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Licensing Sub-Committee (Taxis, Private Hire, and Street Trading Consent Matters)
Thursday, 22nd October 2026 at 2:00pm

 
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  1. Councillor Ian Watson
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  1. Councillor Michael Vann
  2. Councillor Ian Watson
  3. Councillor Julia Judd
  4. Councillor Ian Watson
  5. Legal Services
  6. Officer
  7. Nickie Mackenzie-Daste, Officer
  8. Julia Gibson, Officer
  9. Councillor Ian Watson
  10. Councillor Ian Watson
  11. Officer
  12. Councillor Ian Watson
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  1. Applicant/Agent
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  4. Councillor Ian Watson
  5. Councillor Julia Judd
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  7. Councillor Julia Judd
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  9. Councillor Julia Judd
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  15. Councillor Julia Judd
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  18. Councillor Ian Watson
  19. Councillor Michael Vann
  20. Councillor Michael Vann
  21. Applicant/Agent
  22. Councillor Michael Vann
  23. Applicant/Agent
  24. Councillor Michael Vann
  25. Councillor Ian Watson
  26. Applicant/Agent
  27. Councillor Ian Watson
  28. Councillor Julia Judd
  29. Councillor Ian Watson
  30. Officer
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1 Apologies

Councillor Ian Watson - 0:00:07
Good afternoon, everybody. Also to people who may be watching online at home, we're
here today at the Licencing Committee of the Cotswold District Council. I'd like to start
on the agenda and ask if we have any apologies.
Yes, we have apologies from Councillor Brasington and Councillor Fowls.
Thank you. Substitute members, declarations of interest.

3 Declarations of Interests

4 Procedure for Licensing Sub-Committee

No declarations of interest. Before we go ahead, I'd just like to introduce everybody in the room

5 Pre-application proposed for a private hire vehicle

so that the applicant knows who's around here.
Michael, if I may start with you.
Councillor Michael Vann - 0:01:00
Michael Vann, Councillor for Fairford North.
Councillor Ian Watson - 0:01:06
Councillor Julia Judd - 0:01:12
Councillor Ian Watson, I represent the Tepleytown Ward.
I'm Councillor Jard, Julia Jard,
Ermin Ward and I'm Vice Chair today.
Councillor Ian Watson - 0:01:19
And if I might invite the officers
Legal Services - 0:01:24
Good afternoon, Mari Barnes, Legal Advisor to this Committee.
Officer - 0:01:31
Emma Sparks, Licencing Officer for Cotswold District Council.
Nickie Mackenzie-Daste, Officer - 0:01:37
Nicky Mackenzie Dask, Senior Democratic Services Officer.
Julia Gibson, Officer - 0:01:42
Julia Gibson, Democratic Services Officer.
Councillor Ian Watson - 0:01:46
Thank you very much.
I'd like to go on now to the procedure for the subcommittee hearing.
We're going to have a slight difference today than our normal procedure
in that I believe you brought the vehicle along with you.
You have.
So, what we will do is first of all, the officer will present the pre -application that we got before us.
Members of the panel will be able to ask questions, as indeed will you be able to ask questions.
Okay.
And then I will propose that we break at that point and go downstairs to the vehicle.
So we have a look, and then you will have the opportunity to present your pre -application
as well.
And again, the panel may ask you questions, or the officer may ask you questions.
At that point, when everybody's happy that we've been able to ask the questions we want
to, the panel will step back.
We'll go into a separate room somewhere.
Are we going to see it and then ask questions? Wouldn't that be the best way around?
What we're going to do is after the Office of Presentation we'll go down to see the vehicle and then ask questions.
And then we'll make our decision. We will ask you to stay because we'll make our decision today.
And we will inform you of that decision before you go home.
There are a couple of things that the panel will be thinking about as we go through the
process. There are three main points. It's the safety and health of drivers in the public,
vehicle safety, comfort and access, and to prevent crime and disorder and protect the
Those are the three elements that are involved in private hire or taxi licencing as we go
through.
