Agenda and minutes

            No apologies were recorded.

            The minutes of the meetings of 3rd and 10th August were taken as read and signed as correct.

            It was reported that the minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 1st September.

            Councillor Smyth declared an interest in item 4 (a) Partner Agreements Update, in that he was a Member of Rosario’s Youth Club funding steering group and he left the meeting whilst the matter was under consideration.

            The following Members declared an interest in item 5 (a) in relation to the Community Provision Grant Funding Update. All Members left the meeting whilst the matter was being discussed. 

·        Councillor Black, on the basis that she managed the Grosvenor Community Centre; 

·        Councillor Verner, in that she was an employee of the Greater Shankill Partnership (Spectrum Centre); and

·        Councillor Corr, in that he was an employee of Falls Community Council.  

            The information contained in the reports associated with the following 4 items 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 on the following 4 items as, due to their nature, there would be a disclosure of exempt information as described in Section 42(4) and Section 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

(Ms. J. Wilson, Business Manager, attended in connection with this item)

            The Business Manager summarised the contents of the report which presented a Quarter 1 financial position for the People and Communities Committee, including a forecast of the year end outturn. She explained that the Quarter 1 position for the Committee showed an underspend of £1.428m (6.9%), with the forecast year-end position being an underspend of £18k (0%) which was well within the acceptable variance limit of 3%.

            The Committee was advised that the reasons for the Quarter 1 underspend were due to vacant posts across a number of services, the receipt of additional income and the timing of grants and programmes.

            The Committee:

• noted the report and the associated financial reporting pack; and
• requested that a report detailing the number of vacant posts within City and Neighbourhood Services, along with a proposed timeline for the recruitment of these positions be submitted to a future meeting.

            The Director of Neighbourhood Services provided the Members with a comprehensive update regarding the following matters, which included specific detail in relation to future resourcing of the functions:

·        the approach to city centre cleanliness and the associated resourcing;

·        the proposed realignment of resources into the Open Space and Street Scene (OSS) central team;

·        an update in respect of the plans to commission a study to review the provision of street litter bins, floral displays in the city centre, along with the recommended improvements; and

·        an update on the Clean, Green, Safe and Inclusive City Centre Study.

            Several of the Members noted the update in regard to city centre cleanliness and the plans to commission a study to review the provision of street litter bins and floral displays in the city centre.  Whilst broadly speaking the Members welcomed the review, several Members stated that its remit needed to be extended to cover the whole of the city and not just be city centre specific.

            The Director of Neighbourhood Services suggested that Neighbourhood Cleansing Services and the overall proposed approach be further considered at a local level through the four Area Working Groups, with a citywide update report submitted to Committee in due course. 

            The Committee noted:

·        the ongoing challenges around meeting customer expectation in relation street cleanliness within the city centre;

·        the proposed approach to realigning and bolstering Council resources, subject to finance and Trade Union consultation;

·        the plans to engage a consultant to review the provision of street litter bins, floral displays, and other street furniture across the city; and

·        the update in respect of the Clean, Green, Safe and Inclusive City Centre study.

            It was also agreed that, further consideration of Neighbourhood Cleansing Services would initially be presented through the Area Working Group, with a citywide update report to be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee.

            The Committee noted a report which provided an update regarding the legal proceedings that had been issued against the Council in respect of the ongoing odour nuisance associated with the Mullaghglass Landfill Site, Lisburn.

            The Director of City Services undertook to keep the Committee updated as more information became available.

Noted.

            The Committee considered a report which considered the next steps regarding the naming process of the Lagan Gateway project.

            Following consideration, the Committee agreed to defer the report for consideration by the Party Group Leaders.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1       To provide the quarterly update to People and Communities Committee on Notices of Motion.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

·        Note the updates to all Notices of Motion / Issues Raised in Advance that P&C Committee is responsible for as referenced; and

·        Agree to the closure of 5 Notices of Motion / Issues Raised in Advance, as noted in paragraph 3.5 below.

3.0       Main report

            Background

3.1       Members will recall that the first quarterly Notices of Motion update was presented to People and Communities Committee in April 2021.

3.2       This report provides an overview of the progress on those Notices of Motion and Issues Raised in Advance which remained open following the April 2021 update, and on one new Motion which has since been added following agreement at the May 2021 Committee.

3.3       Notice of Motion Updates

            There are currently 23 active Notices of Motion and Issues Raised in Advance which the People and Communities Committee is responsible for. An update on those Notices of Motion which remain active on the live database.

3.4       Closure of Notices of Motion and Issues Raised in Advance

            At SP&R Committee on 20th November 2020, it was agreed that Notices of Motion could be closed for one of two reasons:

·        Category 1 - Notices of Motion which contained an action that has been completed.  All Notices of Motion within this category contained a specific task that has since been complete.  It is worth noting that, when Committee agree to action a Notice of Motion, there are sometimes additional actions agreed alongside the Notice of Motion.  As these are not technically part of the Notice of Motion, they are taken forward through normal committee decision making processes.  The Notice of Motion can therefore be closed, but additional actions related to it will continue to be progressed and reported to the committee.  These additional actions are not contained in this report, but will be noted in the live database moving forward.

