Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chambers, Kilmory, Lochgilphead. View directions

Contact: Fiona McCallum Tel. No. 01546 604392 

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

 

Apologies for absence were intimated from Councillors Gordon Blair, Rory Colville, Mary-Jean Devon, Alistair MacDougall and Sandy Taylor.

2.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Minutes:

 

Councillor Neil MacIntyre declared a non financial interest in the application for a taxi operator’s licence submitted by Mr Shearer from Oban.  Councillor MacIntyre advised that members of his family were involved in the taxi business in the Oban area and therefore he would not take part in the determination of this application.  He left the room and took no part in the following hearing.

3.

CIVIC GOVERNMENT (SCOTLAND) ACT 1982: APPLICATION FOR GRANT OF TAXI OPERATOR'S LICENCE (D SHEARER, OBAN)

Minutes:

 

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made.  The Head of Governance and Law advised Members that a late letter of objection had been received from Mr Werner of Etive Taxis who was not present at the hearing.  He read out the reason given for the late objection.  The Chair invited the Applicant’s Solicitor to confirm whether or not they had any objection to this late objection being considered by the Committee.  Mr Thornton confirmed that they had no objection.

 

The Committee agreed to take the late letter of objection into consideration and this was circulated to everyone present.

 

The Chair then read out the procedure that would be followed and invited the Applicant’s Solicitor to speak in support of the application.

 

Applicant

 

Mr Thornton confirmed that Mr Shearer was a 49 years old divorced man with no dependents and that he has lived in Oban since 2001.  Prior to moving to Oban he was born and brought up in Glasgow and was a roofer by occupation.  Due to problems with his knee he was no longer able to carry out this type of work.  He referred to Mr Shearer’s previous employment with the Glencruitten Golf Club and advised that he had been made redundant from that post and had been unemployed for the last 3 years.  Mr Thornton explained that Mr Shearer was seeking a taxi operator’s licence to allow him to be self employed.  He advised that Mr Shearer had identified an unmet demand which he felt that he could fulfil.   He stated that Mr Shearer’s widowed mother lived in a care home in Glasgow and that she had dementia.  He confirmed that Mr Shearer had obtained his taxi driver licence in August and had been offered employment by some of the local taxi firms in Oban.  However, he advised that due to Mr Shearer’s personal circumstances he did not feel able to take up the offer of employment which would involve shift work as there were times when he had to go through to see his mother which would mean the possibility of having to let an employer down.  Mr Thornton advised that Mr Shearer had looked at the current business market and that he considered that the need identified was not being met as well as it could be.  He explained that Mr Shearer had earlier in the year purchased a vehicle in anticipation of this application being granted.  He advised that he had purchased the 7 seater vehicle through Cabs Direct with a view to converting it for disabled access for up to 2 wheelchairs.  Mr Thornton added that Mr Shearer had since been advised by the company that did the conversions that it would not be possible to carry out this work until the spring of 2015 as this type of vehicle was currently undergoing an EU inspection.  It was, however, anticipated that it would in time be able to be converted.  Mr Thornton advised that Mr Shearer believed there was a market for offering passengers trips to Glasgow.  He stated that this would allow Mr Shearer to visit his mother during the down time while he waited to bring his passengers back to Oban and that Mr Shearer believed there would be a demand for this type of service.  He also advised that Mr Shearer hoped to be able to offer tours of the wider Oban area to groups of passengers coming off boats.  Mr Thornton confirmed that if Mr Shearer’s application was granted it was his intention to prepare a website advertising his business with a view to setting this up in the spring of next year.  He added that Mr Shearer felt there was an opportunity to meet customer demand in a way that suited his personal requirements rather than being confined to a pattern of shift work.  He advised that the type of service Mr Shearer intended offering was not currently available in the Oban area and asked that the application be granted.  Mr Thornton referred to the contents of the letter of objection and stated that he hoped that he had put it across to Members that a lot of research had been carried out by Mr Shearer and that he could not be described as a “nomadic operator” as was indicated in Mr Werner’s letter.

 

Members’ Questions

 

Councillor Trail asked if Mr Shearer had ever been a taxi driver before.  Mr Thornton confirmed that he had many years ago in Glasgow.  He reiterated that he had recently applied and received a taxi driver licence in August for Argyll and Bute but had not been able to take up offers of employment he had received from local taxi operators due to his personal circumstances.

 

Councillor Trail sought and received clarification that alongside operating a normal taxi business Mr Shearer was hoping to offer long distance taxi journeys as well as offering a taxi service for disabled passengers.

 

Councillor McCuish sought and received clarification that Mr Shearer would not be able to advertise his business as offering a taxi with disabled access until the spring of 2015.  It was, however, his intention to visit local hotels and marinas to look at the market for offering longer touring trips for passengers.

 

Councillor MacMillan sought and received an explanation from Mr Thornton as to why Mr Shearer wished to work for himself rather than be employed as a taxi driver.

 

Councillor Kinniburgh said that it appeared that the type of business Mr Shearer planned to offer was long distance driving.  He referred to Mr Shearer’s plans to advertise his business on the internet and asked why Mr Shearer had applied for a taxi operator’s licence and not for a private hire licence.  Mr Thornton explained that it was Mr Shearer’s intention to concentrate on that side of the business during the summer months and that outwith this period he would run his business as a normal taxi service.

 

Councillor Kinniburgh referred to the possibility of the long  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.