So, I would like to go to Emma who will present the pre -application to us and then we'll be
able to ask questions afterwards.
Councillor Ian Watson - 0:04:15
We are going to see it first, aren't we?
Questions?
Officer - 0:04:32
Thank you, Chair.
This hearing is being held to consider the pre -application proposal by James Henderson
for a private hire vehicle licence to determine if a licence for the proposed
vehicle would be granted. The pre -application proposal has been
referred to the licencing subcommittee for determination as the vehicle departs
from the size type and design detailed in section 5 .1 of the policy. The
specific section of the policy where this is detailed is within the report at
section 2 .3. May I now draw your attention to the Hackney carriage and private hire policy
that states the council has the responsibility to regulate and control all operators, drivers
and vehicles used for carrying passengers for hire and reward within the Cotswold District
Council under the provisions of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 and the local government
Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1976. In setting out its policy, the Council seeks to promote
the following objectives. Safety and health of drivers and the public, vehicle safety,
comfort and access, to prevent crime and disorder and protect the public. The options for consideration
by the subcommittee are to approve the proposal as requested, to approve the proposal subject to
such conditions that are necessary to promote the objectives or to refuse the proposal in
whole or in part where it is necessary to promote the objectives. I have nothing further
Councillor Ian Watson - 0:06:13
to say. Thank you, chair. Thank you, thank you, Erma. Are there any
questions from the panel for Erma? No, thank you.
Do you have any questions for the officer? No, not at this time.
Thank you very much indeed.
Then I propose that at this point we go downstairs to the car park and look at the vehicle in question.

5 Pre-application proposed for a private hire vehicle

And then we'll come back and hear the application.
Thank you very much indeed just for the record.
I'd like to state that we went down to the car park and had a look at the vehicle in question.
and now back to the subcommittee hearing and at this point I'd like to ask the
applicant to talk about his application, business model, car, whatever you
would like to present to the committee.
Applicant/Agent - 0:07:22
There we go, so I think we're on. So thank you for your time today. I'm applying for
a private high licence not because I want to be a taxi company. I think it's fairly
obvious having seen the vehicle and I don't have a chance to look at the information that's
in the documents here. We're not a taxi company. I've got no intentions of being a taxi company.
We are an events company. The business is called Nomad Events for that reason. What
we're looking to do is offer events for people. Now those events may be tours
around the Cotswolds in which case we need the private hire licence to take
people out. It's more likely to be things like... so we launched, I say
launched, we had an event at the Morton Show or we had a St. the Morton
Show in September and what was interesting for myself, my wife, was the
interest we had from the people that were there was more about things like
would you do children's birthday parties and will you do corporate events which
was always on the car at corporate events anyway. But birthday parties and special occasions
actually is potentially where we're going to get the bigger side of the business.
Which we're in discussions with landowners, there's a lady over in Banbury speaking
to you, we're talking to Bicester Motion, the old airfield at Bicester, about using
their off -road course with the short track. So most of what we'll do with the car will
actually be on private property. However, because I'd like to offer tours around the
we need a private hire licence to offer that. So that's the purpose for the
application. I don't want to be turning up outside a nightclub at two o 'clock in
the morning and picking somebody up that's drunk and wants a ride home.
Bookings are made, inquiries can come in through the website. We do have a
telephone number and we have a WhatsApp group as well. But you can't just phone
up and book a journey. You will speak to us and we'll discuss what it is you want
and then we'll tailor a package to you.
So I know it's not in the notes, but this has come in
actually since the application went in.
This was an inquiry, which if you wouldn't mind,
Chair, I'll read this out.
So this is an inquiry from the website.
And it just says, the message from Daniel is,
I'd love to experience the nomad
if you have any more information about that, please.
That was an inquiry.
And then if I can read this out,
this is a response from my wife to him.
Hey Daniel, great to hear from you.
I'm intrigued, are you a car lover, a thrill seeker,
of just wanting an experience is a little out the ordinary.
