Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support
Minutes:
The
Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made. He then outlined the procedure that would be
followed.
The
Council’s Solicitor, Mr McMillan, advised that a representation from Rachel Hughes
and an objection from Margaret Colville had been received out with the time
period allowed by the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 for making
objections or representations and advised that it would be competent under
Paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 1 to the 1982 Act for the licensing authority to
entertain a late objection or representation if they were satisfied that there
was sufficient reason for it not having been made within the time allowed.
Mr
McMillan advised that both Ms Hughes and Ms Colville were invited by letter to
explain why their representation and objection had been submitted late and that
no response had been received.
The
Chair sought the views of Members as to whether or not this late representation
and late objection should be taken into consideration.
The
Committee agreed not to take this late representation and late objection into
consideration.
Mr
McMillan then advised that a further late objection dated 19 October 2019 had
been received after publication of the Agenda for this hearing from Tim and Ann
Saul. Mr McMillan advised that the
objectors were unable to attend the hearing today but had explained in an email
that the reason for their late objection was because they had been away on
holiday and had missed notification of this application. They advised that they had only become aware
of the application when the Agenda for this meeting was published.
The
Chair sought the views of Members as to whether or not this late objection
should be taken into consideration.
Motion
To
agree to take the late objection into consideration.
Moved
by Councillor Richard Trail, seconded by Councillor Lorna Douglas
Amendment
To
agree not to take the late objection into consideration.
Moved
by Councillor Rory Colville, seconded by Councillor Alastair Redman
The
Motion was carried by 5 votes to 4 and the Committee resolved accordingly. A copy of the late objection from Tim and Ann
Saul was circulated. A list of the
standard conditions for Street Trader Licences was also circulated for
information.
The
Chair then invited the Applicant to speak in support of his application.
APPLICANT
With
the aid of an interpreter Mr Basim-Altinawi described the types of food he
would sell and the locations where he was applying to trade from. He pointed out that negative responses from
local businesses were very common. He
explained that in general people have encouraged him to go ahead. He advised that most of his food would be
vegetarian based. Referring to the
objections received he said that he would not park anywhere that would affect
other shops. He said that he did not
wish his business to affect other businesses.
He confirmed that he would be happy to respond to any questions.
OBJECTORS
Ms
Crowe referred to the objection dated 19 September 2019 which had been
submitted by Wm Skelton and Co on behalf of Colin Brooks, the proprietor of the
Electric Bakery. She advised that his
objection was based on two points. The
first of these was in respect of the right to trade from the access road behind
Squat Lobster. She advised that the
Council gardens there had become a welcome feature of the town centre and there
was a concern that having a van situated there would have an adverse effect on
the amenity of the area due to an increase in rubbish and waste which, she
said, would want to be avoided given the attractiveness of the area. She advised that the gardens were well
maintained by the Council and their appearance was a contributory factor in the
repeated success of Bute in Bloom which was awarded a Beautiful Scotland Silver
Gilt Award. She advised that the
presence of a van in this area would have a detrimental effect on the area and
a detrimental effect on existing nearby businesses offering carry out food. She
said that this would lead to an overprovision of carry out outlets in the area
especially between the hours of 9 am – 5 pm.
She
advised that the second aspect of the objection related to the right to trade
on High Street. She pointed out that it
was not clear from the information that had been provided where on the High
Street the van was applying to trade.
She advised that it was not clear if it was for the whole street or for
just part of the street. She advised
that there would only be an objection if this included the area between
Victoria Street and Castle Street. She
referred to there being limited car parking at this area and that there would
also be access issues for emergency vehicles at this location. She also referred to numerous existing
business which supplied carry out food between 9 am and 5 pm and advised that
this section of the High Street was not suitable for the conduct of a mobile
hot food carry out business as it would cause an overprovision.
MEMBERS’ QUESTIONS
Councillor
Colville sought and received clarification from Mr McMillan that the Isle of
Bute was not classed as an economically fragile area but the town of Rothesay
was and, therefore, exemption from condition 17 did not apply in this case.
