Taxi Marshal Plan for City Centre
27th August 2008
A late-night taxi marshal scheme is to be introduced in Norwich city centre with the aim of making it easier and safer for people to get home.
The scheme will operate from October at the top of Tombland as part of a six-month trial.
The aim is to increase the safety of passengers by giving them a dedicated marshalled pick-up, speed up the queues by having lots of taxis all in one place and reduce crowds of people in other areas of the city.
Norwich City Council, in conjunction with Norfolk police and the City Centre Licensing Forum, are currently in the process of securing contracts but hope to roll out the scheme from 3rd October.
Julian Foster, chairman of the City Centre Licensing Forum, welcomed the move which he said would benefit both taxi drivers and passengers.
He said: “The main benefit is the safety factor as the marshal will make sure the people in the queue aren't drunk and there will be no queue jumping.
“People will realise is there's a marshalled taxi rank in Tombland and choose to walk there rather than face the chaos in Prince of Wales Road.”
The top of the queue will be outside Ha Ha Bar and Canteen at the top of Tombland and it will be marshalled on a Friday and Saturday night between 10pm and 3am.
However, the rank will be in use by taxis seven days a week, between 6.30pm and 5am.
If it is successful there is the potential to make the Tombland rank permanent and to roll it out on other areas of Norwich. The scheme would cost roughly £1,000 per month to fund if made permanent.
A spokeswoman for Norwich City Council said: “The biggest thing for us is we want people coming into Norwich to have a good experience and it's about helping people to get home safely.
“We've also had young people who haven't got home because they've been left by their friends and they get into a situation, so it will be a safer place for young people.”
So far three security firms have offered their services for free, namely Norwich Security Specialists, First Hand Event Security and Norwich City Football Club, which has its own security team.
Just last month taxi driver Mark Streeter wanted to turn the premises at 38 Rose Lane from offices into a taxi hire company with a supervised indoor waiting area to revellers from the nearby Prince of Wales Road.
The move was blocked by planning officials after a number of people expressed fears about potential anti-social behaviour and an increase in noise.
Source; Norwich Evening News 24
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