Falmouth town centre taxi office wins support

10:30am Wednesday 6th February 2013 in News

A Falmouth taxi firm’s plans to open an in-town office next to the Tesco supermarket in Killigrew Street have won the support of councillors, but only after it was guaranteed that cars would not clog the street by queuing for customers.

Tom Arrington, managing director of Abacus Taxis, has applied for a change of use of For Eyes to enable him to run a taxi office from the premises. He put his case to Falmouth’s planning committee this week and attempted to allay concerns.

“One of the main issues people are worried about is us causing an obstruction outside Tesco,” he said. “There is a loading bay outside we do use and we do about 30 to 40 jobs a day there anyway.

“Obviously, if we have cars waiting there, it is going to cause an obstruction, but cars should only be sent down for customers waiting there.

“Other feedback is competition for the taxi rank, but that is not an argument to not give planning. Fortunately, we live in a free market economy and competition is actively encouraged.”

Mr Arrington is chairman of the Falmouth Taxi Association and said other firms had raised no real objection to his application.

He said of the proposed office: “I think it would work well and would benefit Falmouth and my business as well. Most towns have an in-town taxi office that works well. Drivers can help the elderly with their shopping rather than them having to walk up to the rank. People still have a choice, though, and can go to the rank.”

Councillors have recommended approval of the application subject to conditions which should include that security door staff are employed, particularly at night; that CCTV is installed and there is no queuing of cars outside.

Comments(10)

BTaylor100 says...
10:54am Wed 6 Feb 13

A disproportionate amount of space in Falmouth is given over to taxis.

How about making it easier and cheaper to park instead? Surely this should be a priority?

Report this post »

GrahamHarris says...
11:16am Wed 6 Feb 13

mm, there doesnt seem to be anything stopping them queueing up outside Iceland.

I think there are a couple of spaces for taxis there, but very often, they stretch right back up the road, actually parking in the middle of the road and even on the pavement outside the cinema!!!

Report this post »

Lord Barrington Forbes-Smythe says...
10:38am Thu 7 Feb 13

Er, no, making it easier to park cars should not be a priority: improving public transport and other forms such as cycling should.

Report this post »

BTaylor100 says...
10:53am Thu 7 Feb 13

Public transport is pretty good in Falmouth - trains, buses, the shuttle bus.

Cycling is for the fit & brave only...

There should be less space for the crazy numbers of taxis & a little more parking, especially short-stay cheap parking. Or watch the high street die/slide further into mediocrity...

Report this post »

Lord Barrington Forbes-Smythe says...
11:07am Thu 7 Feb 13

BTaylor, fair point about cycling but I think there are already a decent number of car parks. Maybe a bit more short stay would indeed be useful.
Public transport is good on the main route to Truro, but pretty poor on all other routes out of Falmouth. Improving it would also help the high street.

Report this post »

BTaylor100 says...
11:22am Thu 7 Feb 13

Both are needed. Anti-car ideology is misguided - public transport will never rival the flexibility & freedom of the car.

In addition, the environmental benefits of increased numbers of overly-large, half-empty diesel buses travelling the narrow lanes around Falmouth are over-stated.

Report this post »

Lord Barrington Forbes-Smythe says...
2:28pm Thu 7 Feb 13

A large number of individuals are not legally permitted to drive due to age etc., or not capable of driving, or unable to afford it, or just unwilling to do so.

That's why we need more frequent, cheaper buses, but they also need to be smaller on many routes.

So you can have your extra parking if I can have more, smaller, cheaper buses!

Report this post »

BTaylor100 says...
2:36pm Thu 7 Feb 13

You're on.

Report this post »

molesworth says...
3:07pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Might I also suggest free parking everywhere in Falmouth for up to 3 hours? That should attract some people with money in their wallets to the place.
By the way, in Falmouth there are more taxis per head of population than any other town or city on earth. Why? Steep hills, old folk out shopping, lazy drunkards and buses and trains stopping early or not being regular enough. Many smaller buses could be a good idea...

Report this post »

Lanty Slee says...
1:22am Tue 12 Feb 13

I always thought Falmouth would look nice with a cable railway.

And a canal.

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree