Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chambers, Kilmory, Lochgilphead. View directions

Contact: Fiona McCallum Tel. No. 01546 604392 

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mary-Jean Devon, Audrey Forrest and Roderick McCuish.

2.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Minutes:

Councillor George Freeman declared a non-financial interest as he is an objector to this application.  He confirmed that he would speak as an objector to this Application and, taking account of the Council’s National Code of Conduct, would leave the room at the point when the Committee came to determine the Application.

3.

CIVIC GOVERNMENT (SCOTLAND) ACT 1982: APPLICATION FOR AMENDMENT TO STREET TRADER LICENCE (R SERAPIGLIA, LARBERT)

Report by Head of Governance and Law

Minutes:

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

 

Mrs MacLeod spoke on behalf of the Applicant.  She indicated that she believed Mr Serapiglia was well known to the Members of the Committee.  She confirmed that he had a Street Trader’s Licence which covered a variety of addresses across Argyll and Bute and that he had held this licence for some considerable time.  She advised that if this application was successful Mr Serapiglia’s daughter would be manning the van sited at Pier Road, Luss.  She said that Mr Serapiglia owned and operated 8 vans – he used 2 of these and the remaining 6 were operated by other members of the family.  She advised that Mr Serapiglia had invested £85,000 in a new ice-cream van.  She confirmed that the van had been inspected by Environmental Health this morning and, having been approved, he would now seek to have this new van added to his licence.  She said that the van brought with it a very quiet generator, CCTV cameras and parking sensors and advised that with these extra health and safety measures there would be no issues for the general public.  She also advised that Mr Serapiglia and his family had a policy at the end of the day of picking up any litter near to their vans, whether or not this was litter dropped by customers.  She referred to the application which requested an amendment to Street Trader’s Licence No. 4861 and advised that Mr Serapiglia was seeking to add a specific location at Pier Road, Luss to this licence.  She referred to an updated plan which showed the specific location where Mr Serapiglia intended to trade from.  She confirmed that he had discussed this location with Mr Hugh O’Neill of the Roads Department and that it was Mr O’Neill’s opinion that this was a suitable position for the van.  She pointed out on the plan the St Mocha Coffee and Ice-Cream shop and advised that this business had now closed down and that there was no longer ice-cream for sale there.  She suggested that Mr Serapiglia’s van could be a replacement for the ice-cream previously sold there.  She also listed all the other places Mr Serapiglia was permitted to trade from across Argyll and Bute.  She said that 2 Luss shopkeepers and a fellow Councillor have been vociferous about Mr Serapiglia trading in Luss.  She advised that it was her opinion that the letter from Police Scotland was a representation rather than an objection to this application.  She pointed out that Mr Serapiglia had previously applied for an Amendment to his Street Trader’s Licence requesting that Pier Road in Tarbet be added to his Licence but this had been withdrawn due to the National Park’s objection to him trading at this area.  She suggested that as this location was no longer part of this application that the objection from the National Park should be ignored.  She advised that Mr Serapiglia proposed siting his van at the end of Pier Road, Luss next to Loch Lomond.  She said that Mr Serapiglia had no intention of parking outside anyone’s house.  She confirmed that Mr Serapiglia had met with representatives from Planning and Roads and that both departments appeared quite happy with his proposal.  She pointed out that there was considerable demand from tourists in the Luss area for bar meals, drinks, ice-creams etc. and said that there was room for everyone.  She said that the shops in Luss sold more than just ice-cream.  She advised that Mr Serapiglia did not wish to compete with anyone and that he wanted to trade and complement the existing businesses in the area. He wanted to attract and retain visitors to the area.  She indicated that there would be no noise nuisance form the van as there would be no noisy generators and it would be even quieter than his existing vans.  She commended this modified application to the Committee.

 

Copies of the updated plan and a picture of the new van were circulated by Mrs MacLeod to the Committee.

 

QUESTIONS FROM OBJECTORS

 

Councillor Freeman referred to Mrs MacLeod advising that the objection from the National Park should be ignored.  He read out the submission from the National Park and said it was quite clear to him that they were of the opinion that both locations in Mr Serapiglia’s original application for Amendment to his Street Trader’s Licence were unsuitable for use.  He asked why this objection should be ignored when it clearly referred to the locations at Tarbet and Luss.  Mrs MacLeod said that the National Park had objected to the Tarbet location as they owned the road at Tarbet.  She pointed out that they did not own the road at Luss.  She commented that they had not come to the hearing to speak to their objection.  She confirmed that she had addressed the issue of litter in her presentation which had been a concern the National Park had raised.

 

Councillor Freeman referred to Mrs MacLeod saying that Mr Serapiglia had received permission to operate at the location in Luss.  She asked Mrs MacLeod if she knew who the owner of the land was.  Mrs MacLeod advised that she had not said Mr Serapiglia had permission.  She said that she had indicated that Mr Serapiglia had met with Roads.  She pointed out that the road had been adopted by the Council.

 

Councillor Freeman asked Mrs MacLeod if she was aware that the adopted road did not include the turning area where Mr Serapiglia wished to park.  Mrs MacLeod said that she aware that when a road was adopted it included one metre of verge on all sides.  She said that Roads had agreed with Mr Serapiglia that this would be a suitable position as it would not interfere with traffic.

 

POLICE SCOTLAND

 

Inspector Capaldi read out the representation from Police  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.