Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Gordon Blair, Rory Colville, Fred Hall and David Kinniburgh.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair welcomed all those present and introductions were made.  The Chair informed the applicant of the procedure that would be followed during the hearing.  He then invited the applicant, Mr Barbour, to speak in support of his application.

Mr Barbour advised that he was applying for a taxi operators licence.  He advised that this was a reapplication due to the fact he had not made his payment in time for his renewal.  He explained that on the renewal date he had been slightly short of the fee and had not realised that non payment on the renewal date would mean he would need to reapply.  Mr Barbour told the Committee that he had held his licence for 8 or 9 years and had always paid on time.  He apologised to the Committee for his misjudgement and advised that he should have realised that a deadline was a deadline.  He reiterated that he thought non payment would have resulted in a delay in the renewal of his licence and not the need to re-apply.

The Chair invited questions from Members.

Councillor Freeman asked officers to confirm that this was a straight forward reapplication and that nothing else should be taken into account when considering the application.  Mr Reppke confirmed that this was the case.  Councillor Freeman then asked for confirmation that granting of this licence would not result in an increase in the number of licences already held in the area.  Mr Reppke confirmed this was the case.

Decision

The Committee agreed to grant Mr Barbour with a taxi operators licence and noted that notification would be issued by Legal Services within 7 days.

(Reference: Report by Head of Governance and Law dated September 2012, submitted)