west end letters: taxi drivers | break | Cllr Danny Chalkely | cabbies

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West End Extra - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 19 December 2008

Giving taxi drivers a break

• I WOULD like to reassure taxi drivers, and their customers, that Westminster City Council is not “waging war” on the taxi trade (Cabbies battle for their loo,
December 5).
Indeed, we appreciate the important role that taxi drivers play in keeping London moving.
When it comes to using the road, it is only fair that we expect taxi drivers to follow the same rules as everybody else. However, we understand that drivers need to take a break during their work, and so the council has been introducing special “taxi-only” parking meter bays with reduced rates.
In total, we have installed 74 taxi bays, spread across 20 locations in Westminster, including five situated in Regency Place, and a further three in Regency Street itself.
As they are reserved only for taxis, it is now much easier for drivers to find somewhere to park at busy times of day. Drivers who need to spend a penny need only pay 12p for 10 minutes’ parking or just £1 for an hour.
Sometimes an emergency means the council or the police have to close down parking bays for a short while.
It is certainly true that the bays in Regency Street were temporarily suspended for two days in September at the request of the police.
However, these are now available for use, and we hope taxi drivers will continue to take advantage of them.
Cllr Danny Chalkley
Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, West End Extra, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@westendextra.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Wednesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld.
Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number.
Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

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