Agenda and minutes

            An apology was reported on behalf of Councillor ÓDonnghaile.

            No declarations of interest were reported.

            The Committee agreed that its meetings would commence at 5.15 p.m. on the following dates during the remainder of 2015:

·        Wednesday, 13th May;

·        Wednesday, 10th June;

·        Wednesday, 12th August;

·        Wednesday, 9th September;

·        Wednesday, 14th October;

·        Wednesday, 11th November; and

·        Wednesday, 9th December.

            The Committee was reminded that Transport NI, formerly DRD Roads Service, had attended meetings of the former Town Planning Committee to present its annual plan for the Belfast Area.  It was reported that a request to address the new Council had been received from Transport NI and it had been suggested that such a presentation should be delivered to a meeting of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee. Given the remit of Transport NI, it was suggested that an invitation to attend that meeting be extended also to representatives of Translink, which would enable Members to consider a range of transport-related issues which were relevant to the City.

            The Committee agreed to invite both Transport NI and Translink to its meeting in May and that officers would seek to circulate copies of any presentations in advance of that meeting to enable Members to formulate questions for consideration. 

            The Committee noted also that a request would be forwarded to the Belfast Regeneration Office inviting its representatives to attend a future meeting to discuss issues relating to its capital funding projects for 2015/2016.

            The Chief Executive gave a presentation on the aims and objectives of the new Council insofar as they related to the work of the Committee. She outlined the opportunities and the leadership challenges that existed and referred to the specific roles which Members would play in meeting the key tasks which had been established for 2015/2016. She outlined also the emerging priorities for the Council, which included business growth and economic development, together with addressing inequalities and improving neighbourhoods. 

 Noted.

            The Committee was reminded that the Shadow Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, at its meeting on 20th March, had referred the following Notice of Motion to the Committee for its consideration:

“This Council notes that city centres which are child and family friendly bring a wide range of benefits including:

·        contributing to healthy childhood development;

·        driving economic regeneration as families spend more time in the City; and

·        making city centre living a more viable option for families, thereby contributing to longer-term social regeneration.

      The Council commends the work of the Belfast Healthy Cities organisation which has been researching child friendly places since 2011, including the provision of temporary 'Kids Spaces' in the city centre. The Council agrees to harness its new planning, community planning and economic regeneration powers to develop a world class family friendly strategy for Belfast, including the development of ‘Kids Spaces’ in the City centre.”

            The Committee requested that a report in respect of the issues which had been raised within the motion be submitted to a future meeting for consideration.

            The Committee was advised that the former Health and Environmental Services Committee had, at its meeting on 3rd September, 2014, granted authority to the Building Control Service to work in partnership with the Department for Social Development (DSD) to carry out enhancement work to buildings within the Bank Square area. The Head of Building Control provided an overview of the work which had been undertaken in the regeneration project. He explained that the appearance of eight buildings had been transformed at a total cost of £84,000, which had been provided by the DSD.

            The Committee welcomed the progress which had been achieved in the Bank Square project and granted permission for the Building Control Service to engage with the DSD regarding the feasibility of delivering a further scheme in the Rosemary Street and Lombard Street area.

            It was agreed also that the Building Control Service would discuss with the DSD the feasibility of extending the scope of the Bank Square project into surrounding streets within the ‘Folktown’ area.

            The Director of Property and Projects provided the Committee with an update on the progress of ‘Phase 3’ of the Belfast Streets Ahead Project, which would be delivered by the Department for Social Development. He informed Members that a planning application in this regard had been submitted by the DSD and would be considered by the Council in due course.

            The Committee noted the information which had been provided.

The Committee was reminded that the Council had been a member of the Lagan Canal Trust since 2006. The Director of Development outlined the aims and objectives of the Trust. He reminded the Committee that the Council, together with a range of other councils, had made a financial contribution towards the work of the Trust based on the proportion of the canal which lay within the various boundaries. With the change of the Council’s boundary on 1st April, the percentage of the Lagan Canal within Belfast had risen from 18% to 22%. He added that a request had been received from the Trust seeking a contribution from the Council of £37,963.20, £42,281.80 and £42,563.84 for the next three financial years.

During discussion, Members expressed concern that the figure requested from the Trust had risen significantly. It was pointed out that, in 2014/2015, the former Council had contributed a sum of £17,341 to the Trust, which had been based on the fact that 18% of the canal lay within the then Council boundary. However, that amount had more than doubled within in the space of a year, despite the fact that the length of the canal within the Council’s boundary had increased only by 4%.

            The Committee agreed to defer consideration of the matter to enable representatives of the Lagan Canal Trust to attend a future meeting to discuss in detail its request for financial assistance.

The Director of Property and Projects provided the Committee with an overview of the work of the Strategic Drainage Infrastructure Programme Board, which had been established by the Department for Regional Development to address major drainage infrastructure issues. He reported that the inaugural meeting of the Board had considered matters regarding the challenges posed by future growth and demographics, climate change, protection of the environment, the management of flood risk, together with the associated funding required to address those matters. He outlined how the Council would work with the Board to address issues particularly relevant to flooding in the City, and answered a range of Members’ questions.

 Noted.

