Taxi drivers blast council survey on licences

A dispute over taxi policy has been reignited after the Hackney Carriage Association in Maidenhead labelled the Royal Borough\'s recent consultation survey biased.

To the consternation of Hackney drivers, the Royal Borough announced in January that it was to review restrictions on licences in the borough.
A questionnaire was circulated to taxi drivers and affected businesses earlier this month with a closing date for returns on April 1.

Current licensees are disappointed that people have just three weeks to respond to the survey and believe there are a number of failings in the paper.

Nadeem Sabir, spokesman for the Hackney Carriage Association in Maidenhead, said: "We believe that the paper is unbalanced, and heavily sided towards a certain outcome.
"They fail to offer any sufficient balance or context by not mentioning the likely impact on traffic congestion and pollution.
"We feel the councillors are abusing their position of power and are offering no credible or viable reason for a change of policy."

But borough chairman for licensing, Cllr Jesse Grey, defended the council, saying: "We followed department of transport guidelines to produce a very fair consultation document. I think it\'s important to point out that we last issued new licences 13 years ago, and life has moved on since then.
"The consultation gives taxi users, residents, businesses, police and taxi drivers a chance to have their say."