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10
Jun 2021
Harrogate council lifts cap on wheelchair taxi licences
A limit on the number of wheelchair-accessible taxi licences in the Harrogate district has been removed, despite concerns from cabbies it will have a “devastating” impact on trade.
Harrogate Borough Council’s licensing committee yesterday agreed to the move, which aims to support disabled people in the district.
Campaigners say disabled people have been “cut off from society” and left suffering with “social isolation and frustration” because of a lack of travel options.
But some taxi drivers are against an unlimited number of licences and urged the committee to reconsider sticking to a previous plan to introduce 12 extra plates or risk “deregulating” the trade.
Speaking at a meeting yesterday, Richard Fieldman, who runs A1 Cars of Ripon and Harrogate, said:
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Kevin O’Boyle, owner of Central Taxis and the longest holder of a taxi license in the district, also said in a letter to councillors before the meeting that the move risked Harrogate “losing control” of how many taxis are allowed on the roads.
He said:
Legal threat
In September last year, the licensing committee agreed to double the number of wheelchair-accessible taxi licences from 11 to 23 after a council-run study concluded disabled people were suffering from a “great deal of anxiety” over worries they could not get around.
However, the authority says has since run into difficulties over creating a “fair and lawful” system to distribute just the 12 additional licences, and it believes it could be left vulnerable to legal challenges from disappointed applicants.
Currently there are 22 wheelchair-accessible taxis operating in the district – a figure that has declined in recent years. This decline is something the council believes is partly down to the costs of purchasing a wheelchair-accessible taxi – and it is these costs that it says will “self-regulate” the number of vehicles on the roads.
Cllr Victoria Oldham, chair of the licensing committee, also told yesterday’s meeting that the council was not expecting a “surge” in licence applications and that it had not been made aware of any rank space issues.
She said:
The licensing committee voted in favour of the proposals with two amendments to conditions, which mean a review will be carried out in a year rather than five, as well as a requirement for drivers to complete a disability training course within one month of being approved rather than six.
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