Minutes
Argyll and Bute Council · 21 June 2023
Back to Planning, Protective Services and Licensing Committee — 21 June 2023 and its agenda
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MINUTES of MEETING of PLANNING, PROTECTIVE SERVICES AND LICENSING COMMITTEE held BY MICROSOFT TEAMS on WEDNESDAY, 24 MAY 2023 Present: Councillor Kieron Green (Chair) Councillor Gordon Blair Councillor Jan Brown Councillor Amanda Hampsey Councillor Daniel Hampsey Councillor Graham Hardie Councillor Fiona Howard Councillor Paul Donald Kennedy Councillor Liz McCabe Councillor Luna Martin Councillor Peter Wallace Attending: Stuart McLean, Committee Manager Fiona Macdonald, Solicitor Stephen McIntyre-Stewart, Applicant 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Councillors John Armour, Audrey Forrest, Mark Irvine and Andrew Kain. 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Councillor Paul Kennedy declared a financial interest in this application as he held a Taxi Car Licence for the Helensburgh and Lomond Area. He left the hearing at this point and took no part in the determination of this application. 3. CIVIC GOVERNMENT (SCOTLAND) ACT 1982: APPLICATION FOR GRANT OF A TAXI CAR LICENCE (S MCINTYRE-STEWART, GARELOCHHEAD) 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 outlined the procedure that would be followed and invited the Applicant to speak in support of his application. APPLICANT Mr McIntyre-Stewart advised that as a Taxi Operator he and others were aware that the taxi trade had not picked up as they had hoped to pre Covid levels. He pointed out that there were, however, still gaps in the industry at the weekends and in the evenings. He said there continues to be a lack of provision with people waiting at the rank for a considerable time, particularly on Friday and Saturday evenings. He advised that he had submitted this application to try and fill that gap. MEMBERS’ QUESTIONS Councillor Green sought and received confirmation from the Council’s Solicitor that there were currently 46 taxis in the Helensburgh and Lomond area and that there had been 48 taxis when the LVSA survey was carried out.
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Councillor Blair sought and received confirmation from Mr McIntyre-Stewart that he would be available to cover work over the phone during the week and that he would only work the rank at the weekends. SUMMING UP Applicant Mr McIntyre-Stewart commented that the area was short of 2 taxis since the survey was carried out. He added that the trade had not yet fully picked up from Covid. He confirmed that he had received a fair hearing. DEBATE Councillor Blair referred to the statistics and said that as the area was 2 short this would seemed a good opportunity to add an extra taxi. Councillor McCabe agreed with Councillor Blair. Councillor Hardie advised that being a Helensburgh Ward Councillor, he could see for himself in the evenings that people were waiting at the rank outside the station. Councillor Howard said she supported this application, especially as it would serve the peninsula which, she advised, was short of a taxi service. Councillor Amanda Hampsey advised that she agreed with her fellow Councillors and would be happy to approve the application based on the statistics and figures provided. Councillor Green confirmed that he was likewise minded. DECISION The Committee unanimously agreed to grant Mr Stephen McIntyre-Stewart a Taxi Car Licence and noted that written confirmation of this would be issued within 7 days. (Reference: Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support, submitted)