Manchester Airport. The battle starts.

Manchester Airport is facing a battle with neighbours and councillors over plans for a 9,000 space car park.

The plan, submitted by Manchester Airports Group, would see a long-stay car park built near the Moss Nook area of Wythenshawe.

It would be accessed from Styal Road and Shadowmoss road.

It would help replace the 3,000 spaces to be lost to Airport City, a commercial hub.

But more than 120 residents turned up to oppose the car park at a planning meeting.?And local councillors voted against the plan – on land which was classed as green belt until a government rule change last July.

Coun Eddie Newman said afterwards: “We realise we need a working relationship with the airport and we support Airport City and the jobs that it will create for local people but 9,000 spaces is unnecessary.

“We are not anti-airport but we support our local residents."

Paul Goggins,  MP for Sale and Wythenshawe,  said he hoped the council - which will look at the application this month - would heed local concerns.

He added: “I am very supportive of Airport City which will have huge economic benefits but I support the position of residents and councillors on this and their concerns are considerable, especially on top of the disruption caused by the Metrolink development.”

Resident Ken Wedderburn, who lives in Moss Nook, on the edge of the proposed site, said: “We understand how important the airport is for the economy but we feel like it’s  an onslaught at the moment.”

An airport spokesman said: “We have listened to the comments of local residents and we will continue to work with them in order to address any concerns people might have.”

Comment; I am surprised it has taken this long. We  received  and published the plans online 2 years ago. The details of the 3 long stay car parks can be found on page 29 of the following document.

The Taxi feeder park and the plans to remove it are on page 17. It should be noted the car parks to be built on Shadow Moss farm are in 3 stages.

1. stage 1 to be ready for 2015
2. stage 2 2020
3. stage 3 2025

It would therefore follow, if, they say there is no longer room for a Taxi feeder park. One could be established, pro tem, on Shadow Moss farm.

Airport need for land. can be found here. http://sdrv.ms/1eo5Wdq

Bolton PH driver gets 10 years for male rape.

A TAXI driver who raped a teenage boy in his car has been jailed for 10 years.

Married Metro Cars driver Shahbaz Ahmed enticed the 15-year-old boy into his vehicle by telling him it was not safe to walk home at night and offering him a lift.

But instead the father-of-three took the teenager to an isolated car park at Harwood Golf Club and forced him to perform a sex act.

Ahmed, aged 35, of Bertrand Road, Heaton, had denied rape but a jury unanimously found him guilty following a three-day trial in July.

At Bolton Crown Court this afternoon Vanessa Thomson, prosecuting, said the boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, now feels vulnerable on public transport, believes his personality has become more aggressive and was affected by having to give evidence at the trial.

“He felt like he was being called a liar,” she said.

The jury had heard how the boy had been walking along Thicketford Road, Tonge Moor, in the early hours of July 13 last year when Ahmed, who was working a shift for the taxi firm at the time, pulled up alongside him and offered him a lift.

The teenager thought he was being kind until he was taken to the car park instead of his home.

“He was alone and in the circumstances you took advantage of the situation and the fact you were in a taxi and you enticed him into your car,” Judge Stead told Ahmed.

“I have no doubt at all that your purpose was sexual.”

He added that Ahmed used his dominant position to force the boy to comply with the abuse.

“When in the car park the complainant stated in his evidence, and I accept it is the truth, that your manner changed. You were less pleasant and you intimidated him,” said Judge Stead.

“He was frightened over what might happen next. He felt so isolated and intimidated that, upon your requirement that he perform a sexual acts with you, his will was overborne and he was unable to do other than allow the events to happen against his will.”

Wayne Jackson, defending, said Ahmed, who has no previous convictions, had generally been well regarded and thought of as being polite with a pleasant demeanour.

He added that the taxi driver’s wife is expecting their third child in January and the conviction has had a devastating effect on his family.

“There is no doubt that Ahmed is a man who has substantially fallen from grace,” said Mr Jackson.

Judge Stead also made a sexual offences prevention order banning Ahmed from living and sleeping in the same accommodation as a boy under the age of 16 without official approval.

He is also prohibited from contacting his victim and must provide police with the details of any vehicle he drives.

He has now been placed on the sex offenders register and is banned from working with children and vulnerable adults .

Det Con Mark Tiffany, from the police's serious sexual offences unit, said: “The trauma of what happened will stay with the victim for a long time and it is a credit to him that he gave evidence that was vital in securing Ahmed’s conviction.”

Liverpool. Extortion at Creamfields.

Horror stories of extortionate fares, threatening behaviour and even theft are emerging about ‘out-of-town’ taxis operating at Creamfields.

