At the Licensing Committee yesterday, we were asked to consider putting a cap on the number of taxi licenses in Dundee (Item 3. [i] Licensing Committee Thursday 27 June 2013). This recommendation was based on the Report of Taxi Survey which had been produced by external consultants.
I asked at the meeting about how future increases in demand for taxis could be accommodated? For example, the projected opening of the V and A and how this might be taken into account if the number of taxis was capped? I was conscious that the recently launched Tourism Action Plan for Dundee is projecting half a million visitors to the city in the first year after the V and A opens and 300,000 per year thereafter. We don't want visitors to the city arriving and finding they have to queue for a lengthy period for a taxi. That would create a very poor first impression of our city.
I was reassured by the confirmation from Council staff that the annual updating of the survey will be able to accommodate future actual and anticipated increases in demand for taxis such as the opening of the V and A.
Residents have complained to me about the irresponsible long term parking of a black taxi cab right up to the junction of Dundee Road and West Queen Street in Broughty Ferry.
They are concerned about the obstruction to sight lines for folk driving east from Dundee into The Ferry. As they turn off the main road over the railway bridge, towards Brook Street and central Broughty Ferry, their view of the road is obstructed.
Driving from the Ferry over the railway bridge towards the junction, the Cab appears to be turning the corner ahead rather than being parked.
Another source of complaint is that the cab is parked in a row of vehicles which might appear to be all parked in this prominent position to display their advertisements. As these advertisement on wheels are apparently 'mobile', they apparently evade the controls which apply to advertisements that might appear on a fixed site such as a billboard. But these advertisements on wheels are, for many folk, an unwelcome intrusion.
I have passed on my constituents' concerns to the Licensing Department of the City Council and asked them to use their powers and influence to get the vehicle shifted from its current location. I have also asked the City Development Department to sparingly insert double yellow lines to make it easier to keep this corner clear in future.
