Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 4:26 pm Post subject: Pier Avenue and taxis
I'm sure there has been something recently about this. Possibly under the heading "Postcards" - but I can't find it.
Anyway, the article in today's Gazette about the vague possibility that taxis might - at last - be able to use pier Avenue got me thinking.
It's better than it was but there are still a fair number of cars etc using Pier Avenue when they aren't supposed to.
It seems to me that these vehicles aren't stopped and there is continued use
of this restricted roadway.
So, surely to have taxis legally using Pier Avenue isn't really going to do any harm is it?
I mean, what's a few taxis when there's still the ignorant using the road?
At least taxi drivers will be more 'road aware' than these errant car drivers.
Taxis are allowed through the centre of most Towns, Colchester for example.
Colchester allows taxis, buses and motor cycles on dedicated lanes, why not a few hundred metres of Pier Avenue.
Off of Pier Ave, we have a dedicated left turn into Jackson Road, but you cannot access it from 10am till 4pm.
Within the M25 we have the new Low Emmision zone that bars ANY diesel vehicle over 1.25 tonnes if it does not conform to euro type 2 or newer exhaust emisions, but we can have old, un legal in London smelly buses belching out pollutants on seated and walking unsuspecting visiters to OUR Town center, all along Pier Ave central, but not modern Taxis, and european accepted mopeds and motor cycles, but you can in Clochester / Romford and many other Town Centers..
Its not rocket science is it...........
In our most rural communities, where it deemed un-economic to run regular bus services, and its inhabitants are neither drivers or able to be driven, the local taxi firms do provide door to door services.
only in Clacton Town Center, its door to door service only includes being put down (dropped of) somewhere near, and walk if you like, Town Center service..
On the other most important part of the local taxi service, the return journey, its meet them "somewhere" near town center......
As someone who has worn a cab drivers hat on and of for 14 odd years, i know only too well the problems of ferrying fare paying passengers, the problems of finding said return fare paid passengers, complete with associated bags/boxes/ and purchases.
In any business, if its not running at its most effiecient, its not earning its potential, in a taxi / cab if the wheels `aint turning, you `aint earning either.
Sitting, looking or driving in circles while trying to find your fare is not only frustrating, but very - very uneconomic....
If i dropped a fare off in one central position, i expected to collect them at the same agreed position at the agreed return journey price..
To spent time and money looking for the passegers cost a lot more than just time, petrol/diesel &wear and tear on your cab, it could have also been another fare.....
The buses arrive and depart at set locations in Pier Ave, why not taxis....
Sorry amenity, i`ve had my grandad - grandad hat on for too long this week...bless her little cotton socks, but it does bend the brain a bit at times....
Personally ,I think they (TDC)should have made a definate decision in the first place ,either have the area as a pedestrian only zone OR have it for all drivers to go through.But ,TDC don't like to make things too simple or they could not confuse us all .
Taxis SHOULD be allowed to enter the area ,they smell considerably less foul than the buses that sit with their engines running ,polluting us all with the foul stench of exhaust fumes.We do have quite a considerable ratio of elderly in this area and why should they not be dropped off where they need to be.
Talking of that area.I saw something very strange there yesterday.As we walked across the fountain square (yup ,no fountain working ) we noticed a PCSO looking into a handbag on a bench .
At first we presumed it belonged to her .However ,when we returned from the shop ,the handbag was still there ,alone on the bench ,no sign of Miss PSCO ,we looked for her but could not see her.
Now ,whose bag was it ? .If it was not hers why had she not picked it up as 'Lost Property' ,it was hardly acceptable to just leave it there .Suspicious or what ?.Or were they leaving it as a decoy to see if someone took it ? ,very strange .We had a look round to see if there was a town warden to report it to ,no sign of anyone ,really did not know what to do as it had already been seen by Miss PSCO .
If it did belong to her ,it was not a good reflection on how to look after your property,if it did not belong to her ,why did she leave it ,an unattended bag in this day and age suggests many not so nice things.All very odd indeed.
By the way .I'll give it 5 years before TDC decide to pedestrianise the area completely.
Just had another thought:
Does anyone know what is happening to the taxi rank outside Waterglade? It seemed doomed to disappear at the end of April according to taxi drivers but it's still as it's always been - very busy and NEEDED.
There's been nothing in the local paper for several weeks.
There's been nothing in the local paper for several weeks.
Was not that nearly 90 year Councillor ? of Golf Green / now newly suited as tdc chairperson, be involved at one time in this rank.