To answer your queries as best I can,
we build the experience around you
or the person that he's being purchased for
because you do gift vouchers as well.
We offer one hour, half day and full day experiences
for individuals or for bigger groups.
To work out what you're after,
we usually start by suggesting a drive
around some of the beautiful towns
and villages in the Cotswolds.
Experience, slow down, I'm sorry.
Experience some time off the beaten track,
tackling some green lanes and forwards
and then bringing you back to your starting point,
an hour or more later. Based on your response to that we start to tailor the experience
and then there's some stuff that goes on about what the fees are and that kind of thing.
So the point I'm trying to make is we are we're tailoring an event to an individual rather than
offering a taxi service. In the supporting documentation if we were to do tours around
the Cotswolds there's a few different routes we have where we can go from Broadway it's about
an hour lovely circular trip around from Broadway where we take in some green
lanes that you can't do there's plenty of companies out there that do tours on
the Cotswolds and there's the CJP in my village in fact who's who's got four or
five different vehicles but what he can't do is take you down the green
lanes that we can take you down in in our car there's there's two deep Fords
at Kyneton that you couldn't go for a Ford in a standard vehicle whereas we
can with the Nomad we wouldn't do that unless the passenger wanted to because
you will get wet. So we tailor the experience or the event to whatever it
is the customer wants, if you like. And as I say, the reason that
we're here today is because to offer those tours on the public highway we
need a private hire licence.
Councillor Ian Watson - 0:11:28
Thank you very much indeed. What will happen now is a panel will ask questions if they
have any and then the officer will also have the opportunity but but I will I
will start off with a question about plan maintenance MOT that kind of thing
Applicant/Agent - 0:11:58
is there a full record available for the for the vehicle yes there is it's only
what is less than three years old so it doesn't need an MOT yet it will be 12
sold on the 17th of November this year but what I can and I can demonstrate
this is what we have we have a an app called scanable so there's a tag an ID
tag on the car every time before we start the car we scan the tag we record
the mileage we'll take a photograph of the oil level and there's a series of
questions that we record about the tyres in good condition if I can read that out
if you like, so you can see the pre -use cheques that we do, if that's of interest.
So if I go to today's history.
So the history today was from two hours ago from when I left, inspection completed by me.
Vehicle daily cheques. Cheque all lights from working order and add details and comments.
Cheque tyres are in good condition and legal. Cheque service is not overdue.
Report any dashboard warning lights to the comments.
Complete general visual condition and cheque and record any damage in the comments.
Record the current mileage as shown on the dashboard.
And with that we've got notes that show that it was 8 ,543 miles recorded today.
And then there's a photograph there of the dipstick.
and I can show you 30, 40, 50 records for every time.
Bear in mind, this is my own personal use.
But that's how we would record any pre -use cheques on the car.
Councillor Ian Watson - 0:13:43
Thank you very much. Michael, Julia, do you have questions?
Yeah, I do.
Julia, please go ahead.
Councillor Julia Judd - 0:13:56
Yes. Just picking up from your previous answer. So your dashboard is like a conventional modern
car dashboard where if you have brake problems or oil, low oil problems, all of that will
come up on the computer and you have a good mechanic who understands that car
because that's often the problem with cars isn't it getting somebody who I
mean is there a mechanic around here who specialises in nomads or is that an
Applicant/Agent - 0:14:35
unusual thing? So the manufacturers are based on it's built in in the UK, it's
in Somerset. It's been serviced twice in the 12 months I've had it by aerial the
factory and from my own peace of mind it will only ever be serviced by the by
the manufacturers. It's a it's an hour well it's a day out basically it's a
it's about 120 miles down there then it's there for eight hours or so and
then 120 miles back again so it's due its next inspection at nine and a half
thousand miles which is in maybe eight weeks or so but I'll probably take
it down in a month's time because then it'll be exactly 12 months old. So yes it
will be inspected by aerial motor companies.
