Leading figures of Dundee’s taxi industry have demanded crunch talks with high-ranking council officials in a bid to thrash out a solution to the long-running row over wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs).
Dundee Taxi Association (DTA) chairman Graeme Stephen and Unite union taxi branch secretary Chris Elder want disabled groups, taxi operators and drivers, as well as council staff, to “get round a table” and reach an agreement despite the council being in the midst of a public consultation on the issue.
The DTA and the union say they have “had enough” and are keen to meet decision makers including convener of the licensing committee Rod Wallace, who they urged only last week to temporarily step down from his post after accusing him of bias.
However there appears to be no chance of their latest request going ahead, with a council spokesman saying, “It would be inappropriate for the city council to meet with individual groups because consultation is ongoing.
“The taxi questionnaire has been sent to all taxi and private hire operators in Dundee along with other groups and individuals, including over 130 contacts representing people with disabilities.
“Also, because of the quasi-judicial nature of the licensing committee, it is inappropriate for any member of the committee to comment on matters that have yet to be decided.
“All taxi and private hire operators will have the opportunity to respond to the questionnaire and make their views known to the licensing committee when it considers the results of the consultation.”
Despite this, Mr Elder said, “We are demanding a meeting with the council to reach a final decision on what is going on with the taxis. That is what all interested parties want and that is what we want.”
At present the city’s fleet of taxis include a mixture of saloon and WAVs. But under controversial proposals cabbies could be forced to operate WAVs only, putting many existing drivers off the road and out of a job.
Earlier this year members of the licensing committee considered this option but anger voiced from a number of taxi drivers prompted councillors to defer any decision until public consultation was completed.
Mr Stephen said his organisation is not requesting a meeting but demanding it.
“The council should get round the table with the people who really matter, especially disabled groups. You have got a lot of disabled people in the city who are calling for the mixed fleet to remain. To ignore this group could be seen as discriminatory.”
He blamed councillors for failing to find a solution to the issue, which has run over many years.
“My opinion is that we have got an SNP-run council at the moment which we all know are in by the edge of their teeth,” he said. “There are, however, a lot of Labour councillors and they could be trying to disrupt the taxi trade so that it looks like the SNP are not behind drivers.”