Cannock taxi office allowed to open until 4am

Corkys was granted permission by Cannock Chase Council in April to open a new booking office at High Green. Conditions of the approval included closing the office to customers at 10pm, while staff were able to remain there until 1am.

Now the office in Victoria New Hall can remain open for both customers and staff until 4am Thursday to Saturday, as well as on bank and public holidays, after Cannock Chase Council allowed an extension of opening hours.

The council’s licensing department raised concerns about the plans.

A report to the planning committee said: “The willingness to employ a taxi marshal at the premises may be helpful if permission is granted, but for us, it serves to reinforce our concerns in so far as Corkys Cars can also clearly envisage some difficulties arising from having a booking office within the town centre and just a few yards from the official taxi rank.

“Although I recognise that the town centre environment can be busy, lively and at times noisy, we don’t believe that the proposed office will be a benign addition to that environment and does have the potential for increased noise nuisance late at night or early into the morning as well as potential for an increase in anti-social behaviour.”

But planning committee members unanimously approved the application at their meeting on Wednesday.

Steven Toy, trade leader to the Hackney Carriage Private Hire Liaison Group and board member of the National Private Hire and Taxi Association, spoke in support of the proposal.

He said: “I believe that it is in the interest, not just of the taxi trade but passengers, that these hours are extended. In the UK we currently have a shortage of taxi drivers so if there is a high demand people will be waiting,

“The taxi rank is fine when demand isn’t too high. But if you go to the taxi rank at periods of high demand there will be a crowd of people waiting and there’s no guarantee as to when you will get a taxi.

“If you are at the back of the queue you have no idea when you are going to get home – and if you are a vulnerable person you may not want to be there, especially if people have had a lot to drink. You may feel intimidated.

“The office is a place of safety for that half an hour you have to wait. There is a human presence, with someone taking bookings and a marshall, allowing vulnerable people to wait somewhere safe.”