Since the annual August Bank Holiday festival, the Weekly News has received disturbing reports of taxi drivers from across the North West taking advantage of the chaotic exodus of thousands of revellers from the site.

One young woman, who asked not to be named, said she was charged £120 by a Liverpool cabbie for the short journey from the Daresbury estate to her home in Halton Lodge.

When she protested and told the man she could not afford the full amount, she alleges that he demanded her designer watch instead.

The girl’s mother told the Weekly News: “My daughter was distraught. She asked why the meter wasn’t running and was told they were not required at Creamfields because the council set the fares. She doesn’t drink and doesn’t take drugs but had a good day and was tired so all she wanted to do was get home and tell us about it.”

Another reveller says he was ripped off for £80 from the site to Daresbury Village and a third claims to have been charged £100 to Runcorn East.

A Liverpool City Council spokesman said: “We are concerned to hear these allegations. All city council taxi drivers are expected to abide by strict regulations.

“They must ensure their meter is engaged at all times and must only charge what is on the meter.

“We also ask passengers to remain vigilant, to make sure the meter is on, and to make a note of the taxi plate number if they experience any issues.

“In this case, if the young lady was forced to draw money out of a cash machine and had personal property taken from her, then this is theft and we would urge her to report it to the police as soon as possible.

“We would also ask her to contact us, providing as many details as she can, so we can look into the matter.”

I told you, this vehicle will not get passed in the UK.

New York, still problems with the NV200.

Comptroller John Liu rejected the contract for the city's Taxi of Tomorrow for a second time, striking a largely symbolic blow against a signature initiative of the Bloomberg administration just weeks before the cabs will begin hitting the streets.

In a letter sent Tuesday to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Mr. Liu said he refused to formally register the city's contract with Nissan North America Inc., because the base model of the new taxi doesn't accept wheelchairs. Mr. Liu, like advocates for the disabled, has asserted that the Americans with Disabilities Act requires that the new taxis be accessible to those in wheelchairs, though a federal court has ruled in the city's favor.

"By mandating a 'Taxi of Tomorrow' that is not wheelchair accessible, the city has disregarded the civil rights of the disabled community," Mr. Liu wrote.

The refusal to register the contract won't affect plans to introduce the new Nissan 7201.TO +1.28% vehicle in October, spokesmen for the city said.

The city similarly disregarded a previous effort by Mr. Liu to reject the agreement last December. The administration told Mr. Liu it would proceed with the contract last month, a spokeswoman for the mayor said.

The vehicles have begun rolling off the assembly line at Nissan's factory in Mexico, the company announced last week. They are to become the uniform vehicle for virtually all of the city's more than 13,000 yellow cabs.

The Bloomberg administration believes the comptroller doesn't have the power to stop the contract from taking effect, an administration official said.

"The comptroller's letter has no practical implications," said Howard Friedman of the Law Department. "Nissan's contract for the Taxi of Tomorrow became effective last December, after the comptroller's illegal failure to register it. Nissan is now in the process of producing NV200s."

Still, the program faces continued legal hurdles, even as the Oct. 28 deadline for the first yellow cabs to begin converting to the Nissan approaches.

A state court judge in Manhattan will hear arguments later this month on a suit alleging that the Taxi and Limousine Commission exceeded its authority in mandating that owners purchase a single model. And advocates for the disabled have filed a motion in federal court asking a judge to require that the Taxi of Tomorrow be accessible to wheelchairs.

Along with his letter refusing to register the contract, Mr. Liu proposed taxi reforms of his own: a menu of new and expanded incentives designed to encourage medallion owners to take on the expense of converting cabs to accept wheelchairs, and to spur drivers to pick up passengers who use wheelchairs.

The proposed incentives would build off some programs already in operation. For instance, Mr. Liu proposed using revenue from the planned sale of 2,000 new yellow-cab medallions to finance "purchase grants" of up to $15,000, intended to cover taxi owners' cost of purchasing a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. The TLC has estimated that converting a Nissan for wheelchair use would cost about $14,000.

That same revenue, though, has been spoken for twice: It is also expected to help the city's budget. And Mr. Liu's proposals, which his office said were still being developed, don't explain how the cash incentives to get drivers to accept wheelchair passengers would be paid for.

Mr. Liu also proposed expanding the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's program of offering prepaid debit cards to allow some paratransit customers to use taxis instead of vans when possible. That program has saved money, said Tom Charles, the MTA's vice president of paratransit, but it is a tiny fraction of the service provided.

"The plan provides for equality, incentives and choice," said David Pollack of the Committee on Taxicab Safety, which has opposed the Taxi of Tomorrow.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324123004579055442248544298.html

Rossendale Hackneys, exponential increase.

Plate 718 is pictured here, rather professionally disgorging his passengers into the path  of a bus, it was first licensed on the 6 July last.

