Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence was received from Councillors Robin Currie, Mary-Jean Devon and Lorna Douglas.

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 her application.

APPLICANT

Mrs McKee advised that she moved to Argyll and Bute with her family in 2015.  She indicated that she wanted to set up a local enterprise with a coffee van and that she started trading in 2017 selling barista style coffees and teas around Kintyre but mainly in Tarbert.  She said that she had originally wanted to be more mobile than she is but she had encountered issues with being able to stop on the roadside as so many were single track.  She confirmed that she changed her original model and was granted permission to trade at Tarbert Marina 5 mornings per week.  She explained that she shuttled between the Marina and the Portavadie Ferry Terminal.  She confirmed that she was aware of other businesses in the area selling similar produce and that she was more than 500 metres away from them when trading at both the Marina and the Ferry Terminal.  She added that she also supported local events held at the Marina throughout the year.

Mrs McKee referred to licence restrictions and advised that she had issue with the recent change that has been made to standard Condition 17.  She explained that this condition was stopping her day to day trading because as she was trading between two places and the condition only allowed her to trade at one location for a maximum of 30 minutes before she had to move, the condition prevented her from returning less than 200m away from the original location on the same calendar day.  She advised that 200m away from the Ferry Terminal would take her out of the town and 200m from the Marina would bring her too close to other businesses.  She advised that another major concern for her was Condition 3 which limited the number of events she could attend per calendar year to 12.  She explained that she was entrepreneurial but also prided herself in integrating into the community.  She advised that she held monthly coffee mornings at Skipness Village Hall during the winter season which brought neighbours together in their own village.  She advised that as she is only allowed to trade for a maximum of 30 minutes before moving on she has to class this as one of her 12 events as it would not be viable to just trade for 30 minutes at that location.  She confirmed that she has tried to work with existing businesses and support local events but the two conditions were restricting her ability to trade and support the community.

MEMBERS’ QUESTIONS

Councillor Redman sought and received confirmation from Mrs McKee that if these conditions remained she could not see her trade continuing.  Councillor Redman asked Mrs McKee if she believed this would have a detrimental effect on the area.  Mrs McKee advised that her business received lots of local trade as well as from tourists.  She pointed out that at the Marina there were lots of residents with boats that found her van a good place to congregate.

Councillor Trail sought and received confirmation from Mr McMillan that this type of street trader business, selling barista style coffee, was quite unique for the area compared to the usual larger burger vans and ice-cream vans.

Councillor Colville sought assurance from Mrs McKee that if her application was successful she would not later decide to sell such items as hot dogs or fish and chips.  Mrs McKee advised that her current licence allowed her to sell pre-packed sandwiches.  She explained that she did not do this and that she limited her stock down to what she seen as a gap in the community.

Councillor Freeman sought and received confirmation from Mrs McKee that she first obtained her licence in 2017.  Mrs McKee acknowledged that her previous licence included Condition 17 although at that time it was worded slightly differently.  She confirmed that the previous wording in Condition 17, which prevented her from trading within 100m of a business, did not affect her business.  She advised that the new condition did not allow her to remain at the Marina for more than 30 minutes at a time and that was why she shuttled between there and the Ferry Terminal.  She advised that the issue which was now affecting her was not being able to return to the same location on the same day.

Councillor Freeman asked Mrs McKee if she was aware of the standard conditions before applying for renewal of her licence.  Mrs McKee explained that she was sent a letter from the Licensing Team about renewing her licence which explained that the Committee were in the process of making changes to Condition 17.  She advised that the letter gave her 10 days’ notice of this possible change which she objected to and even although the Licensing Team could not confirm what the change may be she still had to pay for her renewal application.  She advised that she heard nothing further until the licence was renewed with the revised Condition 17 on it and that she has now had to pay a further fee to apply for an amendment to the licence.  She advised that she was not happy with the service she received from the Licensing Team.

Councillor Freeman asked Mrs McKee if she thought this change to Condition 17 was affecting other street traders.  Mrs McKee said that she had noted that Argyll and Bute Council wanted Argyll and Bute to be open for business and to attract young people to the area.  She explained that young people don’t often have the money to set up businesses in buildings.  She said she believed that this condition would affect people bringing the type of business that did not require buildings into the area.  She said that she could not speak for other traders.  She advised that she was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.