Agenda and minutes

            Apologies for inability to attend were reported from Councillor Hargey and Howard.

            The minutes of the meetings of 8th and 21st November were taken as read and signed as correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 4th December.

            The Chairperson (Councillor O’Donnell) declared an interest in Item 7a, Draft East Bank Development Strategy Update, in that she was a member of the Short Strand Partnership, which had responded to the consultation.

            The Committee was reminded that the Council, at its meeting on 4th December, had considered the following notice of motion which had been proposed by Councillor McAteer and seconded by Councillor Campbell:

“Belfast boasts a rich historic environment that is both distinctive and irreplaceable. The continued care and conservation of these unique assets and their re-use as part of the heritage-led regeneration of Belfast will not only recognise the intrinsic value of the City’s historic built environment but also ensure that these invaluable assets will significantly contribute to prosperity, culture, pride of place, tourist income generation and a general sense of health and wellbeing.

This Council will encourage imaginative and creative approaches to Belfast’s conservation and heritage assets to ensure that they are protected, re-purposed and developed as an important driver for sustainable economic development and job creation, the provision of much needed housing, community and cultural animation and the creation of environments and public spaces that citizens and visitors alike can enjoy.

This Council will work to inform, shape and embed imaginative and creative approaches to Belfast’s conservation and heritage assets in the outworking of the Belfast Agenda, the Local Development Plan, the European Capital of Culture, Belfast City Deal and the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018.”

            In accordance with Standing Order 13(f), the motion had been referred to the Committee for consideration.

            A Member suggested that officers could provide a report with examples of best practice in other cities in relation to preserving and re-purposing the City’s built heritage.

            A further Member agreed and highlighted the importance of retaining the unique characteristics which made Belfast different to other cities.

            After discussion, the Committee:

1.     noted the contents of the motion; and

2.     agreed that a report be submitted to a future meeting to include information on the protection and promotion of the City’s historic built environment; examples of best practice in other cities for the protection and repurposing of historic buildings; and ways in which the Heritage Lottery Fund could be utilised.

In accordance with the Committee’s decision of 9th August to receive a presentation from Invest NI on the Belfast Regional Briefing 2017.

            The Committee was advised that, in accordance with the Committee’s decision of 9th August, representatives from Invest NI were in attendance to provide the Committee with the 2017 Regional Briefing for the Belfast City Council area.

            The Chairperson introduced Ms M. Loughran, Regional Business Manager, and Ms. F. Johnston, Statistician, to the Committee and they were admitted to the meeting.

            The Regional Business Manager outlined Invest NI’s Business Strategy 2017-2021 which followed an outcomes based approach.  She described how it supported and encouraged 30,000–40,000 additional jobs and increased business expenditure on research and development by £160-£200million.

            She outlined that Invest NI’s key focus was on sectors in which N.I. was currently world class, such as advanced engineering and manufacturing, agri-food, construction, financial services, or, where N.I. had the potential to be world class, such as the Cyber Security sector.

            The Statistician provided the Committee with an overview of the Entrepreneurship ecosystem and advised it that worked closely with the Council to provide help to businesses at the right time in order to help them navigate the market. 

            She advised the Members that 70% of people in the Belfast area were economically active, compared to the N.I. average of 73%. 

            A Member pointed out that only 6% of those who were in employment in Belfast were self-employed, compared to 12% across Northern Ireland.  The statistician advised the Committee that encouraging entrepreneurship from an early age was important in increasing those numbers and that a co-ordinated approach was required. 

            A further Member pointed out that there were thousands of farmers who lived outside of the Belfast City Council area, all of whom were self-employed, and that the figures were surely skewed in that regard.

            The Director of Development added that, historically, there were more job opportunities in Belfast and graduates in particular had developed a low risk attitude towards seeking employment, whereas in other Council areas such as Mid Ulster, for example, less employment opportunities existed which had led to a higher level of entrepreneurship and local business start-ups.

            A further Member stated that there was a perception that overseas companies which wished to set up an office in Belfast were treated more favourably than local businesses.  The Director of Development challenged that and added that the services and programmes which were offered by the Economic Development Unit, in conjunction with Invest NI, had created 800 jobs since April 2017.

