so long as they and their vehicle are “fit”.
He said the taxi-licensing regime, which dates back to 1847, was designed to protect the public and was essentially “local in character”.
He said: “The licensing system should operate in such a way that the authority licensing Hackney carriages is the authority for the area in which those vehicles are generally used.”
“If the Hackney carriages are used in areas remote from Berwick, enforcement will be very difficult and impracticable.”
Judge Symons said his ruling would remain at the authority’s discretion.
A spokesman for Newcastle City Council said it was “delighted” with the outcome of the case.
Berwick Council said it was now preparing a new policy in light of the ruling.

VIEW FULL JUDGEMENT HERE:

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/7711503.stm

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{ 112 comments… read them below or add one }

gismobri August 18, 2009 at 1:43 pm

try working in blyth valley the council havent got a clue

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Stephen (FKA Central Enth.) November 21, 2008 at 12:25 pm

@mouse,
Do you kna wot it is eh????
We would like to see other Operators on here to discuss, challange or even abuse them!, but you cannot blame them when you BLT lot come on here slagging Mr shanks off, his business and his Cars!,
Why work there?
Why drive his Cars if they are so dangerous?
You know it’s no wonder Mr shanks nit picks his applicants, there is bloody good Lads & Lasses out there, that would maintain the image of his business better than you lot, but he is too scared to take them on, and I can see why!
Me & Central Parked get our opinion in now and then at home!, but we NEVER slag off Graeme day in and day out???
It would be grate to get a debate going with Mr Direct, Mr Eastcoast, Mr Battle Hill, Mr Lansdowne etc, because all these lot still want there Rent in this economic downturn and these ALL have Bandits working for them!!!!!!!!
Log on and go and work the Toon, their is a lot of NT coastal office Drivers that wish they could work the Toon all day!
YOU KNOW YOU LOT AND US CENTRAL LOT SHOULD STICK TOGETHER BECAUSE THE HACKS IN NC & NT WOULD’NT P155 ON US IF WE WERE ON FIRE!!
REGARDS
Stephen

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Knobhead November 21, 2008 at 10:53 am

@John, My point is that I may well consider a 8 passenger seat vehicle to be of such a size as to properly deliver a service to the travelling public.

The fact is though that different areas and different companies have different requirements, my mate had identified that the majority of journey’s he undertook only had 2 people travelling and throughout the 2 years he ran the vehicle had absolutely NO complaints to him, his office or the council.

Dictating minimum dimentions is required, but we must then accept that where a vehicle meets those dimentions that it is suitable to use.

I’m not saying that your wrong buddy, I’m just saying that your opinions and values of working practices are yours and what must be accepted is that other peoples opinions are equally valid.

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SC November 21, 2008 at 10:33 am

Mouse, I have disagree with you about the state of cars that Blue Line rent out. Last year I hit a young lad who ran out in front of me on the coast road, I happened to by a Blue Line loan car. As it was a bad accident (the lad wasn’t expected to live) the police seized the car to examine, the Police report came back stating “the car was maintained to the highest standard”. If you are in the position where a car Blue Line has supplied has an issue, you only have to take it to the garage to be put right. But as for drivers driving the nuts off them, its a sad fact of life that people tend not to look after stuff they dont own as well as they should

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mouse November 21, 2008 at 7:17 am

ian shanks why dont you take n.t.c to the high court if there are unreasonable!! and battle there with issues then. i have driven your sheds and some of them are a discrace and you did not lend me for free!! as some poor blokes insureance compamny paid 4 it through onhire i had to sign it and they charged his insurers £125 plus vat a day for a wreck that wernt safe to be on the road! as u dont know what is going on in yah own fleet of company cars i cant blame you personaly but the half yore company drivers dont give a toss!! it aint there car have you seen how there are driven!! you have not got a clue how they get ragged/thrashed to a inch of there lives all the time well some cases u do as they are written off when they crashed them or they come in more than often with brakes and tyres that needed to be replaced then u know who these drivers are coz they wont buy them.

p.s alan newton is a idiot we all know that and some issues can be resolved not all i rather deal with n.t.c than some tw@t in bewick or anywere else ian shanks u have the power with n.t.c with the drivers help but u pi55 us off so much we dont suport u as much as we wish because money talks we all have bills to pay time is short and i have a life like u ian i have kids and a wife to look after i do not want to spent more than 40 hours a week in my cab i think some of yore clientell needs to be looked at as in 45%anit worth pi55ing on if they were on fire the feeling is vice versa but i do the job to keep my family in bread and a roof over my head i am not looking to get rich i just dont want to worry about my bills .

