The second meeting of the North Tyneside Hackney carriage & Private Hire Licensing forum took place today. There were several items on the agenda but time and chatterboxes were against us. We managed to talk for nearly two and a half hours on the subject of enforcement, encompassing insurance checks, vehicle checks, Taxi marshalls & traffic congestion on South parade, whitley bay.
There were one or two new members a police sergeant and a new enforcement officer, Graham Easton (who looks like he won’t take any crap). Mr.Easton was a Northumbria police officer for 30 years, the last 25 in Traffic so he knows a thing or two about roadside vehicle checks.
From mid December Taxi marshalls will be in place at South parade Taxi rank on Thursdays ,Fridays & Saturdays they will be wearing high vis. clothing and will be in radio contact with the police. The use of Taxi marshalls can be seen as a bonus to both Taxis and the travelling public, they will ensure that queues are orderly and lone female passengers can feel safe whilst waiting for a taxi. They will also ensure that the taxi shelter is not mis-used i.e. using it as a place for a smoke or a meeting place.
Parking of buses, wagons and large vans on south parade was also discussed. The police sergeant was also keen to see these removed as they cause obstruction at busy times and also restrict the usefulness of cctv and is looking into designated parking away from the busy areas for these types of vehicles.
At some point in the future some kind of traffic management is to be put in place for South parade, probably in the shape of a one way system to ease traffic flow making access simpler for everyone.
Mystery shoppers have been used exstensively over the last twelve months. It was stated that ‘dozens of PH & out of town plated vehicles’ had been approached and hirings had been attempted. Only 4 were tempted and subsequently charged with illegally plying for hire. This may sound good but the time of day and the requested fare have a lot to do with this. If approached at midnight on a Saturday and asked to take a fare from w/bay to monkseaton they will say ‘no’ and will wait for a fare to Blyth or some equally profitable fare. We were asked by the Chair, Colin McDonald for more information to help with enforcement and mystery shoppers. i.e. “was enforcement being carried out at the right times” this never got answered as one of the more long winded forum members went off on a tangent, I won’t name him here but suffice it to say the 1988 such and such act and paragraph such and such,section blah! blah! figured highly in his monologue, by which time everyone had forgotten what the question was. Well done Dave..oops!
We did ask that Hackney Carriages should also be targeted by mystery shoppers and it was also suggested that anyone who was mystery shopped should be informed of this by letter some days later.
It was agreed that more time was needed to discuss matters and it was decided that the next meeting should run for a period of three hours. I know that some members, including myself, would have liked to talk about vehicle specifications today and never got the chance so I would assume that the next meeting on 7th Dec. will probably be on the subject of vehicle spec.,types of vehicles,tinted glass,seating and loading.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Ill just reply
over here in
case of any
tangents lol
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
Hello Admin,
Well clearly you were not listening properly either like David Wilson, because if you had been you would of heard me say to Colin the Chairman, that we are living in a changing world with changing practices of the drinkers instead of it being 1900 till around 2400 hours, more Enforcement was needed between 2200 and 0300 hours at the weekends and somebody else said about it being required at Pizza Cottage, South Parade, Marine Garage unofficial Private Hire Illegal Rank etc. Then there was the reference to it being needed on dayshift through the week as well as at nights through the week, meaning total Enforcement resulting in more roadworthy vehicles and Insurance problems being addressed, as David Wilson confirmed with his post about he now accepted more Enforcement seems to identify less unroadworthy vehicles needing prohibition orders issued, or at least within North Tyneside it seems to be working.
I do accept I did take up quite a bit of the speaking rights today, but that is because I was the most knowledgable person to speak on the Enforcement Subject matters today, but other people did get there chance to shine today to. I also made my own notes to compare with Alan Newton`s set of Minutes he seemed to be writing about 3 pages from watching him write on his Greeny Blue Paper.