            In response to a Member’s question regarding the different aims and outcomes, the Committee was advised that, since Local Government Reform in 2015, programmes to target social enterprise, social value frameworks and cooperatives had transferred to the eleven Councils.

            In relation to female entrepreneurship, the Statistician added that this had also passed to the Councils under Local Government Reform, and that the latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) data had shown an increase in female entrepreneurs.

            After discussion, the Committee agreed that a report would be submitted to a future meeting to provide an update on what the Council was doing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3a

            The Information contained in the following report 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 Schedule 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

            The Director of Development reminded the Committee that, at its meeting on 12th April 2017 it had agreed, in principle, to support hosting the World Irish Dancing Championships in 2022.

            He explained that Belfast had been invited to bid for the World Championships and had subsequently been offered the 2022 Championships, taking place between 9th and 18th April 2022. 

            He stated that Belfast had previously hosted both the All Ireland and World Dancing Championships.  He pointed out that those events had seen a large visitor footfall in the city, with an estimated economic return of 5:1 for the All Ireland Championships. 

            The Director advised the Committee that he was now seeking formal approval to host the event, inclusive of financial resources.

            After discussion, the Committee:

1.     agreed to the hosting of the 2022 World Irish Dancing Championships in Belfast, cognisant of the £400,000 cash required from Belfast to stage the event;

2.     noted that the finance would come from the Council making provision each year from within the Department’s existing budgets; and

3.     noted that officers would seek additional support from Tourism NI closer to the event year.

            The Committee was advised that a request had been received from Translink to present to the Committee on the subject of the new Transport Hub, known as ‘Weavers Cross’.

            The Director of City Centre Development advised the Committee that it was considered an appropriate time for Translink to present their updated proposals and the overall programme for Weavers Cross to the Committee.  She outlined that Translink would advise the Members on certain issues which had been of interest to Members previously, including:

·        how Translink would engage and consult with local communities on the Outline Planning application;

·        potential social and economic benefits of the scheme;

·        how it would intend to construct the Transport Hub whilst ensuring ‘business as usual’ and minimum disruption for the city and its residents; and

·        how Translink was working with the Council and other partners to bring forward the development of the wider Weavers Cross scheme.

            The Chief Executive advised the Members that a request to present to the Committee had recently been received from the Transport Hub Alternatives Group.

            A Member suggested that the Committee invited both Project Hope and the Transport Hub Alternatives Group in to present their views on the Transport Hub.

            A number of Members felt that the presentation from Translink should be heard initially, given that Translink would inform the Committee of its proposals for engagement.

            After discussion, the Committee acceded to the request from Translink to present to the City Growth and Regeneration Committee in January on the Transport Hub/Weavers Cross and, after having received that presentation, agreed that it would then consider whether it wished to hear from other interested parties at a future date.

            The Committee agreed to defer consideration of a request from the South Belfast Partnership Board to present to a future meeting, to allow further information to be sought as to the reasons why it wished to present to the City Growth and Regeneration Committee, and that officers would submit a report on the development, the area and any potential relationship to the One Bankmore Square development.

            The Director of Development provided an overview of the Special Meeting on Brexit, which had taken place on Tuesday, 21st November 2017. 

            He outlined that the meeting had provided an opportunity for the Committee to focus on Brexit, to explore some of the issues and opportunities for Belfast with input from a range of expert perspectives, including the movement of people, the role of the local economy and the business perspective as well as broad economic forecasts for the City and the City-region dependant on the nature of the deal.

            He stated that the Council’s role in continuing to show leadership to drive inclusive economic growth was vital, particularly given the uncertainty in the political, economic and global environment.

            In response to a Member’s request, it was agreed that copies of the four presentations would be circulated to all Members of the Committee for their reference.

            The Committee noted the issues raised and agreed that officers would continue to monitor developments and bring further updates to future Committee meetings to ensure delivery of its inclusive growth strategy, the Belfast Agenda.

            (Mrs. A. McGlone, Regeneration Project Officer, attended in connection with this Item)

            The Chairperson declared an interest in Item 7a, Draft East Bank Development Strategy Update, in that she was a member of the Short Strand Partnership which had responded to the consultation but, as the item was for notation, she did not leave the room.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1       The purpose of this report is to update Members on responses received during the public consultation exercise on the draft East Bank Development Strategy and to advise of the intention to undertake a Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) and Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) on the draft Strategy.

