Taxi company ‘furious’ at council plan to move Scarborough’s railway station taxi rank to rear of building

Chris Brooks, chairman of Station Taxis, has said he is “furious” at a recently approved North Yorkshire Council plan to move the taxi rank to the rear of the railway station.

The change of location for taxis picking up and leaving passengers at Scarborough railway station is part of a wider set of public realm works recently approved by councillors on the Scarborough and Whitby area planning committee.

The ‘station gateway’ redevelopment is a £6.6m scheme to make the station area more pedestrian friendly and improve accessibility but has come under fire from Station Taxis which operates from the site.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Brooks said: “This was first sold to us under the premise that we would be moved to a wholly developed new area at the back of the station, it was described as a transport hub with bus station, new shops, and offices etc.

“The new plan is for us to be sent round to a derelict car park and knock a hole in the station wall.”

The chairman of Station Taxis added: “It’s appalling that more than £6m is being spent on something that doesn’t need changing rather than the mess that is the back of the station with the old Comet building.”

The redevelopment of the area is set to include new landscaping and planting alongside “street furniture” to provide various seating options, as well as providing barriers to restrict vehicular access.

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for open to business, Cllr Derek Bastiman, said: “This is the first phase of what will be a transformative project for the Scarborough Station area and a key strategic investment to improve our town centre.

“Proposals to make improvements to the rear of the station, regenerate the site of the former Comet building and the surrounding area are also moving forward, subject to us securing funding and planning consents in the coming months.”

Cllr Bastiman added: “The need for improvements at Scarborough Station, which is a key gateway to the town, has repeatedly been identified through public and stakeholder consultation as one of the most critical and well-supported of the proposals included within Scarborough’s investment plan.”

The re-siting of the taxi rank will include the “partial removal of the east wall of the shed immediately to the south of the station”, with a new opening to be formed that will enable the use of the building as a taxi-rank, drop-off facility and disabled parking facility, according to council documents.

Speaking at the meeting of the planning committee on May 11, Cllr Janet Jefferson said: “I know for a fact that we have antisocial behaviour within the sheds, and this will hopefully remove that and make it a much safer place for people that park for their daily means and also come to the station.”

She added: “Probably, for the taxi drivers, it will be an inconvenience initially until they get used to it.”

However, the chairman of Station Taxis, Mr Brooks said: “I can’t believe the public are not up in arms about this total waste of money when so many things in Scarborough could do with sprucing up.”