The next meeting on Vehicle Specification I can confirm I will not be as vocal about, as I think other people will have more to say on the subject than myself, but then again maybe people will just be shy and so I may have to take a leading role again, because today there were not many people willing to talk openly I found and so to get thing started I spoke, and so Sorry Admin for taking control of the Enforcement Issues today, I Apologise to you for that, as I did think I got the points we needed across well, but there were still 4 subjects relating to Enforcement that were not spoken on indepth, and so hopefully will be revisited at a later meeting, when reviewing the subject matter again.
Thanks
Dave Walls
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@David Walls,
Dave, my point was that random roadside checks, as previously undertaken by Berwick, achieved higher levels of compliance than the arrangements currently operated by North Tyneside Council! So, in a nutshell, I was saying the methods used in North Tyneside are not working as well as they could!
On the other hand, North Tyneside are currently far better than Northumberland.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@David Walls, Sorry Dave I must’ve nodded off at that point.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@Admin,
Hello Admin,
It is okay, as I do understand much of what I talk about is spoken in the legal terms of Acts of Parliament,and to some this may be very boring, but unfortunately it has to be spoken in such a way for the educated persons who were in the room to understand the relevance of what was being said on a subject matter.
Like I said in my origial post to you, sometimes the person in the room with the most knowledge needs to put other foolish people in there place, but I do think the Police and Ex-Police personel the Council now employ totally understood my points of relevance, about unroadworthy vehicles, and when I assisted the person who brought up insurance problems, also being down to the operator licence holder to ensure they followed the Road Traffic 1988 Act in relation to not “Cause or Permit” another person to use a vehicle that was not insured as part of their operating fleet, that Alan Fidler objected about, then there was the Private Hire Operator who objected about PHV`s and “Out of Town” Hackney Carriages parking in the Big Market of all places, when he could have said around North Tyneside, as we are not in control of the Big Market unless Newcastle have granted us that area of Newcastle to Enforce with our North Tyneside Ex-Traffic Officer.
I think you will agree I did a good presentation on Whitley Bay and the need to clear over 7500 tonnes Vehicles and Buses from South Parade, with the education of Hoteliers, then the New Signage needed for the Coach Park and Drop-Off/Pick-up Point for Coaches at the Avenue Pub Bus Stand away from South Parade aong with the need for South Parade to be made “ONE WAY” System and where the NO ENTRY Signage was to be placed to allow “Traffic Flow” with up Esplanade turn right on to Espalnade Place then right on to South Parade to be smooth and there will be “NO TURNS at the bottom of South Parade onto the Taxi Rank with North Parade also being made “One Way” upwards, to avoid “Traffic Flowing” down it causing blockages there.
This was all done with adlib, and not once did I get an Act of Parliament out to quote from it, as you well know, meaning I was as I say at yesterdays meeting the most knowledgable person who could address the Issues Properly for all the Drivers Concerned.
Thanks
Dave Walls
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@David Walls,
With 7500 tonnes vehicles in South Parade it’s a wonder any of us can get through!
The issues with South Parade are political will to do something, bureaucratic inertia (sometimes called cannot be a—d to get out and about in the cold and dark to sort the mess out) and finally no ‘brownie points’ available or boxes to tick on government survey forms.
Paint a few yards of pointless ‘Cycle lane’, as in the Bigg Market a few years ago, and you’ll get an invite to a Buck House Tea Party.
All South Parade needs is a few police officers or their PCSO acolytes ON FOOT patrolling from 3pm to 12mn, Fridays and Saturdays, to enforce the parking regulations and the use of a number of temporary ‘No Parking’ cones which could be purchased for exclusive use in that area.