Councillor
Colville sought and received confirmation from the Applicant that he was
applying for two licences – one for a permanent location and the other for
various locations. He advised that the
permanent location would be near to the ferry.
Councillor
Colville asked the Applicant if he was aware that if he was applying to trade
at a permanent location this would be planning permission for the site and not
for planning permission for one particular person. He pointed out that this meant anyone could
use the site. Mr Basim-Altinawi advised
that it was his understanding that no one else was going to use that site.
Councillor
Trail sought and received confirmation from Mr McMillan that the Applicant, as
part of the application process, had received consent from the Roads Authority
to trade at four locations - Union Street, one site on High Street, Skeoch Wood
and Eden Drive.
Councillor
Trail sought and received confirmation from Mr McMillan that on Union Street
the location was near to the Council Offices and an industrial area. He advised that on High Street the location
was close to Russell Street and for Skeoch Wood and Eden Drive it was the whole
area. He explained that if the licence
was granted and designated specific areas a map would be appended to the schedule
of conditions.
Councillor
Redman asked the Applicant if he had plans to employ any staff. Mr Basim-Altinawi advised that there were two
families involved in the business, his own plus his friend’s.
Councillor
Currie sought and received further clarification on the positioning of vans. Mr McMillan explained that in terms of street
trader applications many street traders applied to trade anywhere on a
particular street. He advised that in
this case the Applicant had consulted Roads Officers directly and was asked to
identify particular areas where he wished to trade. On that basis the Roads Authority had
approved these locations. Mr McMillan
advised that if the Committee granted this licence it would be on the basis of
the specific locations applied for.
Councillor
Colville sought and received confirmation from Mr McMillan that the Applicant
had received consent from the Roads Authority to trade at the first four
locations detailed in his application.
Mr McMillan explained that the fifth location was the subject of a
planning application and that he was not aware of Plannings position on
that. He advised that if Members were
minded to grant the licence it may be worth taking account of that and not
granting that part of the application submitted. He explained that this location could come in
as a separate application or the Committee could possibly grant the licence for
that location subject to planning consent being obtained.
Councillor
Kinniburgh sought and received confirmation from Mr McMillan that if the Committee
agreed not to grant a licence in respect of the fifth location then the
Applicant could apply for an amendment to this licence if planning permission
was subsequently granted for that location.
He advised that an application for amendment to a licence would cost
£71.
Councillor
Douglas referred to the fifth location and asked if the access road was where
the ferry was. Mr Basim-Altinawi advised
that it was near to the ferry.
Councillor
Colville sought clarity on whether or not the location on the High Street close
to Russell Street was between Victoria Street and Castle Street. It was confirmed with the aid of online maps
that the location was far away from Victoria Street and Castle Street.
SUMMING UP
Objectors
Ms
Crowe advised that in relation to the findings that the area of High Street
where Roads consent had been granted did not include Victoria Street or Castle
Street, she would like to withdraw that part of the objection. She confirmed that the only objection
outstanding was in relation to the right to trade on the access road behind the
Squat Lobster. Given what she had
outlined before she asked the Committee not to grant that part of the
application.
Applicant
Mr
Basim-Altinawi confirmed that the locations where he would park his van would
not affect the other businesses. He
advised that he was very careful with the cleanliness of his van and the areas
outside. He said there was no similar
food of the type he would provide on the island and that 75% would be
vegetarian. He confirmed that his
location on High Street would be far away from Victoria Street and Castle
Street. He advised that he did not
want to harm anyone as a result of his business. He added that this was the only type of
business he could work in. He said that
his business would involve two families and that it would harm his family and
his friend’s family a lot if they were not granted this licence.
When
asked, both parties confirmed that they had received a fair hearing.