Councillor Julia Judd - 0:15:24
So if I start digging into passenger safety I have, the video wouldn't have shown
this, but I've just sat in the car and have tested out the seat belt and once
once it's fitted and you understand how it works it's an incredibly quick
release and I could get in and out of the car quite quickly. I'm 64 so it's not
the inner, but will you have a disclaimer for people who aren't very nimble who
can't get in and out? Will you be able to say to somebody I'm sorry I cannot let
you I don't think that the fit is is are you can you do that or would that be
Applicant/Agent - 0:16:13
discriminating? In terms of discriminating I don't think it is
discriminating I can't give a legal answer on that but certainly I wouldn't
want to put anybody in the car who can't get in and get out safely and this is
why it's not a standard booking process. I can't remember who I was talking to the other day and I
said you know one of the questions I need to ask you is are you quite physically fit,
are you able to get in at the car? And one of the things that we'll send out with the
booking form is we reserve the right to refuse to carry that passenger if the driver, i .e.
me, has any concerns about their ability to get in or more importantly to be able to get
out of the vehicle.
Councillor Julia Judd - 0:16:52
And another question I have is with regard to their safety, is it nobody can control
the weather and presumably if it's cold or wet or windy, windy presumably isn't
so bad because you haven't got the resistance but will you have advice on
clothing or will you provide clothing you know that's going to be quite a an
Applicant/Agent - 0:17:27
important part of it visors you know helmets that sort of thing. So yes the
The short answer is, again, it's discussed at the pre -booking stage, depending on what the conditions are.
Regardless of what the weather is like, unless it's dangerous, if it's icy, then we won't go out.
But if it's raining, it's no different to being on a motorcycle.
I've driven here today, I've got an all -in -one suit that I wear.
Then we have, if I can show you this, we've got, you know, people don't come with warm enough clothing,
we've got branded hoodies that they can wear, we've got baseball caps to protect their eyes from the sun.
But this is all discussed, if you like, at the planning stage.
What is it you want to get out of the day?
And then as we get closer to the weather, we have discussions with them.
You know, we've had a look, the weather looks like it's going to be fairly cold.
So pack this. In the top box on the back,
we have some wet weather clothing in there just in case, in case I get caught out as it happens.
But, you know, we've got fire extinguisher in there.
There's first aid kits in there as well.
So when the weather turns inclement, we will go out prepared for that weather.
Councillor Julia Judd - 0:18:29
Yes, I was going to ask about the box and people having luggage.
I mean, will they expect to take things with them?
I mean, will they expect to be, I don't know, pick up the car from say a train station and then go and spend the weekend in it?
or I mean, how will that work if they got a big bag?
Are they going to strap it?
I mean, how will that work?
Applicant/Agent - 0:18:55
Again, it's all discussed with them at the planning stage
because it's not gonna be somebody that turns up
on the 915 to morning marsh wanting a lift home.
It's gonna be somebody that knows they're coming
to Cotswolds, they'll plan their trip.
And if a bit like when you book on with Brian Eyre,
you're told how big a suitcase you can carry.
as long as they've got a little squash bag it'll fit down in the feet.
There's actually in front of your feet, this rucksack that I have sits perfectly in front of the feet,
so it's just like a laptop bag that will go in front of the space there.
The top box comes off quite easily and then there's a full luggage rack there
so we can strap down with ratchet straps if needs be.
But again, I don't believe we're going to have that many people
that will be bringing an overnight bag with them.
That's, that's not my target market. Um, another question I asked as well before,
which I didn't ask, we do also have helmets. Um,
so we have certified helmets and then the intercom that you put on also plugs
it because that just unplugs.
So then we have another one that sits in the helmet so you can drive with a
helmet on, which also plugs into intercom.
And then the microphone is just in front of the mouthpiece there with the
headphones on the side. So even with a helmet on,
which will obviously give a lot of head protection from, from cold weather,
you can still have a, you know, a good safe conversation.
