It’s been proposed that St. John’s square will become a den of crime if buses and taxis are banned from it.
It came as absolutely no surprise to discover that the source was a taxi driver. By the second sentence the story is already a non-tangible fail, but it’s the start of the week so I’ll assault it a little more.
Bill Lewtas from Blackpool Licensed Taxi Operators’ Association said, and I promise I am not making this up;
“The presence of taxis deters crime.”
I wasn’t aware that taxis had law enforcement properties, so this is a completely new one on me. Perhaps the council should revoke 50 or so licenses, compulsory purchase the vehicles and park them around Talbot, Claremont and Bloomfield for an instant crime reduction.
Bill goes on to talk about St. John’s square businesses.
“If the businesses in the area can’t make a living and they close, (St. John’s square) could be populated with down and outs, beggars and thieves.”
Some people might say the cabbies are the only thieves around St. John’s square, but that’s another story. I’m struggling, though, to see which businesses in that area rely on licensed cabs and buses being able to drive through. Let’s think about what’s currently there.
Down the old Cedar Square you’ve got a pawnbrokers on the corner, an estate agent, a cafe, an ice cream shop, an Italian restaurant, a solicitors, a jewellers and a sandwich bar. None of these shops rely on being able to drive across St. John’s square.
Along Church Street we have an outdoors shop, a clothes shop, a bar and of course a church. On this end of Abingdon Street you’ve got a jewellers and a pound shop. These don’t rely on being able to drive through St. John’s square either.
I am of the view that the council made a grave error in trying to implement the shared space concept in an area of relatively little space and in a town with traffic management implemented by a child, however Mr Lewtas’ taxi association members have to carry the can here just as the council do.
Whilst the scheme is in place taxi drivers need to realise that pedestrians are entitled to be there just as much as they are. It’s not shared space until a taxi comes hurtling along and then everyone has to scuttle out of the way. If he didn’t want an uproar and knee jerk ban, he should have passed on a memo to his members that they should not drive like fucking idiots across there.
That applies to white van men as well.
I think it’s important to note also that private hire taxis (ones that you phone) have always been banned from St. John’s square; the only people moaning are hackney cab drivers. Indeed, I was speaking to a Premier Cabs driver a couple of weeks ago and he mentioned that the Council had sent letters to all of their drivers saying that if they were seen driving across St. John’s square they would receive a visit from the Police.
The St. John’s project was monumental in exemplifying how so much money could be spent on something so small and insignificant. Yes, the council executives have lost their marbles. How could they implement this without considering traffic implications and without even entertaining the thought that it might not be workable?
They should have created a proper square that you can drive round, with the church and a pedestrianised bit in the middle. There should have been a taxi rank along one side of the square, and a bus stop along another. Maybe that would have meant knocking down some buildings but as Maxine Callow would say, bold decisions need to be made.
They failed to do this, implemented a stupid scheme, and they’re now apparently forking out £120,000 to pedestrianise it. No, you didn’t mis-read that. £120,000 to pedestrianise a shared space – is the whole point not that it’s already pedestrianised?
The perils of St. John's Square, (c) Peter Mowbray/Liveinblackpool.co.uk
Bill Lewtas is simply playing on the fear of crime that exists in Blackpool to get the public on-side. His arguments are speculative at best, and the outcome isn’t a reduction in crime at all, it’s a potential increase of money in his pockets and those of his associates. Is it not the case that cabbies make more money by having to drive around the houses instead of directly through St. John’s, though?
I do understand that having a deserted area does leave it vulnerable to crime and congregations of drop outs despite the extensive CCTV coverage, but most of town is deserted at night anyway so I can’t see why or how St. John’s will suddenly explode with antisocial activity. The best solution to all crime is a proper police force that doesn’t hide away in the back of a Ford Galaxy on the A583 or in a CCTV control room, but actually gets into the community and does proper police work, 24 hours a day.
Or maybe, if Bill Lewtas is right, we should turn to his association of crime bustin’ taxis. At least they’ll turn up when you ring them.
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This is absolutely ridiculous, it is just the cabbies making a song and dance because they lost the battle. I have never heard anything so ludicrous, I can’t wait for SJS to be traffic-free.
BTW; There is an article about Integrity in today’s Gazette.
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Oh right, anything interesting?
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Just a general overview really with the slogan ‘We only have one policy, we have no policies’ quite catchy that is I think.
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Bill Lewtas needs to sectioned under the 1983 mental health act, given his absurd and outlandish comments, he is every reason NOT to use a blackpool cab.In fact,if i were a cabbie I would ditch him, hes a liability.
Anyone wanting to visit Blackpool would only have to read the Gasjet and ask ” What the fuck is going on in that town?”
