THE leader of Cornwall Council said he favours de-zoning taxis in Cornwall as the current set-up is “ridiculous”.

The Liberal Democrat/Independent cabinet met today (Wednesday, May 6) to discuss whether to retain six separate taxi zones in Cornwall or follow government guidance and abolish them to create one licensed countywide area.

The proposal for a single zone has previously been slammed by some taxi drivers who say it will lead to taxis congregating in more lucrative towns such as Falmouth and Newquay at the expense of rural areas and will result in higher fares.

Those in favour say it will be fairer, lead to a level playing field when it comes to prices and make them more resilient to pressure from private hire companies such as Uber.

Uber drivers – who are now licensed to operate in Cornwall – can ply their trade within a countywide zone unlike taxis.

The council’s community wellbeing scrutiny committee considered the matter at its meeting in March and strongly recommended that the cabinet retains the existing taxi zones.

Members decided the government preference for single zones is designed for urban centres and not necessarily best for Cornwall given its rural areas.

Caution has been urged over the decision because if the cabinet agrees to a single zone it can never be reversed.

Cllr Thalia Marrington, cabinet member for community safety, said: “Removing zones may remove the dead mileage for some drivers as they would be able to pick up passengers after dropping someone off in another zone, rather than returning empty to their home zone.

“This could reduce fuel waste and emissions, and potentially allow the driver to earn more too.”

Councillors heard public consultation on amalgamating zones gained 412 responses, 211 of which were from people working in the taxi trade. Overall, 99 were in favour of amalgamation with 299 in favour of keeping separate zones.

“Supporters see it is a simpler, fairer and more efficient system that could reduce empty journeys, shorten waiting times, enable a single fare tariff across Cornwall and give drivers more flexibility,” added Cllr Marrington. “It could also make them more resilient to the impact of national companies moving to Cornwall.

“Opponents fear it will damage local livelihoods and disproportionately harm rural areas. Key concerns focus on loss of local knowledge and trusted drivers, risk to passenger safety, drivers gravitating to busy towns and events, congestion and large operators undercutting independents.”

Since the scrutiny committee’s meeting in March, Cornwall Council has heard from other councils across England that de-zoning was the right decision for their authorities and no long-term negative impacts had been identified for passengers, rural areas or vulnerable users.

Concerns about drivers migrating to busier areas didn’t materialise, cabinet members were told.

Cllr Marrington suggested deferring a decision to assess the implications to the differing fare tariffs across Cornwall and for more analysis on the issues raised by the scrutiny committee.

Cllr David Saunby, who is vice-chair of the council’s miscellaneous licensing committee which decides taxi licences, repeated his assertion that the creation of a single zone could lead to ‘taxi wars’ between operators.

Council leader Cllr Leigh Frost, who represents Bodmin St Petroc’s division, said: “I’m minded for de-zoning. Purely because in Bodmin, if you’re a Bodmin taxi driver and you pick someone up from the rank and take them to Bodmin Parkway train station, you can’t pick anyone up from the train station and take them back to Bodmin because they are in different zones. That is ridiculous.”

He also felt it wasn’t fair that there are different tariffs across Cornwall.

Cllr Saunby butted in and said: “That’s fair comment, but you’ve got to listen to the consultation. What’s the point of having a consultation if you’re going to go against what the people want?”

Cllr Dan Rogerson responded that a consultation isn’t a referendum, but an opportunity for people to present evidence and reasoned arguments for or against a proposal.

The cabinet voted to defer the decision in line with Cllr Marrington’s recommendation.