Councillor Julia Judd - 0:20:13
And going, so there's a lot of different places that this vehicle can go from dual carriageways
to green lanes and presumably being the conspores, a lot of them be rocky and I presume it's
quite stable on those rocky grounds but some of the tracks themselves on, you know, the
conspores is hilly. Some of them can be quite, I mean, it's got fantastically strong roll
bars I can see that but how stable is it on on the explain the car how the car
Applicant/Agent - 0:20:55
handles on a dual carriageway and a rocky cliff that's a great question so
it handles mostly like a normal car on the roads if anything is more forgiving
than most cars certainly more forgiving than your normal performance car such as
because the suspension is designed for off -road.
So if you hit a pothole in that, it soaks it up far better
than it would do in a Porsche.
For example, my wife has a seat at Leon.
And again, if you hit a pothole in,
well, in fact, we know this,
because she hit a pothole the other day
and broke the spring.
So there's no way you could cause the damage to that car
that a normal car would sustain driving over potholes.
It's designed to be driven at speed on rally stages.
A lot of the development of the car was done
on a rally development stage at Sweetland Motor Centre,
which is in Wales somewhere,
where the guys are driving at 100 miles an hour
down gravel tracks.
That's not what we're planning on doing, by the way,
because I'm not skilled enough to drive at that speed,
but the car can take it unquestionably.
In terms of driving off -road,
when I go down a green lane, we trundle.
It's got different power settings on the dashboard.
You've got stage one, two, and three.
Most of the time on the road it's in two. If I go off -road it's because you get better throttle response.
If your foot is jumping up and down on the throttle when you've got it in road mode, the car is jerking.
So when you put it into one mode, when you hit a bump, it doesn't jerk the throttle if that makes sense.
It's all by wire throttling.
So when I'm going down bumpy tracks it's easy to go along at 5, 10, 15mph.
We're going down the green lanes to show people the view rather than a breakneck speed.
If people want breakneck speed, then we go on a circuit.
We've been to Anglesey with it, we've been to Bicester with it.
There's a few places where we go and then it handles like a sports car.
So it's such an unusual thing. There aren't many cars quite like it.
It'll go everywhere Land Rover will go, but it will also go everywhere a Porsche 911 will go.
So, yeah, it's quite an unusual car, but it's designed for that.
So this is actually the second iteration.
This is a Nomad 2.
When Ariel first built the Nomad, they built it in 2015.
It launched, and they didn't realise quite how popular it was going to be.
And they realised then it was flawed, because they just kind of threw it together.
So, oh, see if this has got a market.
Turns out there was.
So they stopped building that after five years, I think, and then they spent four years developing the Nomad 2
to iron out what happens because the old model when it breaks it has a tendency to tram line as it breaks
This car's got anti -squat technology
And things like that so or it's more geometry
It's the way the suspension setup so that when you break it breaks a straight line
So it's designed for better on -road manners than the original one, which is a bit a bit layering
Councillor Julia Judd - 0:24:05
We have to consider the comfort of the passenger and we slightly covered that but I did just
for the record I did sit in the bucket seat and I did find it comfortable there's a lot
of leg room and harness on is comfortable even for a woman so I would I don't need to
ask you any questions about that but I just wanted to say that that was something that
I found having experienced it.
It is, it comes away from the usual taxi, you know,
this isn't a taxi service.
So we are looking at the, from a slightly different way.
So if I go off piece with my questions, I apologise.
Is there any precedent for such an application or do you know anyone else
who's running a business like this with a vehicle like this in the Cotswolds?
Applicant/Agent - 0:25:10
The closest I know to what I'm trying to do is there's a chap that's doing it
with that I think it's a 1976 Land Rover which is a very different vehicle but
it's a very similar business model. Um, he's doing tours around the Cotswold.
The difference is he's taking two, three,
quite possibly. Yeah. Um, so, uh,
that's the club. There's, there's, um, there's that, uh, there's that guy.
And then there's, um, another,
there's a lady that's doing it with a Morgan as well. Um, same sort of thing.
It's not a taxi. It's more an experience. It's a drive out.
To my knowledge, there's nowhere else in the world where you can drive an aerial nomad without owning one.
