Medway taxi fares set to increase

Plus more cuts coming to Medway, inside Reform's Rochester event, a new name for Splashes, and more

Feb 09, 2024

Taxi fares are set to jump in Medway with the base cost for starting a journey increasing by a third. In a time where drivers and passengers alike are struggling, is making fares even higher a solution? Further down, we have news of more substantial cuts as Medway Council tries to bridge its budget gap, an insider’s report of the recent Reform Party event in Rochester, and details of the new name for Splashes in Rainham.

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Medway taxi fares set to increase in Medway

How much should it cost just to get into a cab? That’s something that will be decided by Medway Council this afternoon, following efforts from taxi drivers to increase the starting amount of a taxi fare from £3 to £4.

Taxi fares, in line with all local councils, are set by a local council so that they are fair and that passengers know they can expect the same fare no matter what taxi they choose to get into. This has been slightly muddled with the rise of app services like Uber, which operate outside of this system, but the fare system does apply to all traditional taxis, for lack of a better term.

When the fares are set by the council, they remain that way until a review is requested by drivers, who then take part in a consultation to decide what should be done next. It’s all remarkably democratic, even if it can result in poor choices, like taxi drivers in Medway wanting to maintain the right to not accept card payments last year.

The full results of the consultation by the Medway Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (MLTDA) do present some interesting findings, and make it clear that not all taxi drivers are on the same page. While 90% of drivers who took part wanted an increase in fares, they were more split on how to achieve this. 51% wanted an increase in the starting ‘flag fare’, which is the proposal adopted, while 48% wanted to increase the distance price, which is currently 20p for 170 yards because that’s a system that taxis seemingly still use.

With the flag price moving to £4, Medway will significantly move up the league table of taxi fares (yes, that is a thing). While we currently sit in a firm mid-table position of 172 of 344 local councils, the increase will take us to 51 of 344. The fares will be higher than those in Swale, lower than Tonbridge & Malling, and the same as Maidstone.

Elsewhere, the consultation does offer some insight and feedback from individual taxi drivers about how things are going for them locally and their thoughts on what needs to change.

One driver wanted a minimum card payment of £5, even though would likely be illegal if fares were ever less than that amount. Another wanted the option to work for their mortal enemies at Uber as a way of pushing out the TfL-licenced drivers operating here, which seems like pretty sound logic. Several drivers raised concerns that increased fares would lead to customers struggling to pay and the risk of arguments over the new prices, and a number were worried that these increases would make them even less competitive with Uber. This seems of particular concern as multiple drivers highlighted that the number of jobs from taxi ranks has been decreasing and that customers increasingly only use them for shorter journeys when Uber is more expensive.

The cost of living is hitting everyone hard, and that includes both taxi drivers and their passengers. Fares will inevitably need to increase periodically. At a time when taxi drivers are feeling the pinch from competition like Uber, it is unclear quite what effect these proposed increases will have on their trade.

More cuts

Earlier this week, we sent out a special edition on Medway Council seeking exceptional financial powers that would allow them to borrow money to plug the budget gap this year.

In it, we highlighted some of the cuts and revenue raising that were incoming to ease budget pressures: increasing car parking charges by up to 86%, introducing parking charges at country parks, cutting swimming for under 16s and over 60s, and more.

In the days since, more cuts have come to light that weren’t as initially clear. Buried within the Cabinet papers for next week was the closure of the visitor centre on Rochester High Street. While the visitor centre itself was a large space that didn’t do very much, it is unfortunate that Medway’s only publicly funded contemporary art gallery is located inside.

Festivals will also see cuts, with the Summer Dickens Festival and the English Festival facing the chop. A reduction in festival events had been hinted at previously, and in the grand scheme of things, these two aren’t substantial losses. Summer DickFest felt minor when compared to the Winter edition, and the English Festival has always been a deeply odd event.

More substantially, the Innovation Park Medway scheme has been paused after burning through £11m of public money and not finding a single tenant. The scheme to create a substantial employment campus around Rochester Airport has felt like folly for a long period in a world where working patterns have changed and Brexit takes its toll, but the scale of waste is staggering. Infrastructure work is near completion on the site, meaning Medway has spent £11m to create a road network with public transport infrastructure and utilities across a vast swathe of empty land. Perhaps a part solution for Medway’s housing crisis beckons…

Reform in Rochester

Reform, the political party formerly known as The Brexit Party, emerged after UKIP imploded and has become the natural home for those who don’t think the Conservatives are right-wing enough on a range of issues.

While the party previously stood aside for Conservative candidates they approved of in many parts of the country, they are adamant that this time around they will stand in every constituency. As we move closer to the General Election, the party has been holding several events to galvanise support, and a couple of weeks ago they rolled into Rochester, booking the Corn Exchange for a ‘Rendezvous with Richard Tice’ event, where voters could come and meet the party leader and the local candidates. At least in theory.

Of course, one of our more enterprising readers took themselves along to find out just what the party might be able to offer Medway.

After some confusion about whether the event was open to the public or a “party fundraiser”, our correspondent was allowed in for an afternoon with the upstart political party and an audience that all seemed strangely similar.

Around 200 people were in attendance, which in itself doesn’t seem bad, but given the event was for all of Kent and not just Medway, maybe it’s not that impressive after all. Upon meeting one of the Medway candidates, the conversation immediately went downhill as they had little to offer beyond “we have to kick all immigrants out”, with no detail on what that actually meant. Trying their luck with another activist, our insider was told that we need to “send them back to France” by a man who was surprisingly drunk for a 1pm event.

As the more formal event began, a candidate Q&A featured one Medway candidate complaining that thousands of Indians come to the UK legally but then never leave, as well as proposals for a “one in, one out” immigration policy with no explanation of how that could work. This was followed by a speech from “anti-woke” academic Matt Goodwin who spent nearly the entire time talking about illegal immigrants.

After less than an hour in the room, our insider - despite having no previous ties to the party - was asked if they would be interested in running as a parliamentary candidate, which rather raises questions about the depth of the membership and the party vetting processes.

Finally, it was time for the headline act. No, not party leader Richard Tice, who apparently didn’t show up for an event named after him, but former Maidstone MP Ann Widdicombe who railed against a lack of defence capability and high taxes before receiving a round of applause for making an anti-trans joke.

While it is unlikely that Reform will have little direct impact in the coming General Election, it is entirely possible that they can slice enough votes away from the Conservatives to indirectly impact results in marginal seats. With Medway looking closer than it has since 2010, this group of people might end up having more impact than they realise.

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Farewell Splashes, hello to a name most people won’t use

If there’s one thing Medway likes to do, it’s renaming sports centres. 15 years after Medway Council rebranded the Black Lion as Medway Park, they are at it again with the rebuild of the swimming pool and gym on the former Splashes site in Rainham.

Following, we assume, extensive rounds of research and debating various names, Medway Council have come up with the thrilling name of Cozenton Park Sports Centre. Cool?

The new centre, which ended up costing over £20m (enough to plug Medway’s budget gap this year) is almost complete and is set to open at some point over the summer.

It will be interesting to see whether or not the new name can take hold. While newer residents of Medway may well refer to Medway Park by its correct name, anyone of a certain vintage still stubbornly sticks with the Black Lion. Whether or not the Splashes name will remain with us for as long remains to be seen.

In brief

💷 Medway Council has the highest level debt level of any council in Kent, with £225m owed. The figure represents over £800 for every single resident of our towns.

🦘 Dockside’s Flip Out trampoline centre closed this week. The once booming attraction will be replaced by a climbing centre.

🛍️ B&M will open in Rainham on February 23. The retailer will take over the Rainham precinct unit formerly operated by Wilko.

💊 Boots in Rainham will close on March 30. The outlet in Rainham precinct is set to be taken over by independent pharmacy Jhoots.

🫣 Caitlin Webb of the Local Government Chronicle has written about how it feels when your own council is close to the financial abyss. The abyss stares back so hard that even we feature in the piece.

Events this week

🎸 The year's first Careful Now Promotions gig is tomorrow (Sat 10 Feb) at the Oast Community Centre in Rainham. Headlining are Manchester power trio Mumbles, who are brilliantly described as “if Deerhoof were unhinged emos fronted by James Acaster”. Support from County Lines and Snidefinder. Tickets £8.

👨‍🚀 Cineworld have a one-off screening of Christopher Nolan’s best film, Interstellar, to celebrate its 10th anniversary on Tuesday (13 Feb). Tickets £5.

💌 Continuing the run of anniversary screenings, Cineworld are also showing the superb rom-com and best Shakespeare adaptation 10 Things I Hate About You on Wednesday (14 Feb) to mark the film’s - oh god - 25th anniversary. Tickets £5.

🎭 Spotlites Theatre launch their new play this week, with an amateur production of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld tale, Mort. Performances run from Thu 15 Feb until Sun 18 Feb. Tickets £12.

More Authority

Our paid supporters receive extra editions of Local Authority every week. This week, we published our quarterly columns by both Leader of Medway Council Vince Maple and Leader of the Opposition Adrian Gulvin, setting out their views on Medway's current challenges. We also published our initial report on the state of Medway Council’s finances as we approach the budget-setting period.

Footnotes

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Music that soundtracked the creation of this newsletter: Le Tigre by Le Tigre, Good Luck Everybody by AJJ, We Wilt, We Bloom by Onsind, and Shrag by Shrag.