There was widespread outrage from hackney carriage, and other private hire vehicle drivers, after Peterborough City Council’s Planning and Environmental Committee approved an application for a new minicab office in Westgate, in the former Maplin unit on Westgate.
Hackney carriage drivers claim that they had previously been told by senior planning officials that no more taxi offices would be granted permission to operate in the city centre.
The granting of the planning permission to the office has been seen as the latest step towards pushing hackney carriage drivers out of business.
Drivers have also complained about the lack of enforcement for residents parking on ranks, the lack of ranks in the city, the fact no provision has been made for a temporary rank with the closing of Broadway for gasworks and the fact that on top of all of these issues, they are being asked to potentially pay thousands of pounds to replace vehicles to meet new byelaws that aim to make Peterborough carbon neutral by 2030.
The protest, however, was primarily to ask the council not to grant a licence to the new premises, which it would still need before legally being allowed to open.
The drivers gathered at 4pm at the Passport Office on Northminster before travelling down to Sandmartin House to confront council officials at around 4:30pm.
Well over 150 vehicles arrived in what was described by drivers as a peaceful protest. There was some frustration from residents and staff trying to leave but the drivers did agree to let them out.
After the taxis arrived, a member of the council’s licencing team came out to address the crowds in what was a passionate but well-mannered debate about the issues faced by the drivers and how they feel they had been let down by the council.
The crowds were then told that there were no senior officials, responsible for decision-making, that could come out and address them, but they agreed to disperse, after around an hour, on the promise that a meeting would be facilitated in the next seven days in order for their concerns to be addressed in full.
Drivers seemed largely satisfied with the outcome but have promised further action should the subsequent meeting not take place.
One of the drivers said: “All of our members (Peterborough Hackney Federation) are absolutely furious about this. They were all ready to go out and block the streets in protest but we said no, we will come out peacefully, give everybody plenty of notice, the police and the council included, and we will come and make our point.
“We came here to speak to the decision makers who we feel have not followed through on previous promises and we expect this to take place within a week now.
“If not, this will be just the start. We have already discussed plans for all driving into the city centre on a Saturday night to protest and there would be no taxis to take people home.”
Another driver added: “We would like to apologise to the people of Peterborough that it has come to this. We know that we have let ourselves down tonight, but we feel we had no choice because of what feels like a council that is only interested in making money.”
“A further driver said: “There are so many issues at the moment. Some of the members have had to pay as much as £60,000 for new vehicles but are struggling to find work because of all these issues.
“There are so few ranks now and even the ones there are often being parked on by other vehicles. We always take pictures but nothing seems to be done. The officer tonight said how there were only around eight parking enforcement officers for the whole city, so perhaps it is not surprising.”
A spokesperson for Peterborough City Council said: “The planning application has been determined by committee and in keeping with legislation there is no right of appeal for third parties. However, our officers are happy to meet with hackney carriage drivers to discuss any concerns they may have.
“We have not yet received a licence application for the premises. Any licence application will be determined in keeping with legislation and the council has the right to attach appropriate conditions to a licence to regulate the businesses operations should a licence be granted.”
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