And that's what happens. This guy that's contacted us over the weekend, he's interesting in buying a nomad, but they're fairly expensive.
The factory don't really do test drives, so he said, well, I'll be interested in, you know, if we go out in your car, it'll give me a good feel of the car, and it may be then as I go on to buy one.
Councillor Julia Judd - 0:26:25
I think I have covered all the things that were on my mind. Thank you very much for your
Councillor Ian Watson - 0:26:36
time and sorry for hogging the questions.
Thank you, Julie. Michael, do you have any questions?
Councillor Michael Vann - 0:26:47
Yes, thanks a lot. I'm just looking at your material. Driven by an expert, that's you.
Is that right? Fine. And so, the, and basically what experience have you to enable yourself
to call yourself an expert?
Okay, great question.
I have run two businesses which deliver telecoms equipment
throughout the UK using off -road vehicles.
So I consider myself an expert in driving off -road,
which is what this is very much aimed at.
In the however many years I've been doing that,
I've driven thousands of miles with Lambda,
defenders, with discoveries, with a wide variety of 4x4 vehicles. So I would say it's safe to say
I am without question an expert in driving off -road. I've driven high -performance cars
since I was in my mid -20s probably, having had things like TBR Griffiths and Audi S -Series and
BMW M series. Um, so whilst I don't have any qualifications,
but funny enough, that's one of the things that's on the list is I will take my,
um, uh, my ARDS driver instructor training before we
start doing actual, um, off circuit driving with it.
So I've done countless track days. Um,
I'm very experienced at travelling at high speed on track. Um,
I don't intend to travel at high speed on the roads because that's not what it's
about it more about giving the passenger the experience of the car whether that's
on road or off -road.
Councillor Michael Vann - 0:28:34
Hidden tracks. Now those I imagine are private tracks which are a public right
away. Have you experienced difficulties with the land owners in
Applicant/Agent - 0:29:03
basically using their tracks for an off -road vehicle? No we haven't. You're
right in what you say. So what we what we drive down is the green lanes. There's
two categories of roads we can drive down. There byways open to all traffic
which is a boat and then the unclassified roads or UCRs. So we're a
member of the Green Lane Association and we have an app which shows us where all
the all the national byways are all the green lanes if you like. On each one
it'll tell you whether it's got a TRO in it in place because vehicles can't drive
down it whether it's suitable for motorcycles or whether it's super for
four by fours and for the most part so there's a few that we we've been down
tested I've been out with my son, my wife, you know we've been down the route so
we've got a good series of routes that we go down. Most of them are hard tracks
there's a few near Adam Henson's farm which is stone tracks that lead from one
quarry to another quarry. We've come across walkers, cyclists, horse riders
we've never had a problem with it. Most people because it's such an unusual
vehicle actually want to talk about it. If we see horses we'll stop and
will turn the engine off because the last thing he wants to do is alert the horse because
we're not out to upset anybody, we're out to experience and part of that experience
is there's a horse coming towards us down this lane, we have to stop. So far, no we
haven't. The closest I came to it was I got flagged down by a couple of older chaps, again
around Kyneton and I thought we were going to get an ear bashing here and they just wanted
know all about the car and they said oh have you been down so -and -so's place if
you've been down this place I used to go rallying and a Ford Escort down there if
you speak to so -and -so he might give you permission to use his track so so for
the most part no but what we are looking to do is working with like I said there's
a the lady over in Bicester there's the Royal Aachen Culture University in fact I was at
an event last week they have said would you be interested in hosting events here
So we're looking to work more with private landlords to do as much off -road driving as we can do.
If we're doing the tours around the Cotswolds, the routes that we choose are very specific and are tested in advance by me.
Thank you very much.
Councillor Michael Vann - 0:31:21
Now, I could get a certain impression from Carve through Country Roads.
And it is a fact that 60 miles an hour is the speed limit.
I think your vehicle will be making really quite a lot of noise at around that speed.
Is this something which you would deter your passengers from seeking?
