10:40am Thursday 11th March 2010
A Skipton motorist who was trapped in a disabled parking bay by a waiting taxi has asked the district council to come up with a solution.
The complaint centred on the lay-out of the taxi rank in the Skipton bus station car park – next to the Westgate store – which causes waiting taxis to back-up into the public parking area and block cars.
The matter was up for discussion by the taxi liaison committee last week.
Dino Reardon, of The Grove, Skipton, said he had complained to Craven District Council after he could not get his car out of his parking space.
“My wife is disabled so I park in the disabled places near the rear entrance of the Westgate store,” he said. “The trouble is, waiting taxis can block you in and you have to wait for them to come back and move. I think if they are parked blocking cars in the public parking area they should have to pay parking charges themselves. It’s a very strange set-up. It’s obvious there isn’t the space.”
John Pickering, who runs Dalesman Taxis with his father Steve, said the problem was the poor design of the car park and bus station.
“We are just as unhappy about it as other motorists, but we are the bottom rung and get all the complaints,” he said. “I have gone to these taxi liaison committee meetings and the issue is raised each time. Each time we are told this is the allocated space and it can’t be altered.
“I have asked that the rank be placed at the same side as the bus station. There is a huge amount of wasted space there. But we are told the buses would not be happy.
“Instead we are crammed into a small area, everyone shaking their fists and trying to avoid other drivers and pedestrians. There are supposed to be spaces for 15 taxis, but there are 160 in the town. That is our main rank.
“It is most taxi drivers’ main source of income, but most of the time you can’t get on it. It is a completely ridiculous situation.”
Lindsey Quinn, strategic manager for neighbourhoods at Craven District Council, said it had been resolved at the taxi liaison meeting that the situation needed to be dealt with.
“We will be talking with the county council to come to some solution,” she said. “We recognise that changes need to be made. Meanwhile we are asking taxi drivers to co-operate and try not to block cars that are parked in the bays.”
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