Agenda and minutes

Venue: Rennes Room, Civic Centre, Paris Street, Exeter

Contact: Mark Devin, Democratic Services Officer (Committees)  Telephone 01392 265477 or email  mark.devin@exeter.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

15.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 70 KB

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 16 July 2019.

 

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 16 July 2019 were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chair as correct.

 

16.

Declarations of Interest

Councillors are reminded of the need to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests that relate to business on the agenda and which have not already been included in the register of interests, before any discussion takes place on the item. Unless the interest is sensitive, you must also disclose the nature of the interest. In accordance with the Council's Code of Conduct, you must then leave the room and must not participate in any further discussion of the item.  Councillors requiring clarification should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer prior to the day of the meeting.

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were made by Members.

 

 

17.

Mike Winter

Minutes:

The Chair advised that Mr Mike Winter passed away recently and he wished to offer both his and fellow Members condolences and also pay tribute to him as he was a well respected and influential member of the taxi trade community.

18.

Proposed Hackney Carriage (Taxi) Fare Tariff Changes pdf icon PDF 68 KB

To consider the report of the Environmental Health and Licensing Manager.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Principal Licensing Officer submitted a report which sought to inform Members of a request from the Chair of the Exeter St David’s Hackney Carriage Association, for an increase to the Hackney Carriage Fare Tariff. He advised that Section 65 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 allowed Licensing Authorities to set the tariff fares for Licensed Hackney Carriages (taxis), in their area, and set the maximum fares, in which a taxi could charge the public when using their vehicles.

 

The request included the following changes be made to the tariff:-

 

·    a charge of £100 be made to customers who soiled the taxi, the increased charge would more realistically compensate the operator for the cost of cleaning the vehicle’s interior and loss of earnings whilst the taxi was off the road;

·    an additional charge for carrying dogs (excluding assistance dogs which travel free of charge), to rise to £1.00 per dog; and

·    the extra charges for luggage and additional persons be removed and be replaced with a separate tariff for over four passengers.

 

The Chair confirmed that he had been advised by the trade that they believed that factual information in the report; which related to the existing tariffs was not correct and there was also some doubt about support for the proposed changes that had been put forward by the trade representatives.

 

The Litigation Solicitor confirmed that there had been a conflicting message about the proposed changes which included a request to consult members of the Hackney Carriage taxi trade that had been conducted by the Trade Representatives.

 

The Chair set out the options for Members to consider, which were to proceed with the request and consider the circulated report, postpone the consideration until the next meeting; or to reject the request for consideration of the tariff in respect of the Hackney Carriage trade. It was important to ensure that any such request had the support of the trade and Members were properly consulted.

 

RESOLVED that Members unanimously voted to reject the request made by the Exeter St David’s Hackney Carriage Association for an increase in the Hackney Carriage Fare Tariff.

 

 

19.

Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 - Exclusion of Press and Public

To pass the following resolution:

 

RECOMMENDED that, under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for item 6 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED that, under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of the following item on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part I, Schedule 12A of the Act.

 

20.

Application for Consent to Street Trade in Glasshouse Lane

To consider the report of the Environmental Health and Licensing Manager.

 

Minutes:

The Chair introduced the Committee and set out the procedure. The Litigation Solicitor set out the Council’s policy and the requirements under the Local

Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982.

 

The Principal Licensing Officer, presented the report which advised the Committee that the applicants were seeking approval to engage in street trading on Glasshouse Lane, Exeter, using a purpose-built mobile food van, selling kebabs and other fast food, for a 12 month period. The applicants had supplied photographs of the van and details of the proposed menu, location, the van’s extraction certificate, gas installation safety record and liability insurance. The applicants had applied for a consent to trade between 16:00hrs and 23:00hrs, between Monday and Sunday.

 

The Principal Licensing Officer stated that the applicants considered the location to be the only suitable space for trading, and that Devon County Highways had raised no concerns in relation to the proposed siting of the van, which would be parked adjacent to the footpath in the free parking area. He drew Members’ attention to a number of conditions and also to a representation received during the fourteen day consultation period, which related to competition between other existing food outlets. The conditions in the application included the provision of a bin, no use of A Boards, or to conduct any flyposting and to be aware of the Council resolution in respect of Single Use Plastics.

 

The applicants were in attendance, and spoke with the assistance of an interpreter in support of the application. They had previously provided evidence of the van registration with Environmental Health for food hygiene purposes. They wished to provide a service and serve the people near the area, and welcomed the opportunity to create a business to benefit their family. The applicant agreed to abide with the requirements and conditions of any street trading consent that might be granted.

 

In response to questions from Members, the applicant responded in the following terms:-

 

·         having noted a Member’s comments about the potential for increased rubbish, anti-social behaviour and general levels of noise, they confirmed they already ran a very clean site for their existing car wash business;

·         they had chosen a quieter generator and it would be sited inside the van;

·         they would only be serving french fries and not traditional fish and chips

·         they considered there was no direct competition and it was a suitable site for the business;

·         a fire blanket and fire extinguisher were available in the van;

·         the extractor fan eliminated the smells but were retained within the van;

·         the extraction certificate would be renewed if they obtained a street trading licence;

·         they would consider extending the range of vegetarian items on the menu in time;

·         the lights were inside the van only;

·         they had not carried out any door to door research but some customers who had used their other business had expressed an interest in their new venture.

 

The Litigation Solicitor also referred to the Council’s policy under the Local

Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 and commented  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.