Post by acnedriver on Mar 14, 2023 6:25:53 GMT
ALMOST a third of licensed taxis in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area are unlikely to comply with European exhaust emission standards.
BCP councillors have turned down a plea from the trade association to relax the council’s rules – although a review is to be requested for the new council to look at after the May elections.
David Lane from the BCP taxi and private hire association told councillors at a meeting on Thursday that unless the requirement to meet the standards were relaxed he feared it could result in many drivers being forced to leave the trade because they would not be able to afford to buy newer vehicles.
The licensing committee meeting heard that 304 of the 938 BCP Council-registered fleet are thought to currently not comply with the Euro 6 emissions standard, mainly because they are older than when the exhaust levels were introduced.
The Euro 6 standard was put in place as part of the global challenge to improve air quality – it sets the levels of exhaust emissions for new cars registered from September 2015 with different standards for petrol and diesel vehicles.
Most of the committee members were against relaxing the need for licensed vehicles to comply with the standard – saying it would undermine BCP’s commitment to climate change.
Committee vice chair Cllr Toby Johnson said: “It would be a detrimental step to move it back any further. It would be a retrograde step for a council trying to be at the forefront of the climate change agenda.”
Others said they would like to see the current age restrictions on vehicles changed, replacing it with a mileage limit, and more done to encourage wheelchair accessible taxis, only two having been registered in the past year.
Cllr David Kelsey said he would like to see many of the hackney carriage and private hire policies reviewed given that most of the rules had been in place since before BCP Council came into being.
www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/23379585.fears-bcp-taxi-drivers-leave-trade-exhaust-rules/
BCP councillors have turned down a plea from the trade association to relax the council’s rules – although a review is to be requested for the new council to look at after the May elections.
David Lane from the BCP taxi and private hire association told councillors at a meeting on Thursday that unless the requirement to meet the standards were relaxed he feared it could result in many drivers being forced to leave the trade because they would not be able to afford to buy newer vehicles.
The licensing committee meeting heard that 304 of the 938 BCP Council-registered fleet are thought to currently not comply with the Euro 6 emissions standard, mainly because they are older than when the exhaust levels were introduced.
The Euro 6 standard was put in place as part of the global challenge to improve air quality – it sets the levels of exhaust emissions for new cars registered from September 2015 with different standards for petrol and diesel vehicles.
Most of the committee members were against relaxing the need for licensed vehicles to comply with the standard – saying it would undermine BCP’s commitment to climate change.
Committee vice chair Cllr Toby Johnson said: “It would be a detrimental step to move it back any further. It would be a retrograde step for a council trying to be at the forefront of the climate change agenda.”
Others said they would like to see the current age restrictions on vehicles changed, replacing it with a mileage limit, and more done to encourage wheelchair accessible taxis, only two having been registered in the past year.
Cllr David Kelsey said he would like to see many of the hackney carriage and private hire policies reviewed given that most of the rules had been in place since before BCP Council came into being.
www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/23379585.fears-bcp-taxi-drivers-leave-trade-exhaust-rules/