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 received from Councillors Rory Colville, Lorna Douglas, Audrey Forrest, Roderick McCuish and Sandy Taylor.

2.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

3.

CIVIC GOVERNMENT (SCOTLAND) ACT 1982: APPLICATION FOR GRANT OF A LATE HOURS CATERING LICENCE ( M SINGH, GLASGOW)

Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made.  He then outlined the procedure that would be followed and invited the Applicant to speak in support of his application.

 

APPLICANT

 

Mr Thorburn spoke on behalf of the Applicant and advised that Mr Singh was 44 years old and had been in the catering business for 17 years.  He said that Mr Singh had run his present premises in Dunoon for about 3 years within the standard hours, closing at 11.00 pm every night.  He also had a restaurant nearby which was open for a bit longer.  Mr Thorburn advised that Mr Singh knew Dunoon, the market, the people and the business well and that he regarded this as a normal, standard application.  He said that Mr Singh offered the kind of facilities that were generally available in most communities.  He pointed out that there was one other takeaway facility that had a late hours catering licence.  Mr Singh was proposing to offer a similar facility limited to the weekends on Friday and Saturday nights as this was when there was demand.  Mr Singh did not see his proposal increasing the number of people that would be out and about.  He was simply offering a service to the people that were already there.   Mr Thorburn advised that 2 or 3 hotels and pubs had late licences and basically at closing time the people coming from there were looking for something to eat at that time.  He referred to the objector’s concerns about noise and the use of the word “inevitable”.  Mr Thorburn said he took exception to the word “inevitable” and said that it would not be inevitable that there would be an increase in noise due to a change in opening hours.  He suggested that the only time there could be an increase in noise would be if the premises were not well managed or the customer base was not a very well behaved customer base.  Mr Thorburn advised that Mr Singh had experience of working in different locations to Dunoon.  He said that Dunoon was a good place to work and that there had not been a single difficulty in the 3 years Mr Singh had been running the business.  He said that Mr Singh knew of other people in the trade in different locations where the customer base was very different and he could understand what it could be like.   Mr Thorburn said there was no question of this happening in Dunoon and that if Mr Singh had an awkward customer he had enough experience to deal with the situation if it arose.  Mr Thorburn suggested the objector’s fears were exaggerated.  He said that the hours Mr Singh was asking for were similar to other establishments and consistent with the hours of licensed establishments in the area and what he would use would be dependent on demand. He said Mr Singh would not open for longer than what was required.  He advised that since establishing his business almost 3 years ago, Mr Singh had a loyal following with his catchment area extended as far as Tighnabruaich for deliveries.  He suggested that this showed how appreciated he was in the community and asked the Committee to grant Mr Singh’s application.

 

MEMBERS’ QUESTIONS

 

Councillor Trail sought and received confirmation from Mr Singh that he had two businesses in Dunoon, a takeaway business and a restaurant.  Mr Singh confirmed that this application was for his takeaway business.

 

Councillor Trail sought and received confirmation from Mr Singh that he was running his takeaway business at the moment within the standard hours and that he was seeking an extension to these hours until 2.00 am on Fridays and Saturdays.  He confirmed that the business currently closed at 11.00 pm.

 

Councillor Redman asked what the economic benefit to Argyll and Bute and the local area would be if this application was granted.  Mr Thorburn advised that it would sustain employment and the viability of the street in Dunoon which, he said, was quite important.

 

Councillor Redman asked if granting this application would lead to an increase in employment.  Mr Thorburn advised that present employees would be able to work longer hours.  Mr Singh advised that if everything went well it may be possible to offer more employment.

 

Councillor Kinniburgh sought and received confirmation from Mr Singh that the other food premises opened until 3.00 am on Fridays and Saturdays.

 

Councillor Blair advised that as a local Member he recalled in previous years issues with a nearby premises due to under age teenagers misbehaving.  He advised of there being a substantial police presence in Argyll Street at that time.  He referred to the letter of objection in respect of noise and said that if you lived opposite the takeaway business he could understand concerns about noise perhaps from car doors opening and closing.  He asked if there were Environmental Health Officers that monitored noise and if there had been any reports or concerns from them.  The Council’s Trainee Solicitor, Miss Evans-Jones, confirmed that Environmental Health were consulted on this application and that no objection had been submitted.  She confirmed that as part of the licence there were statutory conditions about noise.

 

Councillor Freeman sought and received confirmation from Mr Singh that he did not sell alcohol.

 

Councillor Freeman referred to the objector’s concerns about the potential increase in noise and sought and received confirmation from Mr Singh that he had never received any complaints about his premises over the last 3 years.

 

Councillor Freeman asked if Officers could confirm whether or not they were aware of any noise complaints in that vicinity in the last 2 years.  The Council’s Solicitor, Mr McMillan confirmed that the response received from Environmental Health raised no issues.

 

Councillor Moffat suggested that most of Mr Singh’s customers would not be slamming car doors as they may have been drinking and would be walking from licenced establishments.  She asked Mr Singh if it would be correct to say that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.