Source: portsmouth.co.uk
Taxis steer clear of Gunwharf gate after being fined
Taxi firms are boycotting an area of Gunwharf Quays after being given fines for dropping people off there. Citywide and Aquacars have been told they are banned from entering the residential entrance at Gunwharf to pick up or drop off passengers who are not residents.
But as drivers find it difficult to prove whether their fare is a resident or not, the y have decided to stop serving the area altogether.
Consort Property Management, which manages the properties in the complex, has hired staff from parking enforcement firm Shoal to serve instant fines and has put up signs warning drivers.
Both taxi companies say they have racked up fines for picking up and dropping off passengers.
Bruce Hall, manager of Aqua Cars, is refusing to pay £2,500 in fines which Shoal has given its drivers.
He said: ‘How are the cab drivers supposed to prove that their customers are residents?
‘I feel sorry for them (the residents). I am not going to ask my customers for ID to prove they live there.’
Tony Jefferson, manager at Citywide, has received four fines of £120 which he is also refusing to pay.
He said: ‘We will not enter that area of Gunwharf. It has affected the customers because we can’t take them to their door.’
Consort Property Management said the decision to fine taxis was made after residents complained about late night noise disturbance.
But resident Jo Clark, 20, who lives in the Blue Building, said: ‘Taxis don’t park up here – they just pick up and drop off so I don’t have a problem with them. The only time I get a taxi is when it is raining so I would not be happy walking to Marks & Spencer to get it.
‘I don’t know how I would prove I was a resident here.’
Another resident, who didn’t want to be named, said: ‘I had no idea about the fines. I don’t understand why they are doing this.
‘We do get noise but it generally comes from the bars and clubs, not the taxis.’
Consort Property Management told The News that residents did not have to show ID, but that taxi drivers were asked to confirm the customer’s address before they allowed them into the taxi.
Mike Eames, from Shoal Enforcement, said: ‘Shoal has been contracted to enforce the parking terms and conditions on the private road at Gunwharf Residential Estate. Shoal Enforcement will follow these instructions in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the British Parking Association and the law
