Printed minutes
Argyll and Bute Council · 22 October 2025
Back to Planning, Protective Services and Licensing Committee — 22 October 2025 and its agenda
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MINUTES of MEETING of PLANNING, PROTECTIVE SERVICES AND LICENSING COMMITTEE held BY MICROSOFT TEAMS on WEDNESDAY, 22 OCTOBER 2025 Present: Councillor Kieron Green (Chair) Councillor John Armour Councillor Jan Brown Councillor Audrey Forrest Councillor Fiona Howard Councillor Dougie Philand Attending: Stuart McLean, Committee Manager David Walker, Solicitor James Gray, Applicant 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Gordon Blair, Amanda Hampsey, Daniel Hampsey, Graham Hardie, Mark Irvine, Andrew Kain, Paul Kennedy and Liz McCabe. 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST There were no declarations of interest. 3. CIVIC GOVERNMENT (SCOTLAND) ACT 1982: APPLICATION FOR GRANT OF TAXI CAR LICENCE (J GRAY, 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 Mr Gray joined the meeting by telephone. The Chair outlined the procedure that would be followed and invited the Applicant to speak in support of their application. APPLICANT Mr Gray advised that he has been working as a taxi driver with Lorn Taxis for a number of years and that he also ran his own tour business. He said that he had recently purchased a new vehicle and advised that, due to demand for his tours dropping off, and no further tour business expected during the winter months, rather than work for someone else, and the additional costs associated with this, he would rather work for himself. He said that as a taxi driver he could see the need for more taxis in the town. He advised that since the survey was carried out in 2019, demand in the town had changed, especially at the weekends. He made reference to the new housing development in Dunbeg with over 2,000 homes built and no provision for them. He advised that this has led to him receiving a lot of complaints from customers that have had to wait longer for a taxi. He said this issue particularly affected the elderly whom he liked to support.
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MEMBERS’ QUESTIONS Councillor Brown sought and received confirmation from Mr Gray that it was demand for his tour business that had dropped off and that his taxi work was more important than ever. Councillor Philand sought and received confirmation from Mr Gray that all the necessary insurances were in place for his new vehicle. SUMMING UP Applicant Mr Gray thanked the Committee for their time, and he confirmed that he had received a fair hearing. DEBATE Councillor Brown advised that she had no issues with granting this taxi car licence and that she would be happy to approve the application. Councillor Green agreed with Councillor Brown and commented that Mr Gray had set out how the situation in the town had changed since 2019. He said he could fully understand the additional demand for taxis. DECISION The Committee unanimously agreed to grant a Taxi Car Licence to Mr Gray and noted that he would receive written confirmation of this within 7 days. (Reference: Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support, submitted)