1.2       A summary of the consultation and engagement process undertaken is set out on modern.gov. Organisations and individuals who responded are identified on modern.gov.

            Appendix 3 summarises responses from those who completed the consultation questionnaire on-line and are available to view on modern.gov. Appendix 4 on modern.gov summarised the comments of those who responded by e-mail or letter and includes detailed comments from respondents to the on-line questionnaire.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       Members are asked to:

·        Note comments received through the consultation exercise to date and note that a further report will be brought to committee addressing any comments to responses together with the SEA;

·        Note the intention to take forward a Strategic Environmental Assessment and Habitats Regulations Assessment for the area;

·        Note the intention to report back to Committee on a finalised version of the Strategy for approval in late spring/early summer 2018.

3.0       Main Report

            Background

3.1       In June 2016 Committee approved the draft East Bank Development Strategy for consultation. The 12-week consultation period commenced on 7th July and ended on 29th September.

3.2       The process is summarised on modern.gov. A total of 190 responses were received. Organisations and individuals who responded are identified on modern.gov. There were 22 responses via citizenspaceof which the majority are positive or very positive.

            Statutory Agencies

3.3       In terms of statutory agencies, almost all were supportive. DfI Transport Strategy Division’s response was non-committal (Appendix 4, pages 5-8 – available on modern.gov) subject to further traffic modelling being undertaken while DfI Rivers notes that the document needs to say more about how to address present-day flood risk to the proposed development as well as the impact of future climate change and in particular, potential sea level rise due to climate change (see Appendix 4, pages 4-5 on modern.gov).

3.4       In light of the comments relating to flood risk and others received relating to protected habitats and environmental considerations, the Council conducted an SEA Determination (a ‘screening’ process) in consultation with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and has concluded that an SEA (Environmental Report) and HRA is required.

3.5       The responses from statutory agencies are summarised below:

1.      Department for Communities (DfC) is supportive and will use the document to inform its development brief for Queen’s Quay (see Appendix  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7a

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1       To provide an update on VUCITY: the 3D model of Belfast

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

·        Note the roll out plans for VUCITY, the 3D model of Belfast

·        Agree that a licence agreement is entered into with VUCITY

3.0       Main report

3.1       Following approval in January 2017, Members will be aware that the Council has been working on developing a 3D model of Belfast, in partnership with VUCITY. The model will be operational from February 2018 and will cover 52 square kilometres of Belfast, (see Appendix 1 on modern.gov).

3.2       VUCITY will provide an interactive 3D view of the city and will assist with displaying and exploring:

·        emerging developments

·        planning applications / approvals

·        development potential of Council sites and other key city sites

·        promotion of Belfast as a place to invest and as tourism destination

·        citizen engagement and consultation and potential community impact and opportunities

3.3       It was initially envisaged that the model would cover the City Core, City Airport, Titanic Quarter, North Foreshore. This has been extended to cover an area of 52sq / km, most of Belfast City Council’s boundary. The model is rendered as a minimum in block detail, up to level of detail (LOD) 3. Users can view, zoom and rotate, from a whole area right down to the detail of one building.

3.4       The VuCity model of Belfast includes:

·        A fully interactive 3D model of Belfast city, extending over 52sq/km

·        An accurate city model including terrain to 15cm.

·        Street level walk mode

·        Ability to explore Belfast viewpoints in virtual reality

·        Ability to integrate protected views

·        Sunlight / shadowing simulation

·        The potential to overlay real time transport information

·        Ability to integrate other relevant council data e.g. flood risk, noise, demographics, traffic and pedestrian modelling

·        Integration of proposed projects which could inform decision making processes for planning or investment

·        Increased understanding of the development potential of sites

3.5       It is anticipated that the users of VUCITY will include: elected Members, planners, the development community, potential investors, architects, agents, community hubs, transport engineers and decision makers.

3.6       There are wide ranging uses of VUCITY within council including: data visualisation; promotional tool to market the city; and assisting with the planning decision making process. Members should note that while there is no statutory requirement for developers to use VUCITY as part of their planning application process, they will be encouraged to use it as part of the pre-application discussions.

3.7       VUCITY has presented to the Development Community in March 2017 and at the Developers’ Forum in June 2017, and previously at the Agents’ Forum and Belfast Strategic Issues Group. It has been very positively received. Given the wide-ranging uses of VUCITY, City stakeholders and partners are also being encouraged to use it.