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I find it quite distasteful how you mock the taxi trade as I myself have been given two commendations from the Sheriff of Lancashire as well as a judge for intervening when violent crime been committed. I have also received an award of money from a magistrate for again intervening when someone was been assaulted, and this all happened when I was going about my humble job as a taxi driver. I have reported many other incidents to the Police. What you may not realise is that there can be up to 700 private hire and taxi drivers out at work at the same time, most of us report any public order or crime in progress either by our radios to the office for them to report it to the police, or via our own mobile phones. We are valued by the Police for this service as they cannot be every where at the same time. If any of you took the time to speak to a Police officer you would see that we supply them a great deal of information that can be acted upon, you might say that this makes us grasses but I say it makes us valued members of the community. There are plenty of others who are willing to sit back and do nothing for there community and slate others who do, as we have seen here.
What I think would be a simple solution regarding St Johns Square if they want to pedestrianise it would be to close it off during the day when there are plenty of shoppers walking about, then open it up at night when it becomes quite as the shops have closed. That way the taxis can service the opera house (lets not forget not everyone can walk to the nearest taxi rank as we have a lot of disabled customers who relying on us getting them door to door) should we exclude them from visiting shows and events. We even had a meeting with the local traders who operate in St Johns Square, all of them wanted taxis and buses to stay in the area as it brings extra people to the area, they themselves said they were concerned about how it is going to effect their businesses with less people about.
All Mr Lewtas was doing was repeating what the traders had told him at these meetings. I see it now at night, as it is quiet all ready in this area, apart from rowdy youths walking to the local night club, and bars, having a dip in the fountains on the way. If I wanted to mug someone I would pick a quite area rather than one were there are potential witnesses about. Think about what you are saying in future as a lot of taxis drivers are indeed a benefit to the community we should not all be tarnished by the minority who spoil our chosen profession. Just one other thing, it seems ridiculous that the council spent a small fortune to re-enforce the road so that it was capable of coping with traffic if it is not going to be used for this purpose, and if any defects are showing already then this should be rectified by the contractor responsible for this work as it was not fit for purpose, and it should not become a burden to the local council tax payer.
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I understand that having more people in an area during quiet hours means that dossers are less likely to start doing anything, but to play on the fear of crime as Lewtas is doing is not realistic.
Lewtas isn’t saying all this stuff out of the good of his heart. He’s not saying it because he cares about the community so much.
All of the pretence that it’s all about disabled people is more poppycock, it’s about cab drivers making more money.
I don’t have a problem with that, but using fear of crime to make your argument is a poor choice, in my opinion at least. I don’t doubt cabbies call the police and pass on information, and I certainly would not call it grassing. Wouldn’t anyone, cabbie or not, do the same?
On to your comments about St. Johns. I certainly agree here. Yes, St. John’s is a, frankly, bollocks scheme which has utterly failed and demonstrated what a useless bunch of pillocks the council workers responsible are. They didn’t consider the pedestrians, they didn’t consider the accessibility, they didn’t consider the taxi drivers or bus drivers. They just wanted to rush it through. The condition of it after 6 months or so demonstrates that it was done on the cheap but for top dollar prices.
I also agree completely with all the stuff you say about the council wanting to gridlock the town.
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This Council will not be satisfied until they totally grid lock the town centre to traffic, I only hope that during the recent pay reviews the council did that they reduced the salary’s of the people who run the highways department, as I would not pay them with washers. When are they going to get it that there are more cars than ever on the road,which we all pay dearly for in various taxes to be able to use the highways. All they are doing is narrowing roads leading to junctions to restrict the free flow of traffic, widening pavements were they are all ready more than adequate,and closing roads.Not only have they now closed Abingdon St and Church St junction they have also cut Cedar Square out of the equation as well this is 3 roads within the town centre,not including the junction of Church St and the Promenade that they have temporary reopened whilst they do the drains on Corporation st. Why do they not change the one way system on Topping st to help alleviate the problem they have caused round St Johns, which I think looks monstrous with all that paving,needs breaking up with some greenery or raised flower beds to give it some colour.They are making Blackpool town centre less car friendly and handing business on a plate to Preston as well as other out of town shopping areas. In conclusion I can only assume that the council never expect Blackpool to get back to the good old days as the road infrastructure around Blackpool would never cope now.
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Coming soon
eath Wish 6, starring Bill Lewtas, a failed Blackpool cemdian cum taxi driving crusader who takes on the crime lords of a northern town, and all from the comfort of his taxi!
The film ends in a mass confronation, aptly named the battle of St Johns square,Peter callow plays a cameo part as a vagrant claiming to be the council leader.
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I’m all in favour of making any town centre unfriendly to cars, after all you don’t expect to see cars driving down the middle of the Trafford Centre.
