Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were intimated from Councillors George Freeman, David Kinniburgh, Robert G MacIntyre and Donald MacMillan.

None declared.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the Hearing and asked that participants introduce themselves.  Thereafter he outlined the procedure that would be followed.

Mr Reppke advised that late letters of objection had been passed to him for circulation to the Committee.  He advised that if the Committee wished to take these late objections into consideration then they would need to adjourn to another day to allow the proper period of notice (14 days) to the Applicant unless the Applicant waived his right to have 14 days to consider these.  One of the objectors, Mrs Birtles, who submitted a late representation, was in attendance and at the request of the Committee advised of her reason for the late representation being made.

The Chair ruled, and the Committee agreed, that they would not take into consideration any of the late representations received.

The Chair invited the Applicant to speak in support of his application.

Applicant

Mr Simpson advised that he had applied for a private hire car operator’s licence to operate in the Parish of Kilfinan and that he was not interested in operating in Dunoon.  He advised that it was always his understanding that there were 2 operators in the Tighnabruaich area and that one of the operators only worked one day a week to transport people to a lunch club.  In terms of the other 2 operators he believed that one was not renewing his licence and, due to ill health, the other was no longer operating either and he believed that there was now 2 vacancies for private car hire operators in the Tighnabruaich area and that the community in this area were entitled to the same level of servce as those who lived in Dunoon.  He referred to the large area of Kilfinan and the distances between villages, for example, 12 miles between Otter Ferry and Tighnabruaich.  He advised that these places were not being covered and that the community would like to see more movement in these areas and those 2 private hire car operators in the area would be beneficial.   He advised that the current operator did not work 7 days per week and that people were looking for cover 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.  He advised that he was also applying for a licence for a second driver so that he would be able to cover the area 7 days per week and still be able to have 2 days off.  He referred to the very poor bus service in the area.  He advised that people may not have access to taxis when they wished them if the only taxis available were in Dunoon and this in turn could lead to people taking risks with drink driving.  He advised that the taxi operators in Dunoon would have no need to worry as he was not interested in operating in the Dunoon area and would not be taking money out of their business and that he was sure everyone could work together.

The Chair then invited the Objector to ask the Applicant questions and Mr MacIntyre advised that he had no questions.

The Chair invited the MacIntyre to speak in support of his objection.

Objector

Mr MacIntyre advised that he was speaking on behalf of the Dunoon Taxi Owners and Drivers Association.  He advised that the licences currently held by operators in Dunoon covered the whole of the Dunoon and Cowal area which includes places like Tighnabruaich.  He advised that he has been at Hearings before to raise objections and that nothing has changed and that trade was, in fact, worse at the moment.  He advised that they have experienced their worse start to the summer and that business has been very quiet.  He referred to the taxi survey that had been carried out several years ago which showed there was no significant demand for a private hire licence in the Cowal area.  He advised that the average waiting time for customers was 5 minutes.  He advised that there are 2 taxis in the Tighnabruaich area and that Mr Turner and Mrs Birtles cover this area 7 days per week, 24 hours per day.  He advised that if he gets a request for a taxi in the Tighnabruaich area he will not see a customer stuck and, if necessary, pass the fare to Mr Turner or Mrs Birtles.  He advised that Tighnabruaich were provided with a very good 24 hour, 7 day a week service.

The Chair invited the Applicant to ask the Objector questions.

Questions to Objector

Mr Simpson asked Mr MacIntyre to confirm that he has been advertising for drivers in the Dunoon area.  Mr MacIntyre advised that this was the case and that it was very difficult to recruit drivers.

Mr Simpson asked if Mr MacIntyre considered there still to be a demand for taxis in the area.  Mr MacIntyre advised that there was still more than one taxi operating in the Tighnabruaich area.

The Chair then invited Members to ask both the Applicant and Objector questions.

Members’ Questions

Councillor Trail asked Mr MacIntyre to clarify that it was his suggestion that there were sufficient taxi licences in the area but not enough business to attract new drivers to join the business.  Mr MacIntyre replied yes and that it was his opinion that there were too many licences in the Dunoon area.

Councillor Currie referred to a similar situation on Islay where the nearest private hire used to be 20 miles away.  He asked for clarification how many miles were between Tighnabruaich and Dunoon.  Mr Simpson advised that the distance was 24 miles.

Councillor Currie asked if someone from Tighnabruaich was to order a taxi from Dunoon would they be charged for the taxi travelling from Dunoon.  Mr MacIntyre advised that this would not be the case.

Councillor McNaughton advised that he was not aware of Mr Turner or Mrs Birtles having licences and sought clarification on this.  Mr MacIntyre advised that they had one taxi between them and operated from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.