Applicant/Agent - 0:31:54
The carving through the country roads, there's a view that I've got in my mind where you come down towards Hales Abbey
and there's a cattle grid you go over and then you drop by and you can see the veil in front of you.
You can carve down that road at 25, 30 miles an hour.
Fourth gear, the engine is just about doing 1200, 1300 RPM.
people won't hear the car but the people inside it will get the experience of the
flowing bends you can see there's no cars coming towards you you can see
there's there's nothing around there's no walkers there's no sheep there is
nothing to do but enjoy the route that drops down to you know towards Hales
Abbey that's what I have in my mind when I talk about carving through it's not
carving through at breakneck speed it's just enjoying the you know those those
flowing roads because the fast way that doesn't interest me.
Um, sitting in a queue of traffic,
I want to find the open roads that are off the beaten track where
most people don't go.
Um, that's that's what excites me.
And that's what I'll push towards.
That's what I encourage the passengers to experience is those.
It's the views.
It's the flowing views.
That's that's what that if you like relates to.
Councillor Michael Vann - 0:33:13
Councillor Ian Watson - 0:33:18
very helpful. Thank you Michael. I got a couple of follow -up questions and that
is as I look at this business model it's not a standard private hire it's more an
experience that you're selling using this vehicle.
You said that would be pre booking. Could you explain again,
the process how people would pre book this experience?
Applicant/Agent - 0:33:52
Yes. So inquiries will come in either. We've got, um,
we've got an account on LinkedIn. We have, uh, we have an Instagram account.
We have a Facebook page, we've got a YouTube channel. Um,
and all of those direct people to an email address that myself and my wife both have access to.
We also have a phone line that people can ring which diverts to my phone and my wife's phone.
I anticipate most inquiries will come in through the email, which is what Daniels has done,
and then we will then, for one for better word, engage with the customer. We will find out what
it is they're trying to achieve, what is it you want to get out of the day?
We'll then tailor the day to suit them. Now we've had, um,
a lady who was at the morning show wants us to do an event for her team on
their land over, um,
the other side of Cheltenham where she's got 12 people that work for her.
They're in a, um,
in a question events company and they want us to use the land that they've got
to, to take their staff around. Um, so that will be,
that would be like I said, it's just everything because it's on private land.
But it's the booking process is the same. You get in touch with us,
we will then start a dialogue. What is it you would like?
And we will tailor the event to you. Now,
if somebody is flying in from the States and they've got a business meeting in
London and they want an unusual way of getting from here to London,
we'll offer that for them.
But it's not going to be the same as the S -class Mercedes that they usually
have or the Range Rover that you usually have.
And we'll make that very clear to them.
If you want to ride with something different,
this is a great way of arriving at something different.
If you want to change from the normal routine,
it's great for that,
but that's not my target market.
I'd gladly do it.
Um, but that's not,
that's not the market we're going for.
It's more people that want to experience the car,
people that want to experience the Cotswolds.
And if we can mould it together,
Councillor Ian Watson - 0:35:54
then, then we will do.
So there is,
if I can put it this way, engagement with the customer before the actual journey takes place
because you're tailoring a journey or you're explaining that he can't take three suitcases
with him to London airport, that kind of thing. Yeah, thank you very much. I've got one more
question. It's actually directed at the spring chicken on our panel, Councillor Judd.
How was the, you were our test pilot downstairs, how was it getting in and out of the vehicle?
Councillor Julia Judd - 0:36:35
Well, it was, I'm quite reasonably nimble, but it was not difficult at all.
The gap is large enough and once you're in, there is so much space for your legs,
So my concern was that your legs would end up hitting the gearbox or something like that.
There wouldn't be space to actually move around.
There is space to move around.
And you just, what you can't do is keep your legs at low level.
You have to lift your legs to get, you know, up and over.
But it's easier than doing, I would say if you're on a Cotswold walk, it's easier than
climbing over a stile.
But you still have to lift your legs to get over the bottom thing.
but I wouldn't say it's difficult at all.
