WILTSHIRE Council is seeking feedback from taxi drivers and the public on proposals to change the county’s taxi licensing zones.

Taxi drivers currently work within four taxi licensing zones – north, south, east, and west – and the council propose to create one single licensing zone that covers the whole Wiltshire Council area.

At present, taxi drivers can only accept fares in the zone they are operating in – for example, a taxi in Chippenham would be licensed to the north area, which means they could only take fares in this area. If the licensing area is changed to one council-wide zone, the taxi driver could then accept fares in any part of the Wiltshire Council authority area.

With the current four zone system, the council operates four different workshops in each zone to inspect vehicles. If proposals go ahead, some of these workshops could be used to support other services.

Consultations for the proposal began last Friday (May 6) and will be open until 5pm on Friday 10 June.

People can share their views and have their say on how the taxi zones should operate, including keeping the licensing zones as they currently are, moving to a single zone, or moving to two zones – north and south.

Giving drivers more opportunities

Cllr Dr Mark McClelland, cabinet member for transport, said: “The four taxi licensing zones are a legacy from before we turned into a unitary council in 2009, and while these zones have worked well in the past, the proposed single zone will give taxi drivers more opportunities to operate throughout the county and enable us to develop our workshops to support other services.

“As stated in our business plan, we want our local economy to continue to thrive, supported by a skilled workforce, and these proposals will help taxi drivers to take more fares in more areas of the county. This proposed change will also help reduce carbon emissions, as taxis will be able to have fewer journeys without passengers.”

Some taxi drivers may be concerned about a reduction in passengers due to oversupply and increased competition. Cllr McClelland added: “We feel this competition will settle down based on the supply and demand.”

“However, it’s really important that we receive all feedback so that we can make an informed decision.”

To take part in the consultation, and to find out more, people can go to www.wiltshire.gov.uk/licences-permits-transport.