Anything that makes a drivers life (and I own a car) difficult to the point it forces them to use a bus, a tram or a train or walk can only be a good thing. Cars produce congestion, pollution and are very inefficient in terms of the number of people they carry to the space they take compared to a bus.
What I would like to see, are more free car parks on the edges of Blackpool with reduced price bus tickets linked to parking your car in those car parks and more linked in parking spaces to the upgraded tram line.
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Restored these last few comments after denial of service attacks from another user on the same hardware as this server and resultant database corruption, apologies for the two or three that have been wiped. I’m assured by my ISP that the perpetrators have been stopped.
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Stop press: Bill Spewtas/Lewtas has had be sectioned after found to be high on methamphetaminine driving a cab dressed up as a batman on st johns square.His shrink, Dr Harold shipman confirmed that he had been suffering from a form of post traumatic stress disorder, a result of Bill being anally raped as a child by his grandfather, dressed as a copper.This has caused bill to have pyschotic delusions,resulting him in claiming taht hes a crime fighter in a cab.
All concerned cabbies should picket wittingham asylum to prevent and crminals trying to hurt Mr lewtas.
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Some sensible comments/observations from Mr Palme as usual. Especially the one about getting the contractors back to explain why the job isn’t FFP!
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Thank you for the comments on my need for sectioning. I hope to persuade you that I am not mad. As this is the first time posting to Phil’s page I hope that you will listen to my arguments before replying.
The first thing you will see is that I do not hide behind a nickname or pseudonym.
As the Secretary of the Blackpool Licensed Taxi Operators Association it is my job to represent the members of our Association. And if any of them (but not Harold) thinks that I am mad I would be happy to stand aside and let someone else take over. No volunteers? Ok well I will carry on for now.
We opposed the closure of Cedar Square because:
1. We did not want to lose the taxi rank in Cedar Square. But we were assured we would retain a presence in this area, on Church St near to the entrance, with a feeder rank in Leopold Grove.
2. We thought it was wrong that taxi journeys should be made longer than necessary. Yes that IS what most decent taxi drivers think. Grid lock is not good for business. Blocking off the traffic from this area has consequences all over the town centre.
3. We thought it was wrong to spend £3.5m on this. Yes that’s right £3.5m was the original estimate. Someone underestimate the cost? Ended up costing £4.7m. Never told why.
4. We were concerned that life was going to be made worse for disabled people, especially those who use taxis.
Right from the start I asked the members of our Association to drive slowly through this area and to not sound horn when pedestrians walk in front. I also said I thought 20mph was too fast and suggested dropping it to 10mph.
Almost as an afterthought we were asked to comment on the view expressed by Pierre Coulon. That due to the area soon being closed to traffic it would not be suitable for a Casino. Why walk out of a casino with £2000 winnings in back pocket and be mugged?
We support the idea that having taxis parked up and driving through deters crime. Many police officers share this view and we are encouraged to work with the police. I have had a number of meetings with a police inspector who values most highly the assistance given by taxi/private hire drivers. There are in total some 700 such vehicles in Blackpool.
The view expressed that having taxis and buses there increases trade comes direct from meetings with traders in the area. They said that trade picked up when we were allowed back. And they are dreading the area being closed. So the scenario of shutters going up and anti social behaviour increasing should not be taken lightly.
So Phil it is not really about money in my pocket. It is more to do with the Gazette picking up on one of many reasons expressed why taxis should be allowed in to St John’s Square. We have said that we would support a day time ban. But if Blackpool is content to hide taxis down Leopold Grove, where only the locals will know about them I suppose they will have to bring it on. That way the thousands of visitors coming out of the Winter Gardens and Opera House will wonder where the taxis are and why they came to Blackpool?
If they wanted buses/taxis out they should have done it right from the start and not wasted so much time and money. I think it is more to do with one or two Gazette letters opposing such vehicles being there and Peter Callow, man of the people, jumping on the bandwagon and thinking there are votes in it for him and Maxime!
Harold – I accept that I am not a ‘cemdian’ [sic]. I was going to say worse than that, but after reading your last posting about cabbies coming to the asylum to assist me I had to confess that you managed to make me smile.
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Fair play Bill, and great explanation.
The trouble is, whilst I don’t now dispute that having cabs parked up discourages certain crimes, it’s still not a carte blanche to get to park up wherever you want.
A night time only idea is fair enough, provided the drivers do adhere to a very slow speed limit.
Mr Coulon will have to build his casino (in 4 years time) in accordance with the council’s planners if he even decides to go ahead at the Winter Gardens. Who knows what St. John’s square will be like then – they may have even put the road back if the quote to fix the cracks is too much!