A better use, perhaps, of the £13,000 it was suggested is being made available to the police to employ ‘Doorkeepers’ as Taxi Marshals when they finish work on the doors from 11pm – for about three months.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@alan fidler,
Hello Alan,
All I am going to say is, if you had come up with the idea it would be the best thing since sliced bread, but when a Hackney Carriage Proprietor, who knows what he is talking about, then it is not a good idea, with consideration given to New Signage to the Lorry and Coach Park, that should by the way be based at Briardene Carpark for both, as it will not disturb the Resident along there, when the Vehicles start there engines and the Double Glazing those houses have already will mean the Residents at the 3 Houses across the road should not be disturbed, and the new Camera System for Security at the Lorry and Bus Park will make a little used carpark, an asset to the Town once again.
Not to mention the Pickup and Dropoff Points for the Coaches in the Town Centre, probably the Avenue Pub Bus Stop, and outside HSBC on the Bus Stop meaning no congestion on South Parade, or Taxi Ranks.
It will as Sgt Foy said take time, if it ever happens at all.
It tells a story of do it your way Alan, or no way should it happen.
Thanks
Dave Walls
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@David Walls,
Hold on David, I never said a word at the Forum about your comments – my only intervention was to reiterate my view that taxi marshals are a ‘policing’ issue to be funded from anyone’s money but licence fees.
Your points on parking regulations for large vehicles (up to 7500 tonnes it seems), coaches being ‘directed’ (that is no choice matey)to Bournemouh Gardens and a possible revision of the traffic flows are all valid and could be enforced/ considered for adoption with the necessary will on the part of the relevant bodies.
My ‘four pennorth’ is not presented as a repudiation of your suggestions.
As a PH Driver I’m sick of being ‘moved on’ by Northumbria’s Finest whilst trying to pick-up legitimate fares outside premises on South Parade in amongst contractors vans, 52 seat coaches , Novelty Fire engines and the like.
You have a legitimate grievance about rank spaces – an opinion I have also expressed, as was noted in the Halcrow Report.
‘Peace and love’
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage TradeWell the latest grand exploits of newcastle licencing were to chase all newcastle hacks from the arena last night. Why?
this is after 3 weeks ago on the friday night, being moved off double yellow lines and TOLD to drive round the city looking for a rank space, and continue to do so untill one is found. Then the saturday, we were all told to turn off our ENGINES to SAVE the planet!
hounestly you couldnt make this stuff up! Is this just stupidity or are the council playing a game to wear the trade down, do this, do that, this is right thats wrong, its like they just DONT want drivers to know where they stand!
what happens if i refuse to turn off my engine on a quiet night when the temperature is practicly zero? theres no ‘no idoling signs’ where i park, will i get fined, yarked up in front of a committee? some drivers have said that they want us all to sit in one car, what happens if you dont like the other drivers !!!!
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@Andy Warhol, Remind your Council that they are asking you to commit an offence by leaving a hackney carriage unattended on a rank if 3 or 4 drivers sit in the same vehicle,also within the local transport plan the Council must install Taxi Ranks where the public need them, the Arena is obviously one of these places.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@Andy Warhol, I wouldn’t do it I’m not sharing chocolate liqueurs with anyone and I don’t want my car stinking of curry either.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
nice to see a luke self drive van with a parking ticket on tonight (Thurs)4 parking on the sth parade rank 1st one i have seen in ages so someone must be listening and taking notice of us hope its the 1st of many tickets and may be ppl will get the msg that they can’t park any where they like any more !!!!
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
@alan fidler,
Alan,
I think you should have gone to “spec savers” mate, as if you look at the big sign at the Briardene Carpark you will notice the reference to Coaches, and it is for that reason I suggest this Carpark, because it would only involve one Carpark needing CCTV Cameras, and not two needing them as the Larger Coach Park can cater for all size vehicles LGV or PCV you will find.
Keep up the good work of only believing what you want to, or maybe you have been contaminated by all the work on the SITA rubbish dump in front of your mates Garden, oh what a lovely view and smell that must have, but I did not think household rubbish could contaminate the Brain, but maybe it only effects the eye sight.
“Tongue and Cheek”
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade