PROPOSALS to change the “ludicrous” county-wide taxi tariff system will now face public consultation, following unanimous approval from members of Wiltshire Council, however Salisbury will not get its own rate.

The authority held an extraordinary licensing committee meeting on Monday to discuss the current taxi five-tier tariff system and suggested updates, in a bid to help Wiltshire visitors pay revised and more appropriate fees for their journeys.

The licensing committee approved the proposed changes, and despite Salisbury not getting its own rate, Chapel Nightclub owner Amanda Newbery, who attended the meeting, described the result as “feeling like the end of a five-year journey”.

She added: “I am so relieved that officers and councillors have now come to a conclusion that these taxi fares must come to an end, and will be at least comparable with Bournemouth.

“This is going to make such a difference to young people and all of our visitors.”

The proposals suggest that hackney carriages with up to four seats should use tariff one between 6am and 9.59pm, tariff two between 10pm and 5.59am and tariff three all day on Easter Sunday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and bank holidays.

The authority has also approved that vehicles with more than four seats should run tariff two between 6am and 9.59pm, tariff four between 10pm and 5.59am and tariff five on the same public holidays as listed above.

It has been agreed that an additional 30p will be added to all flag rates.

During the meeting a statement from indepedent taxi driver for Salisbury, Paul Humphries, described Salisbury as “different” to the rest of the county, adding that taxi timings are “ludicrous” and needed to be addressed, suggesting night time tariffs should only apply during nightclub hours.

In part of his statement it said: “One of the key points to address is safety, forget price. The safety of the driver, the passenger and any other members of the public that are road users is paramount.

“Safety needs to come first. Education is important. We need to educate the public as well as drivers as what to charge – this is what is going wrong – it needs to be simplified.”

A statement from Warminster taxi driver Adrian Berridge echoed the idea that Salisbury is “different”, but added that this cannot cause the tariff system to change for the rest of Wiltshire.

During the meeting officers pointed out that the original proposed tariff card, which was reported in last week’s Journal, included a typo that needed correcting - tariff one journeys are proposed to start at 6am (not 7am), and tariff two should end at 5.59am (not 6.59am).

Before the meeting, leader of Salisbury City Council, Jeremy Nettle, described expensive tariffs as “a barrier” to Salisbury, that could have a “detrimental” impact.

He added: “Given our recent announcement that our Purple Flag re-validation has been successful, Salisbury City Council and our partners are keen to see an improvement to our evening and night time economy.

“We all need to encourage a successful evening and night time economy if we don’t want to see more closures within the city.”

A public consultation will take place in February on the revised hackney carriage fees and tariffs schedule, and it is anticipated by the council that the updated system will be implemented in the summer.

If significant changes rise during the public consultation stage, proposals could return to the licensing committee.