As i`ve not been yet to the jaywick regeneration funded show at the Westcliffe Theatre, to see just what £97,000 odd bought as a "vision" of Town Center.
As this "vision" is also included in IN-Tends spin, also paid for with regeneration money, it includes mystic megs ideas of the "new Waterglade"......
So, who has taken steps where no man has been before (or woman) and had an actual looky -looky at what its all about..
As i have family members who are management in Waterglade, i should really have a bit of a look..
And as for young Lins post:-
By the way .I'll give it 5 years before TDC decide to pedestrianise the area completely.
Have i not read TDC`s "vision" of a covered Mall on or about where the fountain starts, then continues up tp Jackson Road...
My own personal thoughts are Pier Avenues part pedestrianisasion is the first step (sorry, jokes apart) of a full vehicle less area, which then morfs into a shopping mall......God, i just hope i`m wrong...............
Am a bit concerned with the attitude of these people to the Warwick Castle site, "inactive frontages " no mention of one of the best crowd pullers around.
Maybe I should read on but nice as the pics are am left feeling that they are telling me, and I don't live in Clacton, something that I already know.
Of course I've been coming to Clacton for a long time first visited in 1947 as a boy, but do we need to spend such a lot on truisms?
I am beginning to think we are going about it the wrong way, trying to "attract" money. Lets make Clacton a really lovely place to live in and not just the posh bits.
People will flock here that being the case, plenty of trees, make it look friendly, do something about all these barriers, they really are ugly.
TDC know how to turn any area into a prison, just look at the insensitive way Harwich has been handled over the years, they want it to be industrial through and through, monster fences everywhere, cutting off the sea shore from people that had access since time begun.
The WD offered an opportunity to TDC to show what they could do and overnight they threw away the chance another monster fence from a prison that was intended to save kids from themselves, but has instead turned into a place where police and others cannot gain quick access.
Even the safety barrier along the cliff edge is rough and ugly.
Ugly Ugly Ugly.
If TDC say this is not ugly then that just shows contempt for local residents.
Just had another thought:
Does anyone know what is happening to the taxi rank outside Waterglade? It seemed doomed to disappear at the end of April according to taxi drivers but it's still as it's always been - very busy and NEEDED.
There's been nothing in the local paper for several weeks.
I'm not too clear on what the problem is here.
Our saintly cabbies insist that they must be there to provide a essential lifeline for Waterglade customers. I know I'm exaggerating but I think they do a little bit as well.
SO.
Why not simply locate the cab rank inside the car park?
BONUS: The punters over whom they have so many sleepless nights wouldn't have so far to carry/push their shopping.
BONUS: The loss of a few parking places would enable the owners of the park to provide a better service for their customers.
So that just leaves the drivers..
BONUS: They won't damage their suspension by driving onto the pavement.
BONUS: THey won't break the law by parking on the pavement.
BONUS: They won't block the bus stop.
BONUS: Our traffic wardens, Clacton's finest, won't feel obliged to spend ages chatting to them at the roadside and will be able to spend more time keeping the traffic of Clacton flowing smoothly as per their mission.
BIG BONUS: They won't have to pull out suddenly in front of traffic at the same instant as they turn on their indicators.
Oh rats. They might lose a minute driving in and out of the car park for each fare. Yeah scrub it. It's a silly idea.
On a slightly different subject, my wife is getting up a petition to ask the council to allow varifocal-spectacle-wearing women in their fifties, driving blue X-reg Mondeos to drive up Pier Avenue at any time of day provided they are en route to or from a kebab shop.
She already has the support of one and a half town councillors who were promised a mention in the Gazette and a front page picture of them pointing at a kebab (Doner and Kofta combination).
She also has the backing of a Kebab shop who are desperate to keep their best customer on side. (5 veg a day = lettuce, onion, cabbage, tomato and cucumber. Extra garlic sauce is just the icing on the cake. It doesn't get much healthier than that. Mmmmmm).
Some people claim that men find Jennifer Lopez attractive because of the size of her bottom. My wife is at least three times as attractive as Jennifer Lopez.
You might guess from the above that either she does not read this message board or that I have a death wish.
Vicar:
The car park land at Waterglade does not belong to the shops or TDC or anyone local. Apparently these owners have been approached about relocating the taxi rank to the carpark but they refused point blank.
The taxi rank is for three taxis (there is a sign stating this) and I feel the taxi drivers have pushed their luck so far by parking at least four taxis there.
