Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Seacome and Parsons. Councillor Whyborn and Harman were in attendance as substitutes. 

The Chair wished to put on record his thanks to Louis Krog, Beverly Thomas and Yvonne Hope for their assistance in dealing with the urgent matter that had come before the committee over the Christmas break.

There were no declarations of interest.

A Member question had been received from Councillor Wilkinson, as Councillor Wilkinson was not in attendance the answer was taken as read.

Mr Mark Morris

Mr Morris explained that he had only received the meeting papers that day, he was, however, happy for the committee to proceed as he wished to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.

The Licensing Team Leader proceeded to introduce the report. He advised that Mr Morris was granted a 12 month renewal of his street trading consent in October 2018. However, on the 20^th of November 2018 the council had received a complaint that Mr Morris was exceeding his permitted pitch size.  The complaint was accompanied by a picture showing the infringement. He advised that a number of the objectors to the renewal application referenced the perceived lack of enforcement by the council for breaches of the terms of the consent. Therefore, in light of the sensitivities around the trading location and in the interest of fairness and transparency, officers, in consultation with the chair and vice-chair of the Miscellaneous Licensing Sub-Committee had decided it would be appropriate to refer the matter to the sub-committee for consideration. He reminded Members that that they were not here to review the suitability of the location but consider the suitability of the trader to comply with the restrictions and terms of his consent. He further advised that 17 representations had been received in support of Mr Morris and these were passed around to the sub-committee.

The Licensing Team Leader offered the following responses to Members questions:

·           The complaint had come from one of the businesses in the immediate vicinity to the stall;

·           The complainant had not stipulated the length of the breach, the only evidence they had of the breach was from the picture taken;

·           He confirmed that there should be 3 metres clear on either side of the stall. The complaint referred to the boxes which had been placed by the kerbside;

·           He was unaware of what time the photo had been taken but would suspect it was near closing time, which Mr Morris confirmed was around 16:45;

·           None of the Council’s street trading pitches were physically demarcated. He advised that this was outside of CBC’s remit and if the committee were minded to recommend this a formal request it would need to put it to Gloucestershire County Council. 

Mr Morris was invited to speak, he noted the following:

·           He was certain that the complaint had been received from a named retail premises adjacent to his stall and felt it was unreasonable given that the named retail premises adjacent to his stall had scaffolding erected outside of their store for 3 months yet he had not complained;

·           He informed the sub-committee that the named retail premises adjacent to his stall had also placed pot plants outside of their premises and passed around an image for the committee to see, this now made it difficult to leave a clear 3 metres either side;

·           The picture that had been received from the complainant had been taken at closing time when they were taking the stall down, he explained that leniency was necessary  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Review of a Hackney Carriage Driver’s Licence

The Chair advised that an urgent confidential matter concerning a Hackney Carriage Driver needed to be determined by the sub-committee.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972 -EXEMPT INFORMATION

RESOLVED THAT

In accordance with Section 100A(4) Local Government Act 1972 the public

be excluded from the meeting for the remaining agenda items as it is

likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the

nature of the proceedings, if members of the public are present there will

be disclosed to them exempt information as defined in paragraph 3, Part

(1) Schedule (12A) Local Government Act 1972, namely:

Information relating to any individual,

Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an

individual,

Information relating to any action taken or to be taken in

connection with the prevention, investigation or prosecution

of crime.

Following a debate, Members were invited to vote upon section 1.6.1 of the report to:

Resolve to lift the Hackney Carriage driver’s licence suspension as the committee is satisfied that they are a fit and proper person to hold such a licence.

Upon a vote, it was unanimously against

Members then voted on section 1.6.2 to:

Resolve to revoke the Hackney Carriage driver’s licence because the committee do not consider them to be a fit and proper person to hold such a licence.

Upon a vote it was unanimously for

Members then voted on section 1.6.3 to:

Revoke the Hackney Carriage driver’s licence with immediate effect if it appears to the committee to be necessary in the interest of public safety pursuant to section 61(2B) of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.

Upon a vote it was unanimously for

Resolved That

The Hackney Carriage driver’s licence be revoked with immediate effect as the Committee no longer considers them a fit and proper person to hold such a licence