Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jan Brown, Amanda Hampsey, Mark Irvine, Paul Kennedy and Liz McCabe.

There were no declarations of interest.

Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support

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 Shields joined the meeting by telephone.

The Chair then outlined the procedure that would be followed and invited the Applicant to speak in support of their application.

APPLICANT

Mr Shields advised that he had never driven a taxi before but had long term connections to the local taxi trade.  He advised of his parents working in the business and of being an apprentice to his father who fitted taxi meters.  He said that he had since taken over that business and was responsible for fitting meters to taxis across Argyll and Bute and elsewhere and that he knew most of the taxi drivers and had a good overview of the trade.  He also advised of working for a local takeaway food delivery facility within the town and said he knew the area well.

Referring to demand for taxis, he pointed out that at certain times of the day and on certain days, particularly the evenings and weekends, the demand was there.  He said that he could be flexible with his hours and would work to demand.  He advised that he had an 8 seater car, which, he believed, were few and far between.  He said he believed there was still the demand for private hire work, which he advised would be his primary source of work.  He said that he was applying for a public plate so that at peak times he would be able to join the rank.   He commented that he had heard of families having to wait for over an hour for taxis at times.

He advised that he wanted to be a taxi driver so that he could increase his income, be flexible with his hours and be his own boss.

MEMBERS’ QUESTIONS

There were no questions from Members.

SUMMING UP

Applicant

Mr Shields said he had nothing further to add and confirmed that he had received a fair hearing.

DEBATE

Councillor Hardie agreed that the demand for taxis was there and that certain aspects of Helensburgh were booming.  He confirmed that he supported this application.

Councillor Green commented that for a number of recent applications it had been noted that the demand was there and said that perhaps the information contained within the Taxi Survey report was out of date.  He said he would be happy to support the application.

Councillor Hampsey also confirmed that he would be happy to approve this application.

DECISION

The Committee unanimously agreed to grant a Taxi Operator Licence to Mr Shields and noted that he would be notified in writing of this within 7 days.

(Reference: Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support, submitted)