Not that they fix roads in any hurry either…
I agree that Leopold Grove is far from an ideal place for a rank, and that the junction between there and Church Street can be unpleasant to navigate due to buses on the right, bombers on the left and drivers that don’t look whilst coming off St. Johns.
The town centre traffic arrangements, really, are a total cock up.
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Its a piss take period Bill no offence intended, glad you took it like that mate,the article mad me laugh, we need cheering up, as for hatred, well I detest Peter Callow and his cronies, Steve Weaver, Helen France etc,they are cunts period and produced another mess and you the taxpapyer are footing the bill, like the 2 million on consultants etc, the man is total scum as are his cronies.You and your ilk do a fair days work, unlike the council toerags.
A year ago Henry turd sucker Mitchell banned a cabbie for 28 days for having a weapon to defend himself, myself and others on his forum let loose a tirade against that bastard Mitchell.
All the best Harold.
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Harold
Many thanks. We do our best in a difficult situation. Most cabbies are great people and I have many that I am proud to call friends.
Regards
Bill
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Harold, I realise you love taking the piss out of people,but at least Bill and I do not hide behind false IDs and I’m quite sure he could have a proper one to one debate with you about this article that was seen in the Gazette, unfortunately for Bill it was sensationalised as per usual with clever editing and taken out of context. There are plenty of people who like to slate taxi drivers and do not realise the problems we have to put up with for so little reward, infact I will throw the gauntlet to you or Phil, as indeed I did to the councillors who are supposed to be running this town,why don’t you spend any evening you wish riding shotgun in my taxi,just to educate you what the job involves and then do a article for this web site. I don’t wish you to feel sorry for me as it is my chosen career, and I just do it these days for a bit of pocket money as I made many a wise investments through the years to be able to retire at any time of my choosing. however I do feel for younger people coming into the Job due to the high unemployment in Blackpool who have family’s and mortgages to pay,as unless you are prepared to work 80hrs + per week then you are not going to go home with very much at all, and that includes owners as well as drivers. The recession has really battered the trade, and how are you supposed to compete with free bus passes to everyone over 60 regardless were you live. The challenge is there,lets see one of you grab it.
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Thing is Dave, I wasn’t taking issue with the profession, you’ve just taken my comments about Bill’s Gasjet article as a personal attack when they weren’t.
Of course, I was judging the article on face value and trusted the Gasjet to provide a balanced and fair account. If they sensationalised it, then so be it, but the quotes attributes to Bill were and are asking to be used out of context.
Having read Bill’s response above, it is clear the Gasjet’s poor reporting is partially to blame for any misdirection you perceive in what I wrote.
What I still don’t really get, though, is why you’re so bothered about this “eyes and ears of the community” type of thing. I don’t dispute that in the course of your job you do see plenty of things and report them, but as I said to Bill, this isn’t a license to park or drive wherever you like in the town. Policing isn’t, after all, your job and evidently the council don’t agree that the surveillance you provide to the police is sufficient enough reason to allow cabs on St. John’s. Leopold Grove is, after all, just a few metres away.
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Phil
Thanks for that. I appreciate the comments.
I think the best I can say in response is that most taxi drivers accept that they don’t have carte blanche to park where they want. They get enough action from traffic wardens and council enforcement officers to know this to be true. This can lead to appearance in front of the Council Public Protection Committee. All they want is an opportunity to park within sight of the Winter Gardens, on a taxi rank where they are legally parked and not causing a problem for anyone. And if by being there us help to reduce potential crime, this is a welcome free benefit.
Hiding them away round the corner will not help Blackpool to become a world class resort.
I was outside the Winter Gardens a few days ago when JLS were on. Traffic wardens were busy dealing with too many taxis queuing up on Adelaide Street, to get onto the Leopold Grove rank. Right in front of the Winter Gardens there were over 25 private cars, waiting to pick people up. No enforcement action was directed at these vehicles.
I think it is probably too late for sanity to return. The best solution would be buses/taxis after say 8.00pm with a 10 mph speed limit. But the Council would now be required to deliver a u-turn.