I blame TDC (or whoever is responsible for making sure these signs are obeyed) for not checking and carrying out necessary reprimands.
I understand that the main problem are the taxis that park on the pavement on the corner whilst waiting for the three (four) taxis to move out. It's illgal but nothing - as far as I know - has ever been done to stop this.
Considering the number of people who use that taxi rank when they come out of Waterglade I guess that Morrisons will lose customers when there is no longer a taxi rank.
Thanks for the information mojo.I had always assumed that the carpark belonged to the owner/s of the retail park and was a facility provided for their tenants and thus their tenants' customers as part of their contract and was charged for as part of the rental. I would have thought that the ownera would bend over backwards to keep their tenants sweet and would expect that provision of a more easily accessible car park to be a minor detail. The only problem which might arise is one of establishing a permanent right of way across private land and I assumed that is why car park gates were recently fitted.
I fully agree with your comments about cabbies ignoring the taxi rank regulations. I would be more inclined to suppport them if they didn't flout rules which they dislike and then moan when things don't go exactly the way they would like.
OK then, when i / we had a rank in Sainsbury`s @Chadwell Heath, it was linked by public telephone to my / our office.
Completely different rules applied i know, but, we HAD to pay someone to use this facility in the car park.
This charge was then levied on the customer by £1 = 50p per trip for the office, and 50p to the cab driver who had to sit and wait for a fare.
This was Ok if it was "slow" on the radio, but to be on a "busy" circuit, waiting for the proverbial 2 fat ladies and their bags of shopping drove me nuts...
I hated it........got out of it if i could..
A true licensed rank for the few cabs permitted @Waterglade is not really big enough..
As we all have seen or its been said on here, its in the wrong place,
For it to work, as my above, (not that far vicar) let the rank users pay a levy, the customers pay the cab drivers, the drivers pay the car park owners.....
Status Quo is complete.........
The way i feel about it all, IF i had to get a cab outside Waterglade, with all my shopping, and i had the money to pay for the cab, instead of getting on a bus, then pay for the privelidge of doing so, by getting one INSIDE Waterglade........
Lets face it, most users with shopping dont go far, so only pay the minmum fare anyway..
Very - very good point amenity.
So i belive, you CAN drive into said no go zone (sounds like beirut) to collect goods.
the reasoning, if said goods are too big or bulky to carry far (and i belive the legal weight limit for a single person to carry is 20 kgs ?) - or are too bulky to handle or carry in safety to persons in the act of, or persons who may be in the direct way of movement of said parcels or goods, and may be put in danger of movement of said goods, then you can by arrangement (i belive) enter through the gates of wondermont, or Pier Avenue Central between 10am till 4pm......
(if you can get round H U G E smelly buses, licensed mini buses, and blue rinsed by-focal wearing kebab munching lady x reg Mondeos....)
no vicar, although i do drive a mondeo (and a Honda Legend) and a motor scooter, and DO have a pair of by-focals (to see my feet with + look at prohibition notices sited in the wrong place) and do like the occasional chicken kebab, with lots of lemon juice in the salad, i most definitely do not have blue rinsed hair...
(at the moment vicar, i dont have much hair at all...just like my avatar really...
oh dear i`ve lost myself now...too much sun i think......lol.
Was talking to a taxi driver outside Morrisons today.
He tells me:
Traffic wardens are now taking photos of taxis parked on the pavement.
(I actually can vouch for this - yesterday I was sat on the wall at Morrisons waiting for a bus and along came a Traffic warden. I have never seen so many taxis disappear so quickly!!!)
He also said there'd recently been a meeting with ECC and two plans had been mooted:
1. The chap who owns the land that Waterglade is built on will be approached again to see if he will consider a rank there. earlier this year he rejected this.
2. Where the existing rank is - the pavement be narrowed all the way along that stretch of pavement and room made for 17 taxis.
An island will be made road-side of the rank and that is where the buses will stop.
It's thought nothing will be decided for at least six months.
Amenity, for some time the trafic wardens in Havering have been given a "smart" car to drive.
It is fitted with a periscope camera something like a submarines sightglasses..
It drives round 24 hours a day photographing "infringements"
The driver has no to get out of the vehicle to issue fixed penalty notices, akin to bus mounted busroute infringement cameras...
Havering also has moped mounted hit squad trafic wardens who actually walk to issue fines, but also take a picture to confirm the infringement...
What we need now is a focused magnetic ray device to point at certain cameras, as to eraze its memory, something like Dan Dares device from years ago...lol
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