Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Robin Currie, Mary-Jean Devon, Roderick McCuish and Sandy Taylor.

There were no declarations of interest.

Report by Head of Governance and Law

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 Craig advised that this was a new venture for him which he thought he could make a success of.  He confirmed that he had his Taxi Driver’s Licence and currently transported customers to work at fish farms, young mothers and their children, the elderly and those with wheelchairs.  He said that he did not spend a lot of time in Oban and mostly did country work.  He advised that he hoped to purchase a purpose built vehicle which was wheelchair accessible, with 7 seats and zero emissions.

MEMBERS’ QUESTIONS

Councillor Moffat advised that she had noted Mr Craig wanted a licence to work 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. She asked if he would be employing anyone else to work with him.  Mr Craig confirmed that he would be employing another driver.

Councillor Trail sought and received confirmation from Mr Craig that he held a Taxi Driver’s Licence  Mr Craig added that he also had PSV coach driver licence and an HGV licence.  Councillor Trail pointed out that Mr Craig had not listed his Taxi Driver’s Licence on his application form.  Mr Craig advised that a girl in the office had said this was not required.  He confirmed that he was working for Lorn Taxis at the moment as a Taxi Driver.

Councillor Colville commented that Mr Craig had mentioned applying for a disabled accessible vehicle.  He pointed out that this application was for a Ford Mondeo vehicle and sought clarification on this.  Mr Craig explained that he needed to continue working just now to raise funds for the new vehicle.  He confirmed that he would come back to the Council to arrange to transfer the plate to the new vehicle.

Councillor Colville advised that he had noted Mr Craig had indicated that he would work mostly in the country and pointed out that if the application was granted Mr Craig would still be able to sit on the rank.  He referred to the Halcrow report which concluded that there was no unmet demand for taxis in the Oban, Lorn and the Isles area and asked Mr Craig if he could give him some comfort as to why he thought the report may be out of date and why the Committee should consider granting this licence.  Mr Craig advised that he had figures that showed that if working at the rank you could make a very good living out of this.  He referred to 200 houses being built in Dunbeg in the future and said that there was potential there for a lot of customers as at the moment houses there were not served by a local bus service.

Councillor Colville said that he admired Mr Craig’s anticipation of future demand.  He pointed out that when the planning application for the housing came before the Committee they were assured that the development would be on a bus run.  Mr Craig advised that at the moment people had walk into the village of Dunbeg to catch the bus.  He said that he was finding that 2 or 3 people were hiring a taxi together to travel into Oban.

Councillor Colville referred to Mr Craig advising that he anticipated most of his work would be in the country.  Mr Craig confirmed that at the moment he mostly did country work.  Councillor Colville said that he was unclear why Mr Craig had highlighted country work as he assumed that any Taxi Operator could pick up this work.  Mr Craig explained that he was getting a lot of this work at the moment through people phoning Lorn Taxis and also through people phoning him directly on his own phone.

Councillor Redman said that it was his understanding that this was a business man looking to expand his business with this licence.  Mr Craig said that at the moment he worked for Lorn Taxis and drove an 8 seater mini bus.  He said that this vehicle was not ideal for the job as it was quite high off the ground and the very elderly found it awkward to get in and out of it.  He advised that the vehicle he intended to purchase would be virtually level to the ground.  He said that he believed there was a big demand for this service and in future there would be even more demand.  He said that at the moment if you were travelling to the city by bus you had to book your journey from Oban and that you could not get on at Connel and you could only be let off the vehicle at Buchanan Street.  He advised that sometimes people were coming off the coach at Connel then waiting for a taxi to come and get them.  He said there was not a great deal of frequent vehicles and a person could be waiting 15 to 20 minutes.

Councillor Redman sought and received confirmation from Mr Craig that he would be creating employment for one other person.

Councillor Hardie asked how much tourist business Mr Craig got.  He replied that he did a lot of tours.

Councillor Douglas sought and received confirmation that Mr Craig was driving a taxi and that he wanted an Operator’s Licence for a Ford Mondeo.  Mr Craig advised that he had not bought the other vehicle yet as he was waiting to see if this licence was granted.  He said that if his licence was granted today he could then purchase the new vehicle which would take 14 weeks to arrive which would be January 2019.  He confirmed that he would not be looking for Operator’s Licences for two vehicles, it was just the one which in time would be the accessible vehicle.

Councillor Trail asked Officers if there were any comparable stats regarding the number of taxis currently in Oban and how many  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.