3.8       In January 2017, Committee granted approval for officers to explore establishing an appropriate partnership with VUCITY for the development and roll out of a 3D Model  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7b

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of Main Issues

1.1       The purpose of this report is to update the Committee on city tourism performance and to provide details of Visit Belfast’s marketing, sales and visitor servicing activity to date.

1.2       The report also seeks authority for Visit Belfast to attend the March 2018 meeting of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee to present their business plan and request for financial support for the financial year 2018/19.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

·        Note the contents of the report and the progress to date.

·        Agree to receive a presentation on Visit Belfast’s 2018-19 Business Plan in March 2018 for the consideration of the Agency’s request for ongoing financial support into 2018/19.

3.0       Main Report

3.1       Background

            As Members will be aware, Visit Belfast is the city’s Destination Marketing Management Organisation (DMMO) dedicated to marketing Belfast as a city break, conference, day-trip and cruise ship destination. It also, in its visitor servicing role, manages the operation of three gateway Visitor Information Centres (VICs) including Visit Belfast Welcome Centre, Arrivals George Best Belfast City Airport and Arrivals Belfast International Airport and a range of visitor servicing initiatives on behalf of Belfast City Council.

3.2       Visit Belfast represents over 500 tourism businesses and services across the tourism industry and its core purpose is to create and service visitors for Belfast and Northern Ireland in order to generate an economic benefit for the city region, creating jobs and wealth.

3.3       The role of Visit Belfast is to drive visitor numbers and increase visitor spend, by providing a mechanism for co-ordinating investment and market engagement. The organisation has a portfolio of marketing, sales and visitor servicing activity across both leisure and business tourism.

3.4       2017-18 is the second year of a four-year strategy (2016-20) that aims to deliver a cumulative 1.4m bed nights, 680,000 cruise visitors, 3 million enquiries and £392m into the local economy by 2020. Visit Belfast is on target to achieve the milestones set for 2017-18.

3.5       Visit Belfast’s strategy is an essential tool in growing the visitor economy in Belfast and Northern Ireland and, in particular, in achieving the Belfast Agenda commitment to increase the value of out-of-state tourism to £500million by 2021.

3.6       Urban tourism continues to drive tourism on a global basis and Belfast continues to increasingly lift Northern Ireland tourism, contributing up to half of the NI visitor economy. Last month, the renowned travel guide Lonely Planet named Belfast (alongside the Causeway Coast) as their No. 1 region to visit in 2018; while earlier in the Autumn, Belfast was shortlisted as ‘a leading European City Break destination’ by the World Travel Awards.  The city has also been successful in winning the Rising Star category at the National Geographic Traveller Awards in London, another major coup for the city.

3.7       Tourism, and in particular out-of-state tourism, has become a key economic driver for the city region, generating revenue and contributing to job  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8a

            The Director of Development reminded the Committee that, through the International Relations Framework 2017-2021, the Council’s focus of international activity was on the City’s Sister Cities of Boston, Nashville and Shenyang.  He advised that the US Stakeholder Group focussed on opportunities to secure partner buy-in to locally based events aimed at furthering the relevant city-to-city links.

            The Committee was advised that one of the opportunities which had been identified was the potential to organise a ‘Nashville in Belfast’ event to promote the long-standing relationship with Nashville.  The Director stated that it was anticipated that the events would serve to bring new partners to the Sister City collaborations, expand current collaborations and promote our local product, talent and investment opportunities to the incoming delegation.  He added that the programme would also drive footfall and business into the city through the range of events on offer.

            He outlined to the Members a number of initiatives which were under development, including:

·        a programme launch as part of Lord Mayor’s Day on 28th April, 2018;

·        a joint city concert on 29th April in the Ulster Hall;

·        a Nashville themed Twilight Market at St. George’s on 1st-2nd May;

·        a Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival music event on 5th May; and

·        lunchtime family heritage workshops through the Ulster Historical Foundation between 1st-4th May.

            The Director stated that the BBC had expressed an interest in a number of interviews to promote the programme and that discussions were ongoing with the Nashville Sister City Committee, who had agreed to investigate the possibility of bringing a Nashville musician to Belfast for a select number of performances.  He added that this might also open the opportunity of the events being broadcast to Nashville.

