BY AUSTIN LYNCH  http://www.nwipp-newspapers.com/fh/free/310412175000202.php

Taxi drivers in Enniskillen believe the town's taxi rank, located at Paget Lane adjacent to Eden Street car park, is in the wrong place.

Taxi drivers argue that the public are simply not using the rank, even though it is in existence over 12 months at this stage.

These views were expressed on Monday in the Townhall in Enniskillen when a delegation of taxi drivers from the Enniskillen area attended a meeting with representatives of the local Community Safety Partnership.

The meeting had been arranged by the Partnership to discuss the taxi rank and to gauge the views of local taxi drivers towards both the rank's existence and its location.

A delegation of ten local taxi drivers attended, and also present were Neville Armstrong from the Community Safety Partnership, Alwyn Barton, PSNI Chief Inspector of Fermanagh DCU, and Andrew Knox from the Roads Service.

Mr Armstrong got the ball rolling by explaining that the Partnership's aims are threefold: to reduce crime and criminal activity; to cut the fear of crime within the community; and to cut down on anti-social behaviour.

He explained that, as part of its remit, the Partnership had been responsible for an 'Integrated Evening Strategy' for Enniskillen, which has been established in co-operation with the District Policing Partnership (DPP) and the PSNI.

"The Strategy aims to create a safer night-time economy in Enniskillen and to make the experience of visiting, and going out in, Enniskillen as pleasant and safe as possible," he told the meeting.

Mr Armstrong went on to explain that, as part of this strategy, it was decided to establish a taxi rank in Enniskillen, citing the example of the taxi rank in Omagh which, the meeting was told, had been a great success over the years.

One taxi driver related his experience: "The majority of my customers don't think its safe down there (at Paget Lane). It's an isolated location and the main road is quite far away. People won't use it because they don't feel safe," he stated.

Andrew Knox, from the Roads Service told the meeting that, 18 months ago, his department had identified various sites for a rank and, he insisted that the present site initially received a positive response from those in the local taxi industry.

"All the local firms said they would use a rank, although this was prior to the identification of the rank's present location," he recalled.

Mr Knox explained that Paget Lane was selected for a number of reasons, including the fact that it would be away from the busy traffic of the Diamond and also that taxis wouldn't clog up the main thoroughfare of Enniskillen.

A representative of the taxi drivers told the meeting that the only place to pick people up late at night was the middle of the town as a crowd congregated in the Diamond area, possibly because of the presence of the chip van.

The meeting heard that another cause of congestion in the town was boy racers and other drivers stopping to chat to people in the centre of town, which, in turn, backs up late night traffic.

Chief Inspector Alwyn Barton confirmed that his officers had indeed found traffic congestion through the Diamond a problem late at night. He wondered if the chip van were to be moved would the crowd follow it.

Mr Barton also acknowledged that the Diamond was a well-lit area while to walk down towards Paget Lane was less well lit and that this might discourage the public from walking to the taxi rank.

However, as against that, there was the potential for CCTV to be introduced to cover the area where the rank is, 'which might make people feel safer about being in the area'.

"It's not that the taxi drivers don't want to use it (the rank), but there's no point us sitting there if the public don't use the rank," another taxi driver told the meeting.

The possibility of a 'Get Home Safe' late-night bus system being introduced in the town was rejected strongly by all the taxi drivers. They said that such a service would be a serious threat to their livelihoods.

All present agreed, in principle, to a taxi rank in the town and all said they would support it. An independent taxi driver, Sean Roche said, "Once the public use it, the taxi drivers will have no problem using it."

Neville Armstrong said that the Partnership would look at some of the issues raised during the meeting, including lighting, signage for identifying where the taxi rank is, and the possibility of moving the chip van down to the back of the town.

It was agreed that another meeting between the Partnership and the local taxi industry would be organised for May to further review the matter.