Regards
Bill
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Phil
Believe me the only reason we have been banned from St Johns is because Callow and his bunch of misfits saw it as a vote winner,the reason why it would be worth while for you to spend a evening with us is so that we can make you aware of the bigger picture, We have a huge problem of taxi ranks in the town and have done a taxi rank review and presented to the council highways department,only to be told they don’t have the budget,what happens to the £350,000 we hand into licensing every year,this is supposed to used to assist the trade after reasonable costs have been deducted to run the administration.I was once on the committee of BLTOA myself, but I have better things to do with my spare time than meet councillors or council employees who have there own agenda and lets face it, is a done deal before they even hear what you have to say,they have to be seen to consult but it does not mean that have to act on common senses as we have seen on many occasions in this town. B safe and the Police have even tried to intervene to get taxi ranks in the right locations,so that we can get people away fast so that they are not causing a nuisance. The nice people who run this town are tucked away in there beds so have no idea what is going on, I’m not making excuse for cab drivers to park were they want, but what is the use of a 3 cab taxi rank with all those people wanting to get home in Queen St,and most of the surrounding cab ranks nearby have private vehicles parked on them. The problem is that the night time economy has changed so most of the work is now concentrated in a small part of the town centre and there is not enough ranking facility’s for the 256 Hackney cabs, and with the credit crunch they are spending more down time on a rank instead of moving off with a job, sure there are other ranks available in other parts of Blackpool but who wants to park up on some of the obscure ranks were there is not a chance of receiving a walk up fare. At the end of the day taxis do pay there way in society, and do not receive any subsidies whatsoever,yet they have to compete with bus company’s who receive no end of subsidies,we have argued on a national scale that we should receive a VAT reduction if we want to buy a £30,000 purpose built wheelchair excessable taxi to no avail,but I believe if disabled person buys a car he does not pay VAT same as the bus company’s.
If we could get a fuel subsidy like the buses we would be able to reduce how fares to be able to compete easier but again to no avail. What we would like to see is a level playing field but I’m afraid it will not happen in my lifetime, especially while Blackpool council are the only share holders in Blackpool Transport. Sorry for the long rant but I get pissed off of people thinking that we are a piece of shit that they have stepped on.
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I agree Peter Callow is a total CUNT and his wife is a product of incest; shes that hideous.
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Harold, I am not hiding and I totally agree, I’m surprised you did not include Fowler as you usually do. He hates taxis and is doing his best to destroy them will his ridiculous policy’s, wants us all in shiny new cabs costing £130 per week on finance,(that’s if the bank will lend you the money in the first place) despite the fact that we do not earn the minimum wage,especially at this time of year, and lets face it despite what you read in the Gazette the season was shite with mainly day visitors, who bring there own sandwitches. So if he thinks its best for a taxi driver to work 80hrs plus per week, so that we can run shiny new cabs for kids to throw eggs and stones at, passengers who are having a domestic to kick out at the cab rather than the person who they are arguing with,or to use as a cafe with kebabs deposited all over the floor, as they are that pissed to put it in there mouths, or someone been sick or someone who decides to put his feet up on your seats who has just walked through a load of piss who are we to argue, but god forbid if a taxi driver runs a pedestrian down, as has happened in other parts of the country due to the access hours they have had to work in order to make a living. I was going to ask him to give me a quote to erect some scaffolding on one of my property’s,but I am going to ask some one with a newer vehicle now in the interest of public safety as I do not like how old his transit pickup is.
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Dave, dont know what the hiding comment means but I hate Fowler, yes hes a total scum-cunt but the whole lot of them.Yet they will get voted back in.
Although theres an article about Integrity which cabbies may find interesting ,as they could ask them for their views and support .
If it means that bastard Callow and his paedo friends are booted out, bring it on.
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I for one certainly appreciate Dave and Bill putting their heads above the parapet! There are very few people these days prepared to stand up and be counted, even less prepared to do it without going incognito.
Dave, you do have a point about the experience angle. I drove a hackney cab a couple of nights a week for a few months and I can tell anyone who wants to listen that it is an eye opener!
On my first night, second job, a pissed up twenty something female got in and proceeded to piss all over the seats then refused to get out! I had to get the police to remove her eventually and then spent the rest of the night trying to clean and dry the seats! To be fair, things could only get better after that!
Cab drivers are Blackpool’s front-line ambassadors – The Council needs to build a better relationship with them. That isn’t to say that the Council should fawn all over Trevor Boaler but there needs to be a mutual trust – something which is sadly lacking at the moment.
Thing is that most cabbies think they could a better job of running the town than the Councillors and the officers.
Having been both a cabbie and a Councillor, my vote would be with the cabbies!
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Just read a disgraceful comment from HAROLD, well all I can say to you HAROLD, is if thats the language you use when leaving a public message, YOU should stick your head in a bucket of dog shit.
Regarding the fiasco thats been allowed to develope in Saint Johns Square, after all the money that has been invested there,,,,, specially formed loading for the BUSES, purpose built shelter for the BUSES, road strenthening for the BUSES, and now all to be scrapped. Surely all the anger should be aimed at the TOWN HALL, and not amongst ourselves, after all what has not been said, is, by stopping the traffic going through Abingdon St, the TOWN HALL has in effect, broken the back of Blackpool, and sometime in the future we will all suffer as a result of this incredibly stupid measure that this present Council is now taking.
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There isn’t any anger directed at cabbies, the original comments were about the ludicrous article printed by the Gazette which frankly made Mr Lewtas look like he’d lost the plot. But I’ve addressed that already.