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Deka November 21, 2008 at 4:43 am

Well i am not brainy by all means,but at the least we should all be allowed the same vehicles by the whole government of britain!
Ian Shanks has a point in when he says we should all be able to have similair cars etc!
SORRY FOR SHOUTING LADS ! BUT IF YOU LET THE COUNCIL WALK ALL OVER YOU,THEN WHAT CHANCE DO YOU HAVE!!!!!!!

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John November 21, 2008 at 1:23 am

Knobhead what is your point? you start off saying “What about an individual who buys a car they can afford which may be smaller than what you consider a decent size” then contradict yourself be saying “Rules and Regs are there for a reason, and that reason is for the benefit and safety of the public NOT solely for the benefit of the drivers”?

to answer your first question if you cant afford a car that is of a size that all passengers are comfortable in, then you should not by something smaller as the public deserve a standard of service.

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John November 21, 2008 at 1:14 am

btw Ian Shanks you still haven’t answered my question about Berwick meter rates, so I’ll ask it again.

As you are very keen to point out about “when Berwick becomes Northumberland” will you at that point allow your drivers who have a Berwick plate have the correct hack rates on their meters? because as it stands right now, you claim that hack drivers should be able to work anywhere as a private hire because they can still hack in their LA area, yet your lads clearly will not be if they dont have the correct rate on their meters! It also shows you done trust the Berwick lads not to flimp or rip off your customers if you insist they only have Blue Lines rate on their meters, yet let Newcaslte and North Tyneside hack have the correct tariffs and Blue lines on their meters

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John November 21, 2008 at 1:06 am

Ian, you did have a hatch back Toyota Corolla working from your office and you have got VW touran plated as a 6 seater, which if an old person was to get, they would struggle to use the rear seats. The point I am making is just because a car is passed by the ministry to transport has passed it as safe to be on the public road, doesn’t make it suitable for the general public to use as a taxi, as you have stated you would like the to be a national standard like buses? buses have a very strict accessibility/emergency exit criteria, so if a national standard was to be put in place, it maybe stricter then the LA have now.

As for tinted glass, I agree, its a crazy rule, which was no doubt put in place before the CRB check.

As for passing old sheds. You must agree that just because a car is only a couple of years old, it doesn’t mean its in good condition, if its been used as a taxi from new its going to be worn out after 3-4 years, which is why North Tyneside test twice a year (I think Newcastle test 3 time per year) yet Berwick only test once a year?

I am struggling to see how the fare paying public benefit from any of Berwick’s rules? It seems they have in place to ensure public saftey

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Captain Cab November 20, 2008 at 11:02 pm

@ian shanks, your dealing with the taxi trade, of course you have to spell things out! :)

I’m not disagreeing but pointing out the council policy may be challenged through the courts.

I would have thought a gentleman such as yourself with your undoubted knowledge of the system would pass on your beliefs to your local authority to iron out such issues before that need.

Your also suggesting in your post that a driver can afford a vehicle but not afford a trip to magistrates….£200? for magistrates and perhaps less if he’s a member of the NPHA and they think its a case worth pursuing?

Again, the point made is that some wish to circumvent the arguably more legal route on the back of an LA who has a guy running the licensing department who has a napoleon complex.

CC

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Knobhead November 20, 2008 at 10:57 pm

@John, What about an individual who buys a car they can afford which may be smaller than what you consider a decent size.
Your comments seem to be aimed at operators buying vehicles but please think about how your requests may effect other individuals. A mate of mine put a Vauxhall Astra hatchback on the road and it met the minimum dimentions with literally millimeters to spare, and by the way it wasn’t Berwick.

Rules and Regs are there for a reason, and that reason is for the benefit and safety of the public NOT solely for the benefit of the drivers.

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Knobhead November 20, 2008 at 10:49 pm

So whats being said about the local authority who declares their standards are higher than another but doesn’t trust the drivers they licence to the point that they don’t allow darkened or even blacked out windows.

Does this not say more about the regard of a person fitness and propriety to become a licensed driver and if a person should be considered as such are the public not to be assured that by getting into a taxi or private hire car that the driver will do them no harm.

I suppose what I’m saying is that if a council needs people to be able to see into a taxi or private hire vehicle to be sure that nothing illegal is taking place in there surely they should consider whether the person who holds the licence for the vehicle and the person who’s driving it be considered fit and proper.

Seems straightforward to me …………. but there again common sense usually is easy and straightforward.

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