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0090 2025/26
01/04/2026
Stronger Communities
Town Centre
Consultation - Closure and Re-allocation of Hackney Carriage Ranks in St Helens Town Centre
To approve the commencement of a 28 day legal consultation period relating to the proposed removal and creation (re-allocation) of the existing Hackney Carriage Ranks in St Helens Town Centre.
To seek approval to undertake trade and public engagement via a 28 day legal consultation process to inform the decision making on the proposed removal and creation (re-allocation) of the Hackney Carriage Ranks within St Helens Town Centre.
This consultation is required pursuant to Section 63 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976. As part of the wider plans for the regeneration of St Helens Town Centre, the Movement Strategy informs proposal for both traffic and pedestrian flow within this area. It is necessary at this point to again consider the relocation and re-allocation of taxi ranks within the town centre. Attached are the plans for affected ranks / areas. The power to create (or remove) a hackney carriage stand is set out in Section 63 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 and contains a statutory procedure that must be followed. The process sets out that the consent of the highway authority or land owner is required and before a new stand is created (or removed), notice must be given to the Chief Officer of Police and a public notice must be published in one local newspaper. Any objections which are received within 28 days must be taken into account, together with any comments from the police, before the creation or removal of the stand is approved. There are also limitations on the siting of hackney carriage stands set out in section 63 of the Act to effectively prevent instructions or impediments caused by hackney carriage stands to premises or other public service vehicles. Approval is therefore requested to commence the consultation process by way of the required statutory notice in the St Helens Star newspaper. Advance consultation meetings have been held with the trade prior to any legal consultation requirements and following the full legal consultation period, a report, together with any responses will be submitted to Cabinet in September 2026 for members consideration. In order to avoid disruption, the rank moves/changes reflected in this decision will reflect forthcoming scheduled changes over a 2 year period. Suitable rank provision will remain available to ensure that the Hackney Carriages can maintain a trade.
The Council has approved transformational change in St Helens Town Centre. A key part of this is ensuring that the provision for access to public transport aligns with the needs of visitors and therefore, as the physical changes progress, there will be need to change the positions of taxi ranks, not least to ensure that the Hackney Carriages have suitable access to key trading areas. Ongoing consultation with the trade and service users will ensure that all future decision making takes into account any objections or comments.
Retaining the existing status quo of the ranks would not be feasible and would impact on the wider regeneration of the town centre. Should the ranks remain in the existing positions then it is likely that footfall may decrease in these locations which would impact on the business of the hackney carriage trade and not meet the needs of the service users. Feedback from the sector at the conclusion of the process may not support the preferred options for removal and creation of the ranks.
Ongoing consultation with the licensed trade should minimise the risk along with wider public consultation.
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Please contact Lorraine Simpson on 01744 676769