DEBATE
Councillor
Moffat advised Mr Basim-Altinawi that his application had given her a lot of
sleepless nights. She said that she was
very proud of the Syrians on the island and all that they had achieved. She advised, however, that she had serious
concerns about the effect his business would have on existing long term
businesses. She pointed out that Eden
Drive was a very congested bus route on a busy scheme and at the bottom of that
road where there was some parking there was the Fire Station which required
access all the time. She added that this
was also the access for all the ambulances on the island. She advised that there were several takeaway
businesses on the island including another Syrian takeaway with lovely Syrian
food. She said that these takeaway
businesses delivered to homes and they used taxis for this. She pointed out that not only would these
businesses be affected but the taxi drivers would also be affected. She referred to parking at Squat Lobster and
acknowledged that Mr Basim-Altinawi was applying for planning permission for
this. She advised that this location was
beside a Grade 1 Listed Building and also beside beautiful gardens. She said that she did not consider this an
appropriate place. She also advised that
it was within 100 metres of many of the businesses that also provided similar
foods eg chicken, pizzas etc. She said
that Skeoch Woods would be perfect as the location would not conflict with
other businesses. She advised that there
used to be a hotel on the island that supplied outside catering to various
events. She said that they were no
longer doing this and pointed out to Mr Basim-Altinawi that there were other
opportunities other than going into the town.
She said she was finding it very difficult to come to terms with this
and wished Mr Basim-Altinawi all the best.
She confirmed that she could not agree to this application and that she
was very sorry.
Councillor
Redman said that he had a different view to Councillor Moffat. He acknowledged that she had a lot of local
knowledge about the island. He advised
that he had heard about numerous places on the island selling food and he said
that this was good. He referred to a
free market society which, he said, you either believed in or not. He said that competition was a good
thing. He referred to customers having a
choice. He advised that he felt very
uneasy when politicians procrastinated about who should be winners and
losers. He said that he believed this venture
would benefit the wider area and bring more competition, more trade and more
choice to the people of Bute and that he was minded to approve the application.
Councillor
Colville referred to his home town of Campbeltown. He advised that for years
there were four café type premises and in the last six months there were now
seven and no one had objected to them.
He said that he had no idea how these seven premises were economically
viable but they were surviving on the service they provided. He advised that he was inclined to support
this application with the exception of the area behind Squat Lobster. He referred to the planning application for
this location and advised that he would be very surprised if the Planners would
grant the application given the site was next to a listed building. He confirmed that he would support the first
four locations but not the Squat Lobster site.
He advised Mr Basim-Altinawi that his success or not would depend on the
custom he got.
Councillor
Trail said that he applauded the enterprise of the Applicant trying to run a
good business. He advised that he shared
Councillor Colville’s view as he also had concerns about the Squat Lobster
location. He noted Councillor Moffat’s
reservations about the other locations and advised that the Roads Authority had
looked at them and had no reservations.
He confirmed that he was happy to support the application on the same
basis as Councillor Colville.
Councillor
Blair said that it was very brave for a person to come and open up a new
business. He advised that it took a lot of
guts to do that as there were a lot of risks to opening up new businesses on
the island of Bute. He said that he took
consolation from the fact that the Roads Officers were content with the
locations and that he was happy to support the application.
Councillor
Douglas said she echoed what had been said around the table. She advised that it was going to be a very
hard business to maintain and that she was quite happy with the four locations
that Roads had consented. She
acknowledged the local information Councillor Moffat had but said that in
approving the locations she was sure Officers would have taken account of the
emergency vehicles. She advised that she
thought the fifth location at the Squat Lobster would be problematic.
Councillor
Kinniburgh said he took the same view as many around the table. He advised that competition was not a
consideration when granting licences. He
advised that he recognised that the Roads Officers had looked at all the
locations and had been quite prescriptive of where the van could be operated
from. He advised that like the fellow
Members who would like to grant this licence today, he believed that the access
road behind Squat Lobster should not be granted today as the Applicant had
applied for planning permission for this.
He said that as far as he was concerned planning permission would have
to be granted first before considering a street trader’s licence for this
location.
DECISION
The
Committee agreed to grant a Street Trader’s Licence to Mr Basim-Altinawi in respect
of the first four locations listed on his application form.
Having
moved an Amendment which failed to finder a seconder, Councillor Moffat asked
for her dissent from the foregoing decision to be recorded.
(Reference:
Report by Legal and Regulatory Support, submitted)