APPROVED Minute - Licensing Board - 2 September 2025 v2
West Dunbartonshire Council · 2 September 2025
Back to Licensing Board — 2 September 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Page 1
WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE LICENSING BOARD At a Meeting of West Dunbartonshire Licensing Board held in the Council Chambers, Clydebank Town Hall, Clydebank, on Tuesday, 2 September 2025 at 10.00 a.m. Present: Provost Karen Murray Conaghan and Councillors Fiona Hennebry, Gurpreet Singh Johal, John Millar and Chris Pollock. Attending: Michael McDougall, Depute Clerk to the Licensing Board; Peter Clyde and Lawrence Knighton, Licensing Standards Officers; and Lynn Straker, Committee Officer. Also Attending: Sergeant David Holmes, Police Scotland; Mr Andrew Hunter, Solicitor for Sweeney’s Cruises; and Mr John Sweeney, Applicant for Sweeney’s Cruises. Apologies: Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Councillors Lawrence O’Neill, Hazel Sorrell and Sophie Traynor Councillor John Millar in the Chair DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST It was noted that there were no declarations of interest in any of the items of business on the agenda at this point in the meeting. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS The Minutes of the Licensing Board meeting held on Tuesday, 17 June 2025 were submitted and approved as a correct record. APPLICATION GRANT OF PREMISES LICENCE An Application for a Variation of Premises Licence for Passenger Vehicle “Avocet” Docked at Sweeney’s Boatyard, Riverside, Balloch G83 8SS was submitted. Members first heard from Mr Knighton, Licensing Standards Officer and then from Mr Hunter, Solicitor and Representative in support of the application and in agreement to the conditions set out by the Licensing Standards Officers in the report.
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After discussion and having heard Mr Hunter in further explanation of the application and in answer to Members’ questions, Members agreed to grant the application subject to the conditions narrated in the Licensing Standards Officers report and also subject to the following: 1. the text “for a sightseeing tour or ferry service” is appended to condition two; 2. “Between the hours of 9.00am and 10.00am, alcohol will only be sold on the premises during a pre-booked private charter. The licence holder will notify the Council’s Licensing Standards Officer and Police Scotland’s Licensing Department in advance of such charters.” is added as a condition; and 3. “The boat is subject to a sailing limitation of 1 hour after sunset each day, so sailing hours will vary during the calendar year. The on-sale bar on the boat will close 10 mins prior to docking.” DECIDED:- Members agreed to grant the application subject to the two conditions narrated in the Licensing Standards Officers report and also subject to the following: 1. the text “for a sightseeing tour or ferry service” is appended to condition two; 2. “Between the hours of 9.00am and 10.00am, alcohol will only be sold on the premises during a pre-booked private charter. The licence holder will notify the Council’s Licensing Standards Officer and Police Scotland’s Licensing Department in advance of such charters.” is added as a condition; and 3. “The boat is subject to a sailing limitation of 1 hour after sunset each day, so sailing hours will vary during the calendar year. The on-sale bar on the boat will close 10 mins prior to docking.” WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE LICENSING REPORT The West Dunbartonshire Licensing Report for 2024-2025 was submitted by Chief Constable, Police Scotland. After discussion and having heard Sergeant David Holmes, Police Scotland, in further explanation of the report and in answer to Members’ questions, Members agreed to note the report. DECIDED:- Members agreed to note the report. The meeting closed at 10.20 a.m.