MIDDLESBROUGH COUNCIL
EXECUTIVE REPORT
INDIVIDUAL EXECUTIVE DECISION
Development of Hackney Carriage Ranks
Executive Member for Community Protection: Councillor Julia Rostron
Director of Environment: Mike Robinson
21 December 2010
PURPOSE OF THE REPORT
1. To consider the results of the informal consultation following requests for hackney carriage ranks at various locations.
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
2. That the Executive Member approves the publication of statutory notices for hackney carriage ranks at the following locations:
· Near to the North Ormesby Working Men’s Club.
· Near to the Cargo Fleet Club, Cargo Fleet Lane.
· Near to the Fountain/Ormesby Club and Institute, High Street, Ormesby.
· Near to the Park Hotel, Linthorpe Road.
· Near to the Inn off The Park/Central Park, Linthorpe Road.
· Near to Middlesbrough No 1 Amalgamated Club (Four Halls) Prescott Road, Priestfields.
· Proposed rank at Middlesbrough Leisure Park, close to the underpass near France Street car park.
· Relocation of rank from Ormesby Road outside Kwiksave to the southbound side of the road, outside Pallister Park car park,
and authorises the designation of ranks at these locations subject to any objections received.
3. That the Executive Member determines that no further action will be taken in respect of ranks at the following locations:
· Crossfell Road
· Near to the Majestic Bingo Club, Longlands Road
IF THIS IS A KEY DECISION WHICH KEY DECISION TEST APPLIES?
4. / It is over the financial threshold (£75,000)It has a significant impact on 2 or more wards / X
Non Key
DECISION IMPLEMENTATION DEADLINE
5. For the purposes of the scrutiny call in procedure this report is
Non-urgent / XUrgent report
BACKGROUND AND EXTERNAL CONSULTATION
6. There are 348 hackney carriages and 446 private hire vehicles and 1050 drivers licensed by Middlesbrough Council (December, 2010).
7. Under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 the local authority may appoint ranks for hackney carriages on the public highway, or any private land with the consent of the land owner. It can also specify the number of hackney carriages permitted at the rank. As towns and cities develop the need for hackney carriage ranks varies requiring review of ranks in line with changing business and customer demands.
8. Before appointing any hackney carriage rank, or varying the number of spaces on ranks, the Local Authority must give notice to the Police and give public notice by way of an advertisement in at least one local newspaper. The Local Authority must take into consideration any objections or representations in respect of the proposal, which must be made within 28 days of the publication of the notice.
9. A council may not appoint any hackney carriage stand which would:
· Unreasonably prevent access to any premises, or
· Impede the use of any points (bus stops) for the taking up or setting down of passengers, or
· Interfere unreasonably with access to any station or depot to any passenger road transport operator.
10. Once a length of highway is designated as a hackney carriage rank, it is an offence for other vehicles, including private hire vehicles and private cars to park on the rank without reasonable excuse. The designation must therefore be cognisant of the effect that this has on other road users.
11. There is a Byelaw in place under the Section 68 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 which requires Hackney Carriages when not hired to proceed to a hackney carriage rank. This Byelaw became effective in 1969 when there were fewer hackney carriage vehicles and less demand for ranks. There are currently 348 Hackney Carriages and there are spaces for some 150 vehicles. It is not feasible to provide a rank space for every hackney carriage vehicle and in all the locations where customer demand requires. In view of this, a pragmatic and proportionate approach is taken to the enforcement of this Byelaw. No action is usually taken over Hackneys not returning to ranks unless they are causing an obstruction or public safety problem. Overcrowding of existing, popular ranks occurs at peak times and may last several hours and again, enforcement action is taken where public safety and obstruction issues arise, and when officers are undertaking out of hours enforcement. It is accepted that when officers are not working out of hours, this overcrowding of the ranks continues.
12. This situation is not unique to Middlesbrough. Local authorities nationally do not provide rank spaces for all their hackney carriage fleet and similar issues arise. Many do not carry out the same level of enforcement activity as Middlesbrough.
13. A number of requests have been received for ranks to be appointed at various locations in Middlesbrough. Upon receipt of these requests, a period of informal consultation has been undertaken with a number of interested parties to assess the requirement for the rank and whether there are any pubic safety issues to be considered. This informal consultation was carried out to ensure that only those ranks which are considered to be feasible, from a public safety perspective, and necessary, on the grounds that they are used by the public and the trade, are progressed to the formal public notice consultation stage.
14. There is also an ongoing review of the town centre ranking arrangements which are being addressed by recommendations in an independent report commissioned by the Council to undertake this work. These will be progressed in due course, as a package independent of the rank reviews proposed in this report.
15. The rank requests to be considered and the period of consultation are detailed in the paragraphs below. The results of the consultation are attached as Appendices 1- 4 and are also discussed below. It should be noted that a private hire operator gave a generic consultation response to all the requested ranks which stated that consideration should be given to the findings of the TPI report which details proposals for the development of night time town centre ranking arrangements, the acceptable walking distance to a rank and piecemeal approaches to rank development. This PH operator also has expressed concern that if the ranks are established then they should not be marked out in such a way as to prevent access to premises by PHVs. This response will be considered in relation to the proposed development of the ranks.
16. Ranks have been requested by the H.C. Association in the following locations:
· Near to the North Ormesby Working Men’s Club
· Near to the Majestic Bingo Club, Longlands Road
· Near to the Cargo Fleet Club, Cargo Fleet Lane
· Near to the Fountain/Ormesby Club and Institute, High Street, Ormesby
· Near to the Park Hotel, Linthorpe Road
· Near to the Inn off The Park/Central Park, Linthorpe Road.