            The Committee was also advised that work was ongoing to explore whether a State Department Trade Mission could link in with the ‘Nashville in Belfast’ dates to facilitate Nashville businesses coming to Belfast in conjunction with Invest NI, in order to promote Belfast as an investment location and to deliver business workshops for local companies interested in doing business in the United States.

            A number of Members expressed their support for the programme.

            A Member requested that officers look at ways in which music could be incorporated along the Belfast City marathon route and, given the dates of the Nashville Inward Mission, that those visiting from Nashville could be made aware of the date of the Marathon.

            After discussion, the Committee agreed:

1.     the development and promotion of the “Nashville in Belfast” events at a maximum cost of £20,000 from within the International Relations existing budget, noting that the cost would include the hosting of an inward Nashville delegation to coincide with the programme dates; and

2.     that officers would look at ways in which music could be incorporated along the Belfast City marathon route, given the overlap in dates, and if those visiting from Nashville could be made aware of the date of the Marathon, 7th May 2018, given the proximity of the Nashville Inward Mission.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1        To update Committee on the recent developments in regards to the European Capital of Culture 2023 competition.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to note the contents of this report and that an options report on potential next steps will be brought forward when further information becomes available from Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sports (DCMS) and European Commission.

3.0       Main report

3.1       Key Issues

            Members will be aware that the ECOC2023 bid is a two staged process with the initial key milestone recently reached with the stage 1 Bid Book submitted to DCMS on 27 Oct 2017.

3.2       A formal presentation (pitch) of stage 1 bid submission, followed by a detailed Q&A session with a panel of 12 National and European experts had been scheduled for Tuesday 28 November 2017. This process would have determined which of the five competing cities would be shortlisted to stage 2 of the process. 

3.3       As Members will be aware, the European Commission recently announced that the UK will not be eligible to host the European Capital of Culture in 2023 along with a city from Hungary. On this basis, DCMS has written to all five competing cities confirming that the pre-selection presentation has been postponed.  DCMS has also confirmed that senior political and official dialogue and negotiations are ongoing with the European Commission to try to put the ECOC competition back on track.   The Council is actively involved in supporting these ongoing discussions. Once these negotiations have concluded we will proceed with the publication of the details of the bid.

3.4       On the 28 November, the five competing UK cities met with representatives from DCMS including John Glen MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, to discuss the current position and possible next steps. A joint press statement from the 5 cities was released thereafter. In summary, the statement:

-       acknowledged the huge and passionate support received locally, nationally and internationally in response to the surprising announcement by the European Commission;

-       recognised the commitment given by DCMS to try and resolve this issue and agree a clear way forward for the cities involved;

-       urged DCMS to continue negotiations with the European Commission on the legitimacy of its decision, particularly in the context that the UK has not yet left the EU and the terms of that departure are not yet agreed;

-       five cities have collectively requested that DCMS takes further legal advice on the status of the announcement as a matter of urgency;

-       recognised the urgent need to reach a conclusion in a timescale that allows the momentum created within the cities to be maintained. 

3.5       During Prime Minister’s Question Time on 29 November, the First Secretary of State, Damian Green confirmed that Ministers are in urgent talks with the European Commission over the decision to exclude UK cities from entering the European Capital of Culture.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9a

            The Committee agreed the following dates for Special meetings during 2018, which would receive presentations only and would only be held if required:

·        Wednesday, 24th January;

·        Wednesday, 21st February;

·        Wednesday, 28th March;

·        Wednesday, 25th April;

·        Wednesday, 23rd May;

·        Wednesday, 27th June;

·        No meeting in July;

·        Wednesday, 22nd August;

·        Wednesday, 26th September;

·        Wednesday, 24th October;

·        Wednesday, 28th November; and

·        Tuesday, 18th December.

            The Committee agreed that those meetings would also commence at 5.15pm.

            The Chief Executive advised Members that the Quarter 2 position for the Committee showed an overspend of £44,000, while the year-end position was forecasting an underspend of £179,000.

            She pointed out to the Committee that the overspend related to less income received than budgeted, and an increased spend on supplies and services which was offset by vacant posts across a number of services.

            The Committee noted the contents of the report and the associated financial reporting pack.