Minutes
Argyll and Bute Council · 23 August 2023
Back to Planning, Protective Services and Licensing Committee — 23 August 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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MINUTES of MEETING of PLANNING, PROTECTIVE SERVICES AND LICENSING COMMITTEE held BY MICROSOFT TEAMS on WEDNESDAY, 28 JUNE 2023 Present: Councillor Kieron Green (Chair) Councillor John Armour Councillor Gordon Blair Councillor Audrey Forrest Councillor Amanda Hampsey Councillor Graham Hardie Councillor Fiona Howard Councillor Andrew Kain Councillor Paul Donald Kennedy Councillor Luna Martin Councillor Peter Wallace Attending: Shona Barton, Governance Manager Fiona Macdonald, Solicitor Mario Di Ciacca, Applicant 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jan Brown, Daniel Hampsey, Mark Irvine and Liz McCabe. 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST There were no declarations of interest. Councillor Paul Kennedy advised that he was a Taxi Operator but as this was for the Helensburgh and Lomond Area he would remain in the meeting. 3. CIVIC GOVERNMENT (SCOTLAND) ACT 1982: APPLICATION FOR GRANT OF TAXI CAR LICENCE (M DI CIACCA, OBAN) The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. In line with recent legislation for Civic Government Hearings, the parties (and any representatives) were given the options for participating in the meeting today. The options available were by video call, by audio call or by written submission. For this hearing the Applicant opted to proceed by way of audio call and joined the meeting by telephone. The Chair then outlined the procedure that would be followed and invited the Applicant to speak in support of his application. APPLICANT Mr Di Ciacca advised that he had lived in Oban for 64 years and had been in business for almost 48 years. He explained that he had recently retired and that he needed something to do. He said he would like to have a taxi to fill his days and nights. He advised that he has served the local community working in his chip shop and said that he would like to do something to help the community out if he could. As there were no questions from Members, Mr Di Ciacca was invited to sum up. Mr Di Ciacca commented that the taxi service in the Oban area had fallen off over the last 3 or 4 years and that he would like to try and help with that. He said he had never driven a taxi before but had dealt with the public in other ways through the licence trade.
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Mr Di Ciacca confirmed that he had received a fair hearing. DEBATE Councillor Armour said he thought Mr Di Ciacca would be the perfect person to be a taxi operator serving the local community and that he would have no problem in granting the licence. Councillor Green referred to the LVSA survey and sought and received confirmation from the Council’s Solicitor that when the survey was carried out there were 50 taxis in the Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area and that there were currently 50 taxis in the area. Councillor Martin commented that staying in Oban herself, and for the last few years without her own transport, she was aware there was always a need for taxis in the area. She said that having one more would be a great help to the residents here. Councillor Hampsey agreed with Councillor Armour, that she though Mr Di Ciacca would be an ideal addition to the taxi trade and that she would wish to grant his licence and wish him all the best. Councillor Blair said he would be happy to support this application. Councillor Green commented that demand had picked up from tourism as well as demand from local residents. He referred to the survey being 4 years old and agreed that the licence should be granted on this occasion. DECISION The Committee agreed to grant a Taxi Car Licence to Mr Di Ciacca. (Reference: Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support, submitted)