You make a good point about accountability: you are right that if there is any anger it should be directed to Mr Weaver and Messrs Callow. But for whatever reason, the shit never sticks to them and they never do anything for the good of the town – it’s always for the good of themselves, be it brown envelopes, legacy building or being seen to be doing something however ridiculous the project may be.
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If I do Mike,you will be there with me I am sure,we can share a bucket together sunbeam, it will be a pleasure.
The anger is being aimed at the town hall,if you read the posts.
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I apologise if my earlier comment seemed harsh, I have nothing against the taxi trade. In fact I greatly respect Dave Palme and Bill Lewtas for coming on here to give their side of the story, the Gazette is hardly balanced journalism is it? I like the suggestion by Dave Palme to pedestrianise the square in the daytime but open it up at night, that is a perfectly workable solution in my view. I also agree with Mr Lewtas in saying most cabbies are great people and do a great job I regularly frequent Blackpool town centre at night and have never had any major problems taxi wise. I do agree about some of the traffic problems in the town centre, I see no logical reason why the Church St/Promenade junction needs to be closed.
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True Blackpudlian
Thank you for your support. Myself and David Palmer had two meetings with Steve Weaver to try to get the junction of Church Street and the Promenade opened up. Gordon Marsden came to one of these in support. Mr Weaver dug his heels in and said no.
It is opened at the moment (exit only), but we understand this is only until the work in Corporation Street is complete. The madness goes on!
Bill Lewtas
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I can’t say that surprises me, I am no fan at all of Weaver, he is completely and utterly useless. Because of that junction being closed buses are backing up right around the block to get into Talbot Squre especially when some inconsiderate private motorist decides to illegally park up on Corporation St for a drop off/pick up.
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To be fair though mate that’s a similar problem to the lack of sensible taxi ranks. Due to the way the council want to take money off the motorist at every turn, there is nowhere you can stop and drop off, or stop to nip into a shop.
You have to go to a car park miles away, fork out a king’s ransom for a ticket, walk a million miles to the shop, buy your newspaper, walk another million miles back, get in your car, negotiate the crazy road system and eventually you get home after driving over a load of pot holes on the way.
It’s no wonder the retail sector in the town centre is subdued and out of town business parks are busy.
But this is Cllr Ian Fowler’s ideal world. A man elected by people to represent their views. How many people in Waterloo ward actually agree with this madman?
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Steve Weaver, say no more: TOTAL IDLE PISS USELESS WANKER.
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its as simple as this let them who are being paid 100.000 per year for what and why its just greed and more and for the comments about bill i find this very disturbing the person who made this rant is out of order it will do nothing at all i support billy and i always will the maybe we should have another strike to show our support to billy and stick our fingers up 2 the council at the same time you have my support billy and we will have a convoy no doubt watch this space we are not alone we will rise james
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maybe we should have a protest at the town hall watch this space and i agree with harold werever u are keep on doing it i want to hear more from you u tell the story as is should be told we support u harold ur a truth monger no one likes the truth there u go remember jackanory
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I will never stop abusing that bastard callow or his anus sucking cronies, they deserve it,anal parasites that they are.
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Zimflyer, You are quite right when you say that cars cause pollution especially whilst they are stuck in congestion,the problem lies with this council who are hell bent on causing congestion,if a car can travel two miles at say 20mph it will arrive at its destination in 6 minutes,have you tried doing two miles lately in Blackpool it cant take you the best part of twenty minutes due to the narrowing of Junctions so that a car turning right halts the free flow of forward moving traffic,the various road closures,so 20 minutes of running a car engine as opposed to 6 minutes,tell me which is the greener policy,I could write a book all all the cock ups to the roads in this town and you can bet your life it is going to get worse. Buses that park on the road rather than using enbayments causing unnecessary obstruction of the highway,they call it traffic calming, All it is creating is more pollution.Why can we not do like the Americans do if you are at a set of traffic lights waiting to turn left,why can we not do it if the road is clear and go about our journey,the Yanks have done it for years although it is the other way round for them,why not have the traffic lights at roundabouts switched on at peak times them have them switch off automatically at quieter times, after all when the traffic lights break at Plymouth Road roundabout the traffic seems to flow better. I would like to see the council manage traffic as they are paid to do rather than obstruct it to put us off using our cars,I have paid a great deal of money out to be able to use my cars as indeed so have others,why not give motorist a better deal,after all the money these Governments skim of us in the name of the environment(or bull shit tax as it should be called) we should be able to have the best roads in the world, and not put up with the riddled potholed roads that we now have. Instead of paying these expensive outside consultants,lets have a motorist forum in Blackpool where various road users can have input into what improvements need to be made.