And I think once you've done it a couple of times,
Councillor Ian Watson - 0:37:26
you'd be really quick at it.
Thank you, Julia.
At this point, I'm going to ask the officer if you have any
questions for the applicant.
Officer - 0:37:36
I don't have any questions for the applicant,
but I would just like to clarify that this is a pre -application
for a vehicle.
So if it was approved, it would still go through.
So it would have to be MOTed every six months as well.
Excellent.
Thank you very much indeed.
Councillor Ian Watson - 0:37:58
Returning to the applicant, are there any more questions
you would like to ask the officer or the panel
or the lawyer?
Applicant/Agent - 0:38:10
It's not a question, but it's hopefully
just to address another point that you raised about comfort.
So I've been to the Lake District twice in the car, I've been to the Peak District twice in the car,
I've been to Glasgow in the car, I've been to London in the car, I came back from Glasgow which was probably a six hour drive
and I just broke the journey up twice. So from my perspective it's no more or less comfortable than a standard family car.
So if we've got a passenger that's in there for two hours,
I don't see the, I don't see comfort being a consideration at all.
Um, one thing you might've noticed actually, um,
one that the small modification made to it is on the seat, um,
cause the seats are just solid plastic seats with, with no padding at all.
Because I have driven up all through the winter, um,
it does get a little bit cold. So I put some, um, some padding on,
which is insulated as well, which a, it softens the, the seat,
but also it gives some warmth. So rather than sitting on something cold and hard,
you're sitting on something which has a degree of padding and provides warmth
and that's made a big difference because it just it stops your back getting cold
when you're sitting in that seat for a long time. So I just want to I guess just
emphasise the fact that it's not an uncomfortable car to spend you know
distances. There's owners that I'm in touch with, because we're in a big WhatsApp group with
with 90 odd other Nomad owners, they're doing tours all around Europe in there
It's nothing for them to do 3 ,000 miles on a two -week tour around the Alps with it.
So yes, it's an unusual car, but for a passenger, it's not an uncomfortable car, as I think
you can testify.
Councillor Ian Watson - 0:39:49
Thank you very much indeed.
Then at that point, Marie, comment?
Legal Services - 0:39:55
Chair, if I may, I just made a note of a couple of questions that were raised when we were
outside looking at the vehicle that just haven't been quite addressed with your direct questions
here if I can just report them back. The first question, apologies I didn't
write down who asked, was how many vehicles you had and you said one but
you hoped to get another, subject to your business. Another question was how do you
get in and you sort of step in the side as you would a normal vehicle which
Obviously, you experienced, Councillor, and how do you talk over the engine when it's
running and you demonstrated that you had headphones.
Again, Councillor, I believe you put those on with your sit -in and again you experienced
the sit -in and release of the putting on and release of the harness.
But just for the record, thank you.
Councillor Ian Watson - 0:40:50
Thank you very much indeed for that.
Then I think at this point I would like to withdraw if everybody's happy with that.
So the panel will sit together.
I don't know what's easiest, I'm looking at Democratic Services, if you want to leave the room or we go to another room.
We're going back to where we were.
We go back to where we were?
Yeah.

5 Pre-application proposed for a private hire vehicle

That's perfect. Okay. Thank you so much.
.
.
.
I apologise sincerely my microphone wasn't on so I'm going to go through that again.
I hope you all heard it but there may be people online.
The committee has considered the government guidance for taxi and private hire licencing,
CDC's Hackney carriage and private hire policy.
We approved the pre -application for the aerial nomad as a non -policy compliant vehicle.
We have taken into consideration suitability for purpose, passenger safety, access and egress,
passenger comfort, intended use, luggage capacity, roadworthiness, inspection and
evidence, conditions attached. The applicant has to submit further licencing
applications regarding the operator or operators of the vehicle as well as any
further non -compliant vehicles. Sorry chair if I can just clarify the standard
Legal Services - 0:44:11
conditions that were referred to as the standard policy conditions in Cotswold
District Council policy. Thank you.