            The Committee endorsed a consultation response to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Flood Risk Management Plan, a full copy of which was published on the Council’s Mod.gov website. It was agreed that the response would be strengthened to emphasise that the Council would request that the issue of flooding caused by run-off rainwater from the Belfast Hills be examined further with a view to identifying measures to address this issue. It was noted that the Head of Environmental Health would ensure that the aforementioned suggestion was reflected within the corporate response.

·        It was agreed that the Council would seek to establish and internal working group consisting of officers from a range of departments to consider the implications of the Rivers Agency’s consultation exercise insofar as it would impact on the City; and

·        It was agreed further that the Rivers Agency would be invited to attend the June meeting of the Committee to provide a presentation in relation to its flood maps.

            The Committee noted an update on the preparations for the 2015 Tall Ships event, which would take place between 2nd and 5th July. It was reported that approximately 50 vessels would visit the City and that an estimated television audience of five million viewers would watch the event worldwide.  

  Noted.

The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report

1.1       The City Centre Regeneration and Investment Strategy, which is currently out to public consultation, highlights the importance of world class events and the animation of the city as important elements of creating a vibrancy within the city centre, attracting overnight visitors and enhancing the international reputation of the city in the global market place.

1.2       The Belfast Integrated Tourism Strategy, which is also out to consultation similarly identifies ‘improving the quality and international appeal of the events and festivals on offer’ as one of the main improvements required in terms of developing tourism in the city.

1.3       The purpose of this report is to inform members of a number of opportunities for the Council to support a number of large scale events which align with these strategies and which are due to take place across the city in the course of the current financial year.

1.4       The Development Department is currently in the process of commissioning a citywide Events and Festivals Strategy which will provide the policy framework for the resourcing of events and festivals from 1 April 2016 onwards.  The events referred to in this report will predate the conclusion of this strategy.

1.5       Members are therefore being asked to consider these opportunities in the context of the City Centre Regeneration and Investment Strategy and the Belfast Integrated Tourism Framework. These events will also form part of the overall events programme for the new council in 2015 which also includes other events already funded such as community festivals, Tall Ships, Friel Festival, etc.

1.6       The proposed contributions to these events would be met from the existing regeneration budget.

2.0       Recommendations

            Members are asked to:

·        Note the contents of this report

·        Consider contributions to the following:-

-       BBC Proms in the Park - £95K

-       Belfast International Festival - £25k

-       Belfast Tattoo - £25k

-       Belfast Pride - £25k

-       Cyclovia - £15K

            Key Issues

3.1       The City Centre Regeneration and Investment Strategy, which is currently out to public consultation, highlights the importance of world class events and the animation of the city as important elements of creating a vibrancy within the city centre, attracting overnight visitors and enhancing the international reputation of the city in the global market place.

3.2       The Belfast Integrated Tourism Strategy, which is also out to consultation similarly identifies ‘improving the quality and international appeal of the events and festivals on offer’ as one of the main improvements required in terms of developing tourism in the city.

3.3       The strategy highlights the need to develop a series of six ‘Signature Events’ that have the potential to attract out of state bed-nights and positive international publicity for the city.

3.4       This issue was picked up by the Development Committee of the previous Council when considering the issue of competing for international events and it was suggested that the Council develop a citywide Events and Festivals Strategy to inform the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4b

            The Director of Development outlined a proposed programme of work which had been developed to meet the targets under the four themes of the Council’s Strategic Framework, namely, ‘Distinctly Belfast’, ‘Inspiring Communities’, ‘Attracting Audiences’ and ‘Strengthening the Sector’. He indicated that the Framework sought to achieve the following during 2015/2016:

·        Delivery of the flagship Creative and Cultural Belfast Programme, with three major productions scheduled for later in the year, with a combined funding allocation of £285,000;

·        Delivery of the Community Festivals Fund – supported by resources from DCAL – to assist a minimum of 15 festivals and events across the City;

·        Managing the core multi-annual funding budget;

·        Allocating £160,000 towards arts and heritage project grants;

·        Developing a new ‘City as a Gallery’ project;

·        Continuing to work to attract new audiences to Belfast’s culture and arts based activities through a series of audience development initiatives; and

·        Providing capacity-building support to cultural organisations to help them diversify sources of income.

            After discussion, the Committee agreed to the following course of action:

·        delegated authority to the Director of Development for the procurement of services associated with the delivery of the programme, subject to legal agreement;

·        agreed to renew the Service Level Agreements with Audiences NI and the Community Arts Partnership;

·        agreed that the Council would arrange for all unsuccessful groups to be provided with feedback on their applications;

·        undertook to circulated to Members a list of 200 grantees; 

·        agreed that a Funding Directory be created for use by groups applying for grants.

The Committee approved the attendance of the Chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson (or their nominees) at the above-mentioned study visit, which would take place in Ljubljana, Croatia, in May. It was noted that the visit would examine best practice models aimed at creating cleaner and better transport in cities. It was noted further that the visit would provide an opportunity for the Council’s representatives to explore more sustainable, clean and energy efficient urban transport systems.

The Committee agreed that up to six Members be authorised to attend the CIVINET Conference, which would be held in the in City Hall on 30th April. The conference, which was entitled ‘On the Move’, would focus on cycling and connectivity in cities and attendance at the event would be free of charge.