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What a great comment! All of those things are right on the money, but the council are never ever held to account on these issues.
I can’t for the life of me understand why they are narrowing all the roads except for, as you say, some delusional ideal that traffic is calmed by doing so. I’m certainly not calm when I’m sat behind a bus that has failed to use its bay, or sat in Layton just waiting because 300 old people are boarding a bus.
In fact one could say that these measures encourage speeding because they introduce unnecessary delays in your journey which in many cases have to be made up elsewhere.
The American system you mention is also in use in Australia. Obviously that’s more of a Government thing though.
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I agree about traffic lights at roundabouts, it certainly makes sense to only have them on when the traffic flow is at it’s peak.
I must disagree though about increasing speed to reduce pollution, taken to a logical conclusion, we would extend the motorway right through the heart of Blackpool just so cars could get from a to b quicker never mind the destruction a busy road causes to the urban environment.
As I said the better solution especially in a town with low car ownership is to develop park and ride facilities so any one that buys a car park ticket gets a tram/bus pass for the day for them and upto four other people and then are ferried in to the middle of town by bus.
A good example would be to develop the car park at Gynn Square in to a park and ride with traffic lights from the car park to the tram stop (and move the tram stop a few yards north). Integrated transport is what we are after, something that links, cars, trams, buses and walking together. The key though is to get the locations and pricing right, so that means cheaper car parks connected to free public transport use for car park ticket holders.
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Motorways into the centre of town would just be silly!
I’m in agreement with park and ride for tourists (tram line/monorail along Yeadon Way anyone?), but it fails for residents.
I live about 2 miles from the centre of Blackpool.
Why would I bother driving 2 miles in the opposite direction to Whitehills, or indeed 2 miles past the centre to Gynn Square in order to park my car then to get on a bus that goes back where I’ve just come from.
And if I’m paying to park anyway, I might as well park in the centre and pay Ian Fowler’s car park tax.
The same applies for most residents of Blackpool.
How would you solve this?
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My point was to use the tram line as well as bus routes to create different park and ride routes so as many areas of Blackpool as possible are covered. In your case Phil, as you don’t live near the tram line you just pick up the bus as it goes past your house or the area close to it on it’s way from a park and ride in to the centre of town.
As many roads as possible within the town centre itself should be closed to cars and the people that shop there brought to the town by public transport so we create an urban space similar to the Trafford Centre in that all car parking is left outside and the centre is for pedestrians only.
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Dave Palme and Bill Lewtas.
Come here more.
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Jamesh
Thank you, nice to be appreciated. I have added philtheone to my list of favourites.
Regards
Bill
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You’re welcome
It just nice to see a new person with a sense of humor – good comments – unbiased view – and no moaning.
You’re like a nice version of phil..
I love you phil
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No you don’t. I even had to draw my own little flame. Go on. Have a look up there —>
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you dont ask you dont get!
My psychic powers haven’t been working so well lately, you will have to carry on actually asking me to do stuff for you rather than just hoping i will know what you need doing!
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PS
Its a beautiful flame
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Bill Lewtas: a deserved and unreserved apology
>
> Yesterday in my typical inimitable, abrasive,obscene and vulgar style ,I launched a sulphuric piss-take tirade against Bill Lewtas.After reading what he had to say on the forum, I came to 2 conclusions.
>
> 1) He was totally misrepresented by the Gazette and hence my comments.They should apologise to him; he was treated with undeserved contempt by the Gazette.
>
> 2) He strikes me as a voice of reason that Blackpool desperately needs.Calm, dignified and with eloquence he tackled the issues,bringing light and information with regard to the plight Blackpool cabbies, who have to deal with a lot of aggro and get a raw deal.
>
> Amongst other things, not only is he an excellent ambassador for his trade, I could see him as a political voice in Blackpool and hope he progresses further given the shocking and mediocre shower that currently exists in Blackpool.
> So to Bill, I humble myself before a fine gentleman (yourself), and say “Sorry”.
>
> I hope to see you progress and believe you could do a lot for Blackpool.
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Honestly mate, there is no need for apology. The more I read your comments the more I have laughed with you. Tonight I have been to work, mostly down North Station where I am usually based. And a lot of the chat has been about philtheone.com and the actions of Blackpool Council in forcing us out of St John’s Square. Cab drivers have been logging on using mobile phones and reading it out to the gathered throng. And every one, myself included, have been roaring with laughter. Some have even complemented me on my response, which was nice.
Starting off with me being sectioned numerous taxi drivers gathered around in a huddle. Who was this Harold who was attacking their leader? All became clear as the story continued and we got into the battle of St John’s Square and the situation at the hospital. The laughter was huge. I think that one of life’s tapestry mysteries is that when we are young we are embarrassed too easily. And as we get older the ability to be self deprecating gets much easier. I have learnt this skill and I very much shared the humour.
