Printed minutes
Argyll and Bute Council · 16 September 2025
Back to Planning, Protective Services and Licensing Committee — 16 September 2025 and its agenda
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MINUTES of MEETING of PLANNING, PROTECTIVE SERVICES AND LICENSING COMMITTEE held BY MICROSOFT TEAMS on TUESDAY, 16 SEPTEMBER 2025 Present: Councillor Kieron Green (Chair) Councillor John Armour Councillor Gordon Blair Councillor Jan Brown Councillor Graham Hardie Councillor Andrew Kain Councillor Dougie Philand Councillor Peter Wallace Attending: Shona Barton, Governance Manager David Walker, Solicitor Robert McBride, Applicant 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Audrey Forrest, Amanda Hampsey, Daniel Hampsey, Fiona Howard, Mark Irvine and Paul Kennedy. 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST There were no declarations of interest. 3. CIVIC GOVERNMENT (SCOTLAND) ACT 1982: APPLICATION FOR GRANT OF A TAXI CAR LICENCE (R MCBRIDE, ROTHESAY) 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 McBride 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 McBride said that this was something he had been thinking about for the last 18 months as his business had been growing and getting busier. He said he was losing a lot of customers with only 2 cars as he could not keep up with demand. He advised that he had taken on extra customers from other cars that were no longer on the rank. He advised that when one of his cars was in the garage this left him with just one car which led to him losing business. He said he was worried if both cars were ever off the road at the same time he would be left with no car to run his business. He said that as he has picked up a lot of new business, and having thought about it for the last 18 months, he believed he now needed another car on the road. MEMBERS’ QUESTIONS
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Councillor Brown sought and received confirmation from Mr McBride that he had 4 full time employees and 2 part time employees. Mr McBride advised that he had another couple of boys willing to help if he had another car on the road. Councillor Green asked Mr McBride if he felt there was a shortage of taxis in Rothesay. Mr McBride said that there was a shortage for his business but he could not speak for the other operator’s business. He said he felt he needed another car on the road as his competitor was picking up the business he was unable to provide and that was another reason for him wanting another car on the road. SUMMING UP Mr McBride reiterated that his business was growing and he thought that was a great thing as he was able to provide employment to other people and there was the chance here to employ more people if he had a third car. He said that he had gotten busier over the last 2 or 3 years and that financially it would work for him to have another car on the road. Mr McBride confirmed that he had received a fair hearing. DEBATE Councillor Brown advised that as there had been no objections to this application, that there appeared to be a need for this, and that the Applicant was providing employment to local people, she could see no reason not to approve this application. Councillor Green advised that he was likewise minded for the reasons given by Councillor Brown. Councillor Wallace confirmed that he agreed with Councillor Brown. DECISION The Committee unanimously agreed to grant a Taxi Car Licence to Mr McBride and noted that he would receive written notification of this decision within 7 days. (Reference: Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support, submitted)