Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors John Armour, Jan Brown, Audrey Forrest, Amanda Hampsey, Daniel Hampsey, Graham Archibald Hardie and Liz McCabe.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. In line with recent legislation for Civic Government Hearings, the parties (and any representatives) were given the options for participating in the meeting today. The options available were by video call, by audio call or by written submission. For this hearing the Applicant and their agent opted to proceed by way of video call and Sarah Fitzgerald and Keith Shanks joined the meeting by Microsoft Teams.

Iain Martin, James and Patricia Crawford, and Margaret Watters, Objectors, also opted to proceed by way of video call and joined the meeting by Microsoft Teams.

David Townsend and Colette Lafferty McGaw, Objectors, opted to proceed by way of written submission and a copy of these objections were contained within the Agenda pack and supplementary Agenda pack for this hearing.

The Chair invited the Licensing Standards Officer to speak to the terms of the report.

Thereafter the procedure set out in Appendix 18 of the report was followed and the Chair invited the Applicant and their Agent to speak in support for their application.

APPLICANT

The Applicant advised that a substantive response to objections raised had been submitted for the Committee’s information, and was included in the Agenda pack.

The Applicant advised that the property was her family home, and that the intention was for the property to only be advertised for let during periods when the family would be away from the home. She advised that they had two young children, family and friends in the immediate area, and were fully embedded in the community. She noted that she had been brought up in Helensburgh and viewed it as her home. She advised that they had invested a lot of time, money and energy into making the property their home and it was not intended to be, either now on in the future, a commercial enterprise. She emphasised that they were looking at using the property as a Short-Term Let during periods where the property would otherwise be vacant due to the work commitments of both her and her husband, who had recently undertaken a new position as Head Teacher of a school in Dunblane, which occasionally required boarding responsibilities and overnight care of pupils.

The Applicant advised that it was not her intention for the property to be used as a place to have parties. She noted that the property had two rooms specifically set up for toddlers, and a climbing frame in the garden for children. She noted that it was not a party house, and that this would not be the intended or advertised purpose. She highlighted that the property was fully compliant with all safety requirements, and a robust management plan was in place to address any issues which may arise.

The Applicant advised that they would also be using the services of a Managing Agent, BnBHost, who had been highly recommended by a local Estate Agent. She advised that this would assist in providing an extra layer of protection around the management of the property, if a licence was to be granted.

The Applicant advised that she was a Human Rights lawyer, who had been involved in shaping legislation around privacy laws in the UK. She advised that she took the right to privacy very seriously and would take every step possible to preserve her neighbour’s right to privacy. She highlighted that the objections outlined in relation to privacy were largely speculative and were not relevant to the application before the Committee.

The Applicant also advised that there had never been any previous complaints, when the family or guests were at the property, from neighbours in relation to noise. She noted that the communal areas were not adjacent to the party walls and were separated by numerous doors which assisted in reducing noise transfer.

The Applicant reiterated that the property was fully compliant with all requirements and was a well-managed family home. She advised that it was not the intention for the property to be used for full time letting, and that people staying in the property would be allowed to do so only in well-managed circumstances.

The Applicant passed to her Agent to summarise additional details in support of the application.

The Applicant’s Agent advised that when first discussing the potential Short-Term Let with the Applicant, respect for neighbours had been one of her main priorities. He provided details of the management plan which had been created in discussion with the Applicants, and the basis for much of this plan was to ensure mutual respect and a peaceful co-existence between parties. He outlined his companies significant experience in management, and ways in which procedures were put in place to ensure neighbours were respected and operational disruption was kept to a minimum.

The Applicant’s agent advised that the property’s marketing would be aimed towards families, and that the Applicant had made it clear during their meetings that the children’s rooms would remain as children’s rooms and that the outdoor play area would remain in place. He noted that this would naturally mean that the property would not be attractive to large groups of adults, and that it would be made clear in the advertising that the property was targeted towards families.

The Applicant’s Agent advised that they would have a robust vetting process in place for guests wishing to stay in the property, including background checks carried out by a third-party agency. He noted that this would include verification of identity documents, credit card information and additional verification by BnBHost staff trained in vetting, to request details of all guests. He advised that, where guests did not agree to take part in this vetting, or issues were raised during the vetting process, the booking would not go ahead. He advised that, in addition to the above, it is the policy of BnBHost not to allow Stag or Hen parties at any of their properties, and this would be clearly stated to any potential guests.

The Applicant’s Agent advised that they would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.