Keep up the good work.
Regards
Bill
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Great to see new visitors to the site putting the real story across rather than that of a half-listening headline grabbing Gazette half-wit reporter.
I agree the traffic should be speeded up in Blackpool (not to motorway speeds!) where possible and that pedestrian routes are made safe too (the initiative to encourage cycling and walking has only been a one-way thing for cycling at the detriment to pedestrians so far). Get people like me to park at the edge of town and get a park and ride bus in. Easy parking and then easy access stops pollution in the town centre whilst not discouraging money being spent in the town.
Zim, why do you think motorists having their lives made impossible works? Either they drive to another town further away for business or they don’t bother at all. I rarely go into St. Anne’s like many others because it’s impossible to park and you freeze at the open bus stops (with a post and no shelter) for a bus into town that costs a fortune. And look at how badly the retail centre is really doing as a result.
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It works Frustrated, because if a car journey is easy to make people drive, if it’s painful people will use public transport, if that public transport is the best on offer and set at the price.
My solution includes the best of what makes places like the Trafford Centre work whilst allowing as many people to access it as possible.
I would love to see a huge park and ride built by the motorway, with free bus tickets for people paying to park there. Anything that reduces car use is good, but anything that reduces car uses and encourages people to spend time and money in a car free urban environment is better.
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Good idea ZIM, there is one at Norwich and that works well.
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Trafford Park works because it is easy to assess by car,just like Freeport at Fleetwood,and just like the retail park on Squires Gate,all out of town retail parks are thriving as people want to use there cars, I certainly would not want to carry Mrs Ps shopping bags on buses, I want convenient assessable parking, and I’m sure my work colleagues would hate the thought of more free bus passes to the shoppers as well as the over 60s, we used to have a very good road infrastructure in Blackpool before these idiots came along and destroyed it. Next step on there agenda was to introduce a shared space in front of the Tower so that people could access the Tower headland . This would run from North Pier up to Central Pier and reduce it to one lane,lets hope they now have second thoughts about this or we may see traffic banned from the sea front next. Best way to kill a town centre is to make it difficult to get to, and make parking expensive,I believe they have achieved both these things
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David I have a car, but my first priority is always to take a journey by public transport and it doesn’t hurt to carry shopping bags on a bus or if you want use home shopping. One wonders how our ancesters coped before the car, such are some peoples reliance on their vehicle today.
One day the site at Central car park will be filled and Blackpool faces losing even more car parking space, the best option is to create more park and rides through out the edges of Blackpool and link free bus and tram passes for up to five people on anyone paying to park on them. That way we reduce the amount of the cars going in to Blackpool and best of all have more pedestrianised areas creating a better shopping experience because one thing is for sure, no one enjoys shopping with cars whizzing past at 30 miles an hour.
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I agree with the Trafford Centre being great for people with cars – their car park is enormous, so perhaps not a great comparison. Put the alternatives in place first, then make car travel less appealing.
Taxis of course are a green form of travel. Many pensioners have given up their cars and use buses and taxis instead – which also means someone gets a living out of it as well. And I’d also be much happier with Mrs F getting a taxi home that she’d booked rather than travelling by many forms of public transport at night.
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as another cab driver in blackpool,i am also pissed off with the council with thier will they wont they bollocks.wasnt it mrs callow who came up with st jonhs sq beening a shared space then low and behold mr callow now wants it cut off from the rest of the town.as i read in the gazette the other day,that the talbot gateway is going to be shared space as well,are we going to have the same thing go on there as well,and why is it going to work there if they say it isnt working in st jonhs sq.as i can recall there hasnt been one accident in the sq since it was opened to taxises and busses,so why isnt it working.going back to talbot gateway if they decide to close that off as well a simple jorney from talbot sq to layton will take 10 mins instead of 5 and cost alot more for the passenger.we are having a bad enough time at the moment as is everyone else but if its going to cost peolple twice as much to get into town then they will stop coming,and thats not good for any bussiness in the centre of town not just us but hay why should the councilors give a fuck.after all we vote these people in to power.so instead of sitting behind your computor and moaning about them do some thing about it and stop fucking voting for them
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Excellent post darren; you can be assured that I wont be voting for any of these lot and I think I can say the same for quite a few readers!
After all, what’s the fucking point in them if they don’t do a single thing anyone wants?
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Fuck this scum council.
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what we should do is start are own party i think it should be the pissed off with this shit party
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Well there’s always Integrity UK!
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Bill. I think you would make a excellent councillor,you would get my vote,alls we need now is a campaign manager,I will help fund it for you,but please make sure if you get voted on that you sit on the planning committee so that I can call in one or two favours. Promise I wont tell anyone. LOL
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