Licensing (Miscellaneous) Sub-Committee – 1 October 2009

Chair: Councillor Barkworth
Venue: Pittwood House, Ashby Road, Scunthorpe
Time: 10.00 am

AGENDA

  1. Substitutions.
  2. Declarations of personal or personal and prejudicial interests and significant contact with Applicants, Objectors or Third Parties (Lobbying), if any.
  3. To take the minutes of the special meeting held on 10 September 2009 as a correct record and authorise the chair to sign.
  4. Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 application for grant of street trading consent – Karen Coultard, Lakeside Parkway (South).
  5. Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 Town Police Clauses Act 1847 – Application to Review a Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Vehicle Drivers Licence – Mr R Cowling.

The public are likely to be excluded from the meeting for consideration of the following item on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

  1. Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 Town Police Clauses Act 1847 – Application to review a Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Vehicle Drivers Licence – Mr W H.
  2. Any other items which the Chair decides are urgent by reason of special circumstances which must be specified.

MINUTES

PRESENT: Councillor Barkworth in the chair.

Councillors Clark, Ellerby, Swift and Vickers

The sub-committee met at Pittwood House, Scunthorpe.

808 DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL OR PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS AND SIGNIFICANT CONTACT WITH APPLICANTS, OBJECTORS OR THIRD PARTIES (LOBBYING) – There were no declarations of personal or personal and prejudicial interests.

809 MINUTES – Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 September 2009, having been printed and circulated amongst the members, be taken as read and correctly recorded and be signed by the chair.

810 (18) LOCAL GOVERNMENT (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT 1982 APPLICATION FOR GRANT OF STREET TRADING CONSENT – KAREN COULTARD, LAKESIDE PARKWAY (SOUTH) – The Service Director Neighbourhood and Environment submitted a report concerning an application for a street trading consent at the above location. Details of the application were outlined in the report, together with letters of objection from the Principal Traffic Officer, North Lincolnshire Council and Humberside Police.

The Service Director in his report reminded the sub-committee that the options available to it under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 when considering such applications were: –

  • To grant the consent as applied for with no additional conditions or restrictions.
  • To grant the consent, subject to different conditions or restrictions.
  • To refuse the consent, as applied for.

Karen Coultard attended the meeting, and was accompanied by her husband who presented the submissions to the sub-committee. He explained that further to the street trading application made last year, an alternative site had been found to enable them to trade throughout December 2008. It had later transpired that the alternative site was not owned by North Lincolnshire Council and that the land actually belonged to Morrisons Supermarket.

Morrisons had permitted Mrs Coultard to continue trading last year as a good will gesture, however would not allow any further trading from this site.

Members received further clarification that trade would be conducted from the verge and would not involve the use of a temporary market stall or vehicle, that the trading site would be equidistance between the two roundabouts and the time of trading would be between specific hours to ensure limited impact on traffic flow at peak times.

Ian Jickells, Principal Traffic Officer, North Lincolnshire Council explained that the traffic flow at the proposed site had increased significantly over the last year and currently carried in excess of 4800 vehicles per day. Road safety concerns were presented as the reason for objection and these included:

  • Indiscriminate parking on the highway causing obstruction to other road users and reducing flow and capacity.
  • Increased risk of pedestrian conflict and unusual crossing patterns due to additional parked vehicles and the desire of pedestrians to cross the road to purchase wreaths.
  • Distraction of drivers due to trading and increasing the risk of conflict.

Humberside Police also expressed concerns over the potential problem of cars being parked on both sides of the road, people crossing over the road, that the wreaths would be a cause for distraction and also that in the run up to Christmas there was usually an amount of heavy traffic congestion in the area and that trading would exasperate the situation.

The sub-committee members engaged in further discussion with the applicant and then adjourned for deliberation. When it reconvened the sub-committee,

Resolved – (a) That the application be refused on the grounds of road and pedestrian safety, (b) that the sub-committee is conscious that there are no road safety issues currently that would warrant regulation, however it could foresee that taking into account the time of year, the increased traffic flow and the new development, that road safety issues would become a concern, and (c) that the safety of road users and pedestrians had to be a paramount consideration for the sub-committee.

811 LOCAL GOVERNMENT (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT 1976 TOWN POLICE CLAUSES ACT 1847 – APPLICATION FOR REVIEW OF HACKNEY CARRIAGE/PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLE DRIVERS LICENCE – The Service Director Neighbourhood and Environment submitted a report advising members of an application for review of a Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Drivers Licence to be determined by the sub-committee.

The report contained background information on the process for determining such applications, the information to be taken into account and the circumstances in which the sub-committee could refuse a licence.

The options available to the sub-committee when considering the application were:

  • To revoke the licence.
  • To suspend the licence for a set period of time.
  • To take no action.

Should the sub-committee refuse the application or impose additional terms, conditions or restrictions then the applicant may appeal to the Magistrates Court within 21 days from the date on which he was notified of the decision. Should the Magistrates uphold the decision of the council, the applicant had further recourse to the Crown Court.

The procedure for dealing with such applications at meetings of the sub-committee had previously been circulated to members.

(19) MR R COWLING

Mr Cowling attended the meeting for consideration of the item and was accompanied by Mrs Joy Wright, representative of the North Lincolnshire Taxi and Private Hire Association. Mr Cowling answered questions relating to the events that had lead to his appearance before this sub-committee.

The sub-committee considered the evidence and submissions from the applicant and Mrs Joy Wright. Mrs Joy Wright asked for it to be noted that a Taxi Watch network would be beneficial to all taxi drivers in North Lincolnshire, which would protect them against instances of this nature.

Resolved – (a) That the Sub-Committee had listened to the mitigation put forward by the applicant and was satisfied that the applicant was a fit and proper person to hold a Hackney Car/ Private Vehicle Licence.

812 Resolved – That the public be excluded from the meeting for consideration of the following item (Minute 813 refers) on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

813 LOCAL GOVERNMENT (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT 1976 TOWN POLICE CLAUSES ACT 1847 – APPLICATION FOR REVIEW OF HACKNEY CARRIAGE/PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLE DRIVERS LICENCE – The Service Director Neighbourhood and Environment submitted a report advising members of an application for review of a Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Drivers Licence to be determined by the sub-committee.

The report contained background information on the process for determining such applications, the information to be taken into account and the circumstances in which the sub-committee could refuse a licence.

The options available to the sub-committee when considering the application were:

  • To revoke the licence.
  • To suspend the licence for a set period of time.
  • To take no action.

Should the sub-committee refuse the application or impose additional terms, conditions or restrictions then the applicant may appeal to the Magistrates Court within 21 days from the date on which he was notified of the decision. Should the Magistrates uphold the decision of the council, the applicant had further recourse to the Crown Court.

The procedure for dealing with such applications at meetings of the sub-committee had previously been circulated to members.

(20) MR W H

Mr W H attended the meeting for consideration of the item and was accompanied by a family member. New evidence was submitted by the applicant in the absence of his solicitor.

The sub-committee considered the evidence and agreed that further information would be welcomed from the Child Protection Team before making a decision. It was suggested that Mr W H seek representation for his next appearance before the panel.

Resolved – (a) That the decision be deferred on the grounds that this sub-committee did not feel it had sufficient information to make such a decision, (b) that the Child Protection Team and also the applicants legal representative be asked to attend the next meeting to provide further evidence of the events leading to Mr W H’s appearance before this sub-committee.