21—(1) After Part 4 of the Road Traffic Regulation (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 (NI 2) there shall be inserted the following Part—
27A—(1) The Department may by order (a “taxi regulation order”) make provision for all or any of the following purposes—
(a)for preventing taxis from standing or plying for hire or reward on, or preventing taxis from using except in accordance with the order, specified roads or lengths of roads;
(b)for providing which length of roads may be used as stands for taxis;
(c)for regulating the number of taxis which may stand at each stand and fixing the charges to be made and the time during which taxis may remain there;
(d)for regulating the times and intervals at, and the order in which, taxis may enter or leave such stands;
(e)for reserving particular stands for the use of taxis or of taxis plying on particular routes and excluding from those stands all other vehicles and generally regulating access to and the use of those stands.
(2) Any person who contravenes a taxi regulation order is guilty of an offence
(3) Schedule 4A (which makes further provision in relation to taxi regulation orders) shall have effect.
(4) In this Article (and in Schedule 4A) “taxi” means a taxi within the meaning of the Taxis Act (Northern Ireland) 2008.”.
(2) After Schedule 4 to the Road Traffic Regulation (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 (NI 2) there shall be inserted the following Schedule—
1 The Department shall comply with paragraphs 2 and 3 before making an order under Article 27A.
2 The Department shall consult such persons as it considers appropriate.
3—(1) The Department shall publish a notice including the particulars specified in sub-paragraph (2).
(2) The particulars which the notice must contain are—
(a)the title of the order;
(b)a statement of the general nature and effect of the order;
(c)the name or a brief description of any road or taxi stand to which the order will apply;
(d)an address in that area where a copy of the draft order and any relevant map or plan may be inspected by any person free of charge at all reasonable hours during the period mentioned in head (e); and
(e)the period during which, and the address to which, objections or other representations may be made, and a statement that all objections or other representations must be in writing and must specify the grounds on which they are made.
(3) The period specified under sub-paragraph (2)(e) shall not be less than 21 days from the date of the publication or last publication of the notice.
(4) Publication of a notice under sub-paragraph (1) shall be in a newspaper circulating in the area in which any road to which the order relates is situated.
(5) The Department shall consider any objections or other representations made within the period specified under sub-paragraph (2)(e).
4 Before making an order under Article 27A, the Department may hold a public inquiry.
5 The Department may make an order under Article 27A with or without omissions and other modifications
6 When the Department makes an order under Article 27A, it shall—
(a)notify—
(i)any person consulted under paragraph 2; and
(ii)any person who made objections or other representations in accordance with paragraph 3; and
(b)publish in a newspaper circulating in the area in which any road to which the order relates is situated a notice stating that the order has been made.”.
(3) In paragraph 7A of Schedule 3 to the Statutory Rules (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 (NI 12) (statutory rules exempted from requirement as to printing and sale), after “15,” there shall be inserted “ 27A, ”.
(4) In Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Road Traffic Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (NI 10) (prosecution and punishment of offences) after the entry relating to Article 24 of the Road Traffic Regulation (Northern Ireland) Order 1997, insert—
| “Article 27A | Contravention of taxi regulation order | Summarily | Level 3 on the standard scale” |