Agenda and minutes

            Apologies were reported on behalf of Alderman Convery and Councillors Craig and McAllister.

No declarations of interest were reported.

            The Committee agreed that the meeting be audio recorded.

            The information relating to the following item is restricted in accordance with Part 1 of Schedule 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

      Resolved – That the Committee agrees to exclude the members of the Press and public from the Committee meeting during discussion of this item as, due to the nature of the item, there would be a disclosure of exempt information as described in Section 42(4) and Section 6 of the Local Government Act (NI) 2014.

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting earlier in the day, it had agreed, amongst other things, that an urgent meeting be sought with representatives of the Department for Infrastructure, the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service and the Police Service of Northern Ireland, to be attended by the Party Leaders, to discuss the Bloomfield Walkway bonfire. The Committee had agreed also that a special meeting be held immediately afterwards to allow Members to be briefed on the outcome of those discussions. 

            The Chief Executive reported that the inter-agency meeting had taken place earlier and that it had been attended by the Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, and the Permanent Secretary and the Deputy Secretary within the Department for Infrastructure. The Police Service of Northern Ireland had been unable to send a representative to the meeting, as it had coincided with a major briefing event. During the meeting, the Assistant Chief Fire Officer had confirmed that the height to distance ratio of the Bonfire Walkway structure was well in excess of Fire and Rescue Service guidelines and that it had the potential to impact upon a number of adjacent properties. Unlike in previous years, the Fire and Rescue Service had decided that it would deploy fire appliances at that location from the outset on 11th July. The Permanent Secretary had confirmed that the Department for Infrastructure was aware of the issues surrounding the size of the bonfire and its proximity to properties and that it was working closely with the Fire and Rescue Service in terms of identifying mitigation measures. He had stressed that no decision had been taken to intervene at this point and that the Department would continue to keep the situation under review.

            After discussion, it was

Moved by Councillor Long,

      That the Committee agrees that the Council release a statement, a copy of which he circulated, in relation to the Bloomfield Walkway bonfire.

            The proposal was seconded by Councillor Attwood.

            At the request of Councillor Reynolds, the proposer agreed to amend his statement to read as follows:

“Belfast City Council recognises the huge effort made by Council officers, Councillors, mediators and community representatives in trying to resolve issues around bonfires this year.

All Parties in the City Hall had agreed to work to improve the situation from last year. There has been some success in this regard, which is welcome. However, the situation at the Bloomfield Walkway has continued to prove difficult.

Despite efforts by a range of agencies, the bonfire has been measured this morning as not being at a safe height acceptable to be within the guidelines of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.

We would make a final plea to the bonfire builders to remove the surplus material so as to reduce the threat to property.

However, we recognise that the land on which the bonfire is built is owned by the Department for Infrastructure and so is its responsibility. If there is not a satisfactory  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4a