· Near to Middlesbrough No 1 Amalgamated Club (Four Halls) Prescott Road, Priestfields.
17. These ranks have been requested by the Hackney Carriage Association which represents approximately 130 drivers and vehicle proprietors. For a number of years, informal short term ranks have operated in all of these locations at times of peak demand which is generally determined by the businesses operating in these locations. Recent complaints from one private hire operator that Hackneys should be prevented from parking except on an official rank has led to these requests. Appendix 1 summarises the consultation responses received.
18. Consideration has been given to the consultation responses received regarding these ranks. Regarding the request for a rank at the Majestic, following observations of the informal rank which currently operates in this location, concern has been expressed in relation to road safety regarding the formalisation of a rank at this location. The informal rank currently operates satisfactorily with minimal impact on traffic primarily because the taxis using it park almost wholly on the footway and they operate over two very short time periods, not usually exceeding 20 minutes each day. If the rank was formalised, it would need to be marked on the carriageway rather than the footway. The presence of stationary vehicles in the nearside lane at this location would present a significant safety hazard, particularly given that forward visibility is limited due to the road alignment and drivers are regularly recorded driving in excess of 43mph between 8 pm to 10 pm. It is considered that the current informal method of operation presents less risk to public safety than to install a rank where the vehicles would fully obstruct the carriageway. This risk is considered acceptable in terms of traffic management, especially given the operation is not at times of peak traffic. On this basis, no action is proposed, provided that it does not result in problems in terms of obstructing pedestrian movements on the footpath. Should any public safety concerns arise in the future then this approach will be reviewed. Police raise no concerns about the current arrangement.
19. This site has been the cause of some complaint from one private hire operator whose position has been that no ranking should be allowed unless an official rank is provided. Given that there are no significant road safety issues with the current arrangement and no interference with the private hire trade because private hire vehicles park on the Majestic site, immediately outside the door, then no further action is proposed.
20. It is proposed that the above ranks are progressed to the public notice stage, with the exception of the rank request for near to the Majestic Bingo Club.
21. Proposed rank at Middlesbrough Leisure Park, close to the underpass near France Street car park. This is a popular location for hackney carriages to park to collect fares on match days. Licensing Officers have monitored this location and carried out enforcement as at peak times the number of hackney carriages vehicles parking in this location results in congestion and obstruction of the flow of traffic at the traffic lights on Marton Road. Installing a rank in this location will assist in controlling the number of vehicles which operate at peak times and enable effective enforcement to be carried out. Appendix 2 summarises the responses received during the period of consultation.
22. It is considered that a rank in this location will be beneficial in providing a short term service to assist with dispersing football fans before and after a match. The provision of a rank in this location is sufficiently far away from the Riverside stadium to avoid pedestrian and vehicle congestion in close proximity to the stadium. It is proposed that this rank is progressed to the public notice stage.
23. Relocation of rank from Ormesby Road outside Kwiksave to the southbound side of the road, outside Pallister Park car park.
Currently, this rank serves as a feeder to the informal rank operating on Morrision’s supermarket land. However, the vehicles on the rank are facing against the flow of the traffic and when pulling off from the rank they cross the flow of traffic. The Transportation and Design Service supports the relocation of the rank to the southbound-side of the road on the grounds of improved highway safety. There have been no objections to this proposed rank. It is proposed that this rank is progressed to the public notice stage.
24. Provision of a rank at the lay-by on the Southern side of Crossfell Road, close to the Neptune Centre.
This rank was requested by a private hire operator on behalf of the hackney carriage drivers who operate through their company. Appendix 4 summarises the responses received during the consultation period. Concern has been raised by the Schools Integrated Transport Service as the proposed location for this rank is currently used by buses which deliver and collect children to the Neptune Centre for swimming lessons. They are unable to identify another safe location from where the school buses could operate. This view is supported by the Transportation and Design Service. The Hackney Carriage Association and Middlesbrough Owner Driver’s Association object to this rank on the grounds that there is already a rank on Ormesby Road and within Morrisons. Four residents have also objected to this rank. The Police also objected to this rank on the grounds that it would be obstruct the view of those using the pedestrian crossing in this location. In view of the concerns raised through the consultation process, it is proposed that this rank should not be progressed.
25. Morrisons have declined to comment formally but expressed satisfaction with the current arrangement.
EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT
26. An initial Equality Impact Assessment has been carried out and no differential impact of the proposed rank developments have been identified which would have an adverse impact on diverse groups.
OPTION APPRAISAL/RISK ASSESSMENT
27. The primary concern for the Licensing regime is that of public safety. Whilst the safety of the travelling public is paramount, consideration must also be given to the safety of licensed drivers.
28. The Council have a discretionary power to designate hackney carriage ranks on the highway.
29. By installing a rank in the locations requested hackney carriages are permitted to rank up and wait for customers in the locations designated by the local authority. Customers also become familiar with locations where hackney carriages can be sought.
30. If the Council choose not to appoint stands in the requested locations, it is likely that hackney carriages will continue to park up in these locations, when there is customer demand. For a number of years, informal short term ranks have operated in all of these locations at times of peak demand which is generally determined by the businesses operating in these locations. Recent complaints from one private hire operator that hackney carriages should be prevented from parking except on an official rank has led to these rank requests.
31. Enforcement action may be taken against hackney carriages parking in a location which is not a designated rank.
FINANCIAL, LEGAL AND WARD IMPLICATIONS
32. Financial - There are no financial implications to the Council as a result of the proposal for the development of new ranks. The costs involved will be met by licence fees paid by the taxi trade and the taxi licensing account is ringfenced. It is estimated that the public notice and marking out of the ranks will cost approximately £3,000.