Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were intimated from Councillors Rory Colville, Robin Currie, Mary-Jean Devon, David Kinniburgh and Richard Trail.

None declared.

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

The Chair then invited the Applicant’s Agent to speak in support of the  Application.

Applicant

Mr Ferguson advised that Mr Islam is the owner and trader of The Crew carry out and chip shop premises and that he has traded here for nearly 3 years.  He currently holds a late hours catering licence for The Crew until 2 am 7 days per week and wishes to amend this in order to trade for an extra 30 minutes until 2.30 am on Fridays and Saturdays.  He advised that this application was similar to the one submitted in February this year when the Committee refused the application.  He advised that Mr Islam believes there has been a change in circumstances and would wish to submit this further application for amendment to his late hours catering licence in the same terms as before.  He advised that Mr Islam has found over the last 6 months that there continues to be a demand for an extension to his opening hours and that people continue to visit his shop at 2 am when the pubs close looking to be served food and he feels it would be appropriate for the premises to be opened for an extra 30 minutes after the pubs close.  He advised that over recent weeks Mr Islam has been in discussions with his customers and he referred to a petition he had with 21 names all signed on the premises supporting the later opening time and that no customer refused to sign the petition.  Mr Ferguson also referred to there being no other fast food outlets opening after 2 am at the weekend as the Indian restaurant which used to have a licence until 2 am was now closed and that the mobile chip van has now changed ownership and was no longer operating late in the evenings and therefore there was no issue of there being too many premises being opened at that time to police.  Mr Ferguson referred to other towns in Argyll and Bute where the opening times of late hours catering premises were beyond 2 am.  He referred to there previously being premises in Campbeltown opening beyond 2.00 am and that this was not a situation that would be completely new to the area.  He advised that in view of customer demands it was necessary to seek an extension to The Crew’s opening hours.  He referred to customers being annoyed at not being served food after 2 am and that an extension of another 30 minutes would fix this problem completely.  He advised that Mr Islam served food to his customers quickly and people left his shop quietly.  He referred to the objection from Environmental Health and stated that it was his opinion that even after the mobile chip van stopped operating large numbers of people still congregated in that area of Main Street into the early hours of the morning.  It was his opinion that patrons coming into get food were keen to get home to eat it and that to allow The Crew to open later in order to serve customers would be an enticement for them to go home more quickly.  Mr Ferguson advised that Mr Islam has ran a successful business over the last few years till 2 am with no issues or trouble.  He advised that CCTV cameras overlooked the premises so that if there were any incidents they would be spotted quickly and dealt with promptly.  He advised that the Police regularly visit the premises just to check how things are and not to address any specific problems.  Mr Ferguson referred to the Police observation that there was a potential for an increase in anti social behaviour and stated that there was always the potential for something to go wrong and if complaints started to occur there was always the opportunity to review the opening hours at a future date.  He referred again to the quick, well run and efficient business operated by Mr Islam and urged the Committee to consider granting the application.

The Chair invited the Police to ask the Applicant questions and Inspector Harper confirmed he had no questions.

The Chair invited the Environmental Health Officer to ask questions.

Questions from Objector

Mr Hill, Environmental Health Officer asked if any of the local residents were asked to sign the petition.  Mr Islam confirmed that only customers who came into his shop were invited to sign the petition.

The Chair invited the Environmental Health Officer to speak in support of his objection.

Objector

Mr Hill advised that he recommended that the request to extend the opening hours of The Crew to 2.30 am on Fridays and Saturday be refused.  He referred to the mobile chip van previously being open to this time on Main Street and that this had led to complaints about associated noise from nearby residents as it had been a focal point for people to congregate after the pubs had closed and attracted both people and vehicles.  He advised that since the mobile chip van had stopped trading there had been a marked reduction in the level of noise in Main Street and there had been no complaint received since then.  Mr Hill advised that if The Crew were granted the extra 30 minutes trading this could possibly lead to this venue acting as a new focal point for people to congregate which would have an impact on residents in the area.  He also referred to there being noise associated with the premises closing down for the night due to the use of extractor fans and the removal of waste.  If the premises was allowed to trade until 2.30 am this could mean there would still be noise from the premises until after 3.00 am.

The Chair invited the Applicant to ask the Objector questions and Mr Ferguson confirmed that he had none.

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.