Taxis driving forward

All taxi services have been granted the go-ahead to operate rank and hail work in the Kiama LGA.

Following the closure of Kiama Cabs in May, the Illawarra Taxi Network started servicing the region, but could not legally operate rank and hail services due to state regulations. A rank and hail service is where a customer catches a taxi from a taxi rank or hails one from the street, as opposed to pre-booked travel.

Mayor Neil Reilly con- firmed to The Bugle that these restrictions have been lifted for all taxi companies, including the Illawarra Taxi Network and 13Cabs, after writing to Point to Point Transport Commissioner Anthony Wing to find a solution that would ensure the Kiama LGA still has a working taxi service.

Gavin and Kay McClure, the owners of Kiama Cabs have also been in discussions with the Transport Commissioner, and fully support allowing Illawarra

Taxi Network to assume taxi services in their stead.

“We are very happy to announce that we received a call advising us that there are no regulation issues with all Illawarra Network and 13Cabs doing any rank and hail work in Kiama,” Gavin wrote on social media.

“We hope this helps all our lovely customers who patronised our local taxi service for so long.”

Gavin and Kay made the difficult decision to close

Kiama Cabs after 30 years in May after failing to find a buyer. Despite exiting the business, the McClures have remained dedicated to finding a replacement service for Kiama.

Gavin added: “We are also very happy to see Driving Miss Daisy is now offering a very high level of personalised transport in Kiama which is also a wonderful option for your transport needs, particularly our older residents.”

Australian Seabird and Turtle Rescue is calling on all fishers to report entangled seabirds, rather than cutting their lines and simply abandoning them, and wants the public to contact their hotline number so volunteers can respond to any emergencies.

Lisa Hood, the coordinator of the south coast branch of Australian Seabird and Turtle Rescue says that most people simply cut their fishing lines if a bird gets entangled.

“80 per cent of all call outs involve fishing lines entangling seabirds and often it’s condemning them to a slow and painful death.”

She says anyone in the Illawarra should instead ring their 24-hour hotline on 0431 282 238 if they see an endangered animal, and a volunteer will arrive promptly to help out.

These sorts of rescues receive lots of public support from different agencies, and she even had the bomb squad help out with a rescue in southern Sydney with two entangled pelicans.

This was highlighted last week in a rescue of a silver gull in Kiama Harbour that played out live on social media.

Kiama local, Daniel, was walking his kelpie when he spotted a gull trapped in a fishing line floating in the harbour.

He reported it to the group, and very promptly a local rescuer named Byron turned up on his surfboard and performed a successful rescue by cutting and removing the entangling fishing lines.

The silver gull, a local native species, was rehabilitated in a humidi crib for two days recovering from shock and extreme cold and was released safely back into the ocean at Black Beach in Kiama last month.

Although, it is important to remember the result is not always a happy success like this one.

by Mark Whalan

Sails