Taxi metering - a punishment for living in a village?

I don't know whether you've noticed the new meters that local taxi drivers now have, but I know that I have. The taxi drivers are certainly unhappy about them, especially as they're having to pay for the privilege of having one.

From a personal perspective, I've noticed that the fare from Stowmarket Station to the village is now nearly £7, a significant increase on what it was before metering, and so I questioned our District Councillor, Caroline Byles, on the subject, only to get an answer that I hadn't expected. She claims, as I understood it, that an amendment moved by the Green Party group and passed by the appropriate committee has added to the fare charged to those whose journey starts from somewhere other than the town.

This raises two questions. Firstly, Mid Suffolk is a Conservative-run council, so why are the Greens winning votes? Second, where was the consultation, or even the announcement? As a Parish Council, we might well have had something to say on the subject. In any event, I'm keen to find out what really happened. We haven't heard the last of this, I suspect...