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 and invited the Applicant to speak in support
of his application.
APPLICANT
Mr Thorburn
spoke on behalf of the Applicant and advised that Mr Singh was 44 years old and
had been in the catering business for 17 years.
He said that Mr Singh had run his present premises in Dunoon for about 3
years within the standard hours, closing at 11.00 pm every night. He also had a restaurant nearby which was
open for a bit longer. Mr Thorburn advised that Mr Singh knew Dunoon, the market, the
people and the business well and that he regarded this as a normal, standard
application. He said that Mr Singh
offered the kind of facilities that were generally available in most
communities. He pointed out that there
was one other takeaway facility that had a late hours catering licence. Mr Singh was proposing to offer a similar
facility limited to the weekends on Friday and Saturday nights as this was when
there was demand. Mr Singh did not see
his proposal increasing the number of people that would be out and about. He was simply offering a service to the
people that were already there. Mr Thorburn advised that 2 or 3 hotels and pubs had late licences
and basically at closing time the people coming from there were looking for
something to eat at that time. He
referred to the objector’s concerns about noise and the use of the word
“inevitable”. Mr Thorburn
said he took exception to the word “inevitable” and said that it would not be
inevitable that there would be an increase in noise due to a change in opening
hours. He suggested that the only time
there could be an increase in noise would be if the premises were not well
managed or the customer base was not a very well behaved customer base. Mr Thorburn advised
that Mr Singh had experience of working in different locations to Dunoon. He said that Dunoon was a good place to work
and that there had not been a single difficulty in the 3 years Mr Singh had
been running the business. He said that
Mr Singh knew of other people in the trade in different locations where the
customer base was very different and he could understand what it could be like. Mr Thorburn said
there was no question of this happening in Dunoon and that if Mr Singh had an
awkward customer he had enough experience to deal with the situation if it
arose. Mr Thorburn
suggested the objector’s fears were exaggerated. He said that the hours Mr Singh was asking
for were similar to other establishments and consistent with the hours of
licensed establishments in the area and what he would use would be dependent on
demand. He said Mr Singh would not open for longer than what was required. He advised that since establishing his
business almost 3 years ago, Mr Singh had a loyal following with his catchment
area extended as far as Tighnabruaich for deliveries. He suggested that this showed how appreciated
he was in the community and asked the Committee to grant Mr Singh’s
application.
MEMBERS’ QUESTIONS
Councillor Trail sought and received confirmation from Mr Singh
that he had two businesses in Dunoon, a takeaway business and a
restaurant. Mr Singh confirmed that this
application was for his takeaway business.
Councillor Trail sought and received confirmation from Mr
Singh that he was running his takeaway business at the moment within the
standard hours and that he was seeking an extension to these hours until 2.00
am on Fridays and Saturdays. He
confirmed that the business currently closed at 11.00 pm.
Councillor Redman asked what the economic benefit to Argyll
and Bute and the local area would be if this application was granted. Mr Thorburn advised
that it would sustain employment and the viability of the street in Dunoon
which, he said, was quite important.
Councillor Redman asked if granting this application would
lead to an increase in employment. Mr Thorburn advised that present employees would be able to
work longer hours. Mr Singh advised that
if everything went well it may be possible to offer more employment.
Councillor Kinniburgh sought and received confirmation from
Mr Singh that the other food premises opened until 3.00 am on Fridays and
Saturdays.
Councillor Blair advised that as a local Member he recalled
in previous years issues with a nearby premises due to under age teenagers
misbehaving. He advised of there being a
substantial police presence in Argyll Street at that time. He referred to the letter of objection in
respect of noise and said that if you lived opposite the takeaway business he
could understand concerns about noise perhaps from car doors opening and
closing. He asked if there were
Environmental Health Officers that monitored noise and if there had been any reports
or concerns from them. The Council’s
Trainee Solicitor, Miss Evans-Jones, confirmed that Environmental Health were
consulted on this application and that no objection had been submitted. She confirmed that as part of the licence
there were statutory conditions about noise.
Councillor Freeman sought and received confirmation from Mr
Singh that he did not sell alcohol.
Councillor Freeman referred to the objector’s concerns about
the potential increase in noise and sought and received confirmation from Mr
Singh that he had never received any complaints about his premises over the
last 3 years.
Councillor Freeman asked if Officers could confirm whether
or not they were aware of any noise complaints in that vicinity in the last 2
years. The Council’s Solicitor, Mr
McMillan confirmed that the response received from Environmental Health raised
no issues.
Councillor Moffat suggested that most of Mr Singh’s
customers would not be slamming car doors as they may have been drinking and
would be walking from licenced establishments.
She asked Mr Singh if it would be correct to say that there would not be
an over use of cars in Argyll Street. Mr
Singh agreed with Councillor Moffat’s comments.
Councillor Kinniburgh sought and received confirmation from
Mr Singh that he only delivered carry outs until 12.30 pm. Mr Singh confirmed that he was open until
11.00 pm at the moment.
Councillor Kinniburgh sought and received confirmation from
Mr Singh that his business was about 150 yards away from the other food
premises which was open until 3.00 am. Mr
Singh advised that he was finding his business busier after 10.00 pm and that
he wished to make extra money to make it worth his while as he currently
travelled from Glasgow to work in Dunoon.
Councillor Blair confirmed that the other late hours catering
business was the Three in One which was located opposite the Argyll Hotel. He said that Mr Singh’s business was at the
bottom of Ferry Brae. He advised that
most customers would be walking and that the Three in One was open until 3.00
am and also operated a delivery service.
SUMMING UP
Applicant
Mr Thorburn
advised that this was an issue of sustainability and if the application was
granted would secure the future for the staff working at this business.
Mr Singh and Mr Thorburn confirmed
that they had received a fair hearing.
DEBATE
Councillor Hardie advised that he would have no hesitation
in approving this application.
Councillor Redman confirmed that he was also minded to grant
the application. He said that it would
increase choice and help economic growth in the area.
Councillor Freeman referred to there being one complaint
relating to the potential for an increase in noise. He said that there had been no evidence of
noise in the area so there was no need to jump to the conclusion that granting
this application would lead to noise.
Councillor Blair advised that he was happy that there were
appropriate procedures in place that if there was ever an issue with noise this
would be dealt with by the appropriate authorities. He confirmed that he was happy to see this business
in Dunoon.
Councillor Kinniburgh took comfort that there were premises
open until 3.00 am and that Environmental Health had been approached and had
provided no adverse comments. He said
that he was sure that Mr Singh would take action if there was any excess noise
and that he had no hesitation in approving this application.
DECISION
The Committee agreed to grant a Late Hours Catering Licence
to Mr Singh.
(Reference: Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support, submitted)