Taxi drivers have claimed that efforts to rebrand the city’s hackney carriages in black and white will be a “huge burden” for them.
Dozens of drivers gathered outside Newcastle Civic Centre on Monday evening to protest plans that would require them to fit a white wrap around their bonnets. Council bosses have argued that the “distinctive” look, designed to match the famous colours of Newcastle United, will make licensed taxis easily recognisable and help crack down on crime – with concerns that offenders are posing as cab drivers to target vulnerable women.
But, ahead of a Newcastle City Council cabinet meeting, more than 40 drivers staged a demonstration outside the local authority HQ calling for the idea to be dropped. While the council is planning to give a £100 grant to each of the 597 licensed hackney carriage drivers in Newcastle to help with the cost of fitting the white vinyl wrapping, it is feared that drivers will be forced to fork out regularly to have them replaced.
Mohammed Subhan, secretary of the Newcastle British-Bangladeshi Taxi Drivers’ Association, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “They think this will safeguard the public, but we don’t understand how it will do that. It is a huge burden on the drivers and it does not make any sense.
“In the night time you won’t be able to tell if a car has a black or white bonnet or not. We drive these cars miles and miles – a white bonnet is going to get dirty very quickly, the wrap will get ripped and it will lose its elasticity.
“After three or four months they are going to need to be replaced and every time it will cost us £150. In a time of a cost of living crisis, how can we afford to keep doing that?”
Mr Subhan said that installing improved CCTV in cars and at taxi ranks would be a better use of money. Other concerns from drivers who spoke to the LDRS outside the civic centre included criminals still being able to easily copy the new taxi design, passengers mistakenly thinking that drivers had been forced to replace their bonnet after being involved in a crash, and the black and white livery deterring non-Newcastle fans.
A report to the cabinet stated that 96% of drivers surveyed about the changes were against the proposal, but it was approved by leaders nonetheless. Labour councillor Paula Maines, the council’s cabinet member responsible for taxi licensing, said that the new look would help people recognise official taxis and find drivers who have passed the council’s vetting procedures.
She added: “Recent police and licensing operations have shown that we must take some action to safeguard vulnerable people in our city who are a part of our night time economy. A distinctive fleet of hackney carriage and private hire vehicles are seen as being essential to this.”
Coun Maines said that the new design had won support from the city’s street pastors, nightclub door supervisors and organisations trying to prevent violence against women. While the council’s new taxi policy was approved by the cabinet on Monday, it must also successfully pass through a full council meeting next month before it comes into force.
The black and white branding will only be required on hackney carriages, like those that rank outside Central Station and are licensed to ply for hire, and not for private hire companies that can only pick up pre-arranged bookings.
They will also need to display red council crests on the front doors and have a taxi sign on the roof that is white at the front and red at the rear. Private hire vehicles will have to be adorned with a green council plate and display the operator’s details on the back passenger doors.
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