The following vehicle Ross 775 was first licensed on 5 August last.

I am good at sumz, guzzinters and that, my calculations show that Rossendale licensed 57 hackneys for the first time in one month.

They all appear to be working here in Greater Manchester. Most  I fear in Manchester inner City. 

On a recent journey, with my local PH Company Kingsway (yes I use PH) a good pal came to pick me up, he drives a Toyota. A comfortable car, maintained in superb condition. However it is an 06 model. He has to take it off this year, because of the age limit.

He informs me at least 15 others at Kingsway are in the same boat, I believe him, if 150 cars have less that a ten year age limit, more than 15 need replacing every year. No? oh O.K.

He tells me they are all going to Rossendale and re-licensing. The p*ssing about is cheaper than changing a very good car, especially when the 'Job' is on the bones of its ar*e.

No the question is; if half of Manchester's 40 operators re-licence 15 vehicles in Rossendale, how long will it be before we are up to our ar*e in alligators ?

Perversely Kingsway have an 02 Mondeo Estate registered in West Cheshire, which is a bag of sh*t compared to my friends Toyota.

The West Cheshire man will no doubt cover my mates regular bookings while he is off work pis*ing about.

Why are Manchester Private Hire drivers putting up with this ?? 

Newcastle

Passengers on a Metro which collided with a taxi were trapped inside for almost an hour before being released.

There were 14 people on board the Metro train when it collided with a white Blueline taxi near Callerton Parkway Metro station in Woolsington, Newcastle, at around 6pm on Monday night.

No one on board the Metro, which was travelling to South Hylton, was injured but passengers had to wait 50 minutes before they were given permission to disembark.

A Nexus spokesman said: “They were on the train for about 50 minutes but our staff were making sure they were ok.

“It was on the advice of the police we could not let them off.”

Passengers were then taken to the nearby Premier Inn and taxis were arranged to take them to their intended destinations.

The Blueline taxi involved in the crash had to be lifted off the track by a crane and this happened between 8.45pm and shortly after 9pm.

“Once the car was off the track staff did a check on the infrastructure of the track and signals and everything to make sure it was in working order,” said a Nexus spokesman.
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Galway, Limerick

Hailo Ireland announced the news on Twitter this morning, just a little more than a month since the app became available to use in Galway City.

More than 100 taxi drivers in Limerick have signed onto the service, Hailo Ireland said.

To celebrate the app’s launch in Limerick, Hailo Ireland is offering first-time users of the app a €10 discount on taxi fares the weekend of 7-8 September.

To avail of the offer, users just need to go to ‘Hailo Credits’ in the ‘Account’ section of their Hailo app and add the code LIMERICK01. To use the voucher, users need to choose ‘Pay With Card’ when hailing their cab. The voucher will be valid until midnight on 8 September.

Limerick Hailo users also have the chance to win daily prizes of €10 extra credit on Twitter. Hailo Ireland also has two grand prizes of €100 Hailo credit. All users have to do is tweet where they are hailing a cab from and with whom in Limerick to be in with a chance to win. Two winners will be chosen by 13 September.

The Hailo app has been available for use in Dublin for more than a year now, and in Cork since early July.

The taxi service has also branched out abroad, with its app also up and running in London, Madrid, Toronto, Chicago, Boston, and New York City.

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/digital-life/item/34033-taxi-booking-app-hailo-now
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Swansea 
 
A TAXI driver has appeared in court accused of allegedly sexually assaulting a student.

Salibur Rashid, aged 37, from Oxford Street in Swansea, appeared in front of city magistrates.

He appeared from the dock for the brief hearing.

He pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting the female student, who cannot be identified for
 legal reasons, on August 29.

The charge alleges Rashid touched the woman, the touching was sexual and that she did not consent to it.

Prosecutor Anwen Evans asked magistrates to decline jurisdiction in the case.

Craig Davies, representing Rashid, made no representations about where the case should be heard.

Magistrates agreed and told Rashid he will have to appear in front of a judge at Swansea Crown Court.

He was given conditional bail to appear there on Tuesday, September 10.

The Law Commission.

I told you the bad news would start breaking soon. The Law Commission have published Index's and the Responses from around the Country to their consultation. These responses are the basis of the interim statement, which was made in April this year.

The bundles I recognized were as followed, view them first and look through the index's and see if any interest you.

984;  Casey
985, Mantax, Bray
994, Button
999, Ogilvie
1000, M Burke
1126, Blears
1198, Darlington
1321, B Rowland.

A month or so should see the draft bill appearing, get ready to start lobbying your MP, everybody has sat back, doing nothing, get a grip. !

 http://lawcommission.justice.gov.uk/areas/taxi-private-hire-services-docs.htm