·        Category 2 - Notices of Motion have become Council policy or absorbed into a strategic programme of work.  These Notices of Motion did not contain a specific task that could be complete.  Instead, they were more strategic in nature and required changes in Council policy and/ or strategy for long term outcomes.  Those listed within this category have all been agreed by Committee and are now either Council policy or are currently being implemented through a Council strategy that is managed by a Standing Committee through the corporate planning process. 

3.5       Following an update of those Notices of Motion and Issues Raised in Advance on the live database, it is recommended that Members approve the following Motions/Issues for closure.

            Category 1 Recommended Closures:

·        Desecration of Graves within Belfast City Cemetery – A report was presented to May 21 P&C Committee outlining the actions to reduce vandalism and ASB in the City Cemetery.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

            The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1             The Department of Health (DoH) has recently published for consultation, proposals for the development of a Future Planning Model, which will replace existing commissioning arrangements and processes in place within Northern Ireland (NI).

1.2              This work will see the development of a new Integrated Care System (ICS) model in NI, whereby local providers and communities would be empowered to come together to plan, manage and deliver care for their local population based on a population health approach, with regional and specialised services planned, managed and delivered at a regional level. The deadline for the submission of consultation responses is Friday 17 September 2021.

1.2       This report and appendices available of mod.gov set out the draft Council response for Members’ consideration and approval. 

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

                                           (i)     Note that health colleagues are attending the August/ early September cycle of Members’ Area Working Groups to provide an overview and discuss the emerging proposals.

                                         (ii)     Consider and approve the draft consultation response, subject to any additional feedback from the Members’ Area Working Groups captured and raised verbally at the Committee meeting.

                                       (iii)      Agree that the response is submitted by 17 September 2021, highlighting that this remains subject to full Council approval in early October with any amendments being submitted at that stage.

3.0       Main report

            Key Issues & Current Position

3.1       In 2005, A review of commissioning health services within NI found that the system was overly bureaucratic and lacking in clarity of accountability of decision making, detailing the need for changes in the way we plan, manage and deliver health services.  The need for reform was subsequently reinforced by the Bengoa Report ‘Systems not Structures’. 

3.2       Following the commitments set out in the Health and Wellbeing 2026: Delivering Together plan to transform the health and social care system, the DoH has brought forward proposals for a new blueprint for the future of planning and managing health and social care services in NI. 

3.3       The emerging proposals are based on an ICS approach which seeks to bring together partners within health and social care alongside other sectors including voluntary and community sector and local government, to plan, manage and deliver services based on the needs of the local population. A number of core principles underpin the ICS approach being proposed, including:

·        Seek to increase autonomy and accountability at local decision making levels;

·        See the delegation of decision-making and funding to local levels, except for regional and specialised services;

·        Allow for planning, management and delivery of specialised services at a regional level; and

·        Adopts an outcome-based approach.

3.4       The new model will ultimately enable local groups to take more control over planning and funding for services delivered within their areas to meet local needs. It will recognise the wider determinants impacting health and wellbeing and adopt a whole-system and integrated approach to planning and addressing these.  The consultation document highlights the experience and evidence  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

            The Director of Neighbourhood Services reminded the Committee that the Council had previously agreed to enter into Partner Agreements at seven sites and he then provided an update on the progress in relation to the Agreements for April – June 2021.  

            He advised that regular checks on the necessary Insurance, Health and Safety and Governance had been undertaken at all sites.  All partners had been compliant on these matters apart from East Belfast Football Club ,which was outstanding a financial report, and a non-compliance notice had been issued. 

            As previously agreed, funding of up to £20,000 per annum was available for each partner for the delivery of a programme (supporting the Sports Development Plan).  The Director reported that letters of offer had been sent to all partners based on approved sports development plans for the current financial year.

            The Committee was advised that, given the current Covid19 restrictions, the usual end of quarter monitoring meetings had not been held face to face with the partners but parks management and sports development officers had kept in contact via phone calls for updates on site management and bookings, health and safety, finance, and their sports development plans. Action plans had been reviewed and agreed with the partners during these discussions to ensure that the planned outcomes were achieved, and improvements identified where required.

            He explained that, in line with the Council’s objectives, the diversification of use and improved sports development impact were priorities at the partner agreement sites and he advised that, despite the Covid19 restrictions, the programme delivery had led to significant positive achievements across the seven sites.  He drew the Members’ attention to a table which indicated the outputs at the sites as reported by the partners for Quarter 1 (April – June 2021).

            Following a query from a Member regarding the possibility of establishing a Partner agreement  for the new Blanchflower Asset, the Director of Neighbourhood Services advised that the existing Partner Agreements Policy had been established following an open Expression of Interest process in respect of the specific sites and that it had been for an initial period of five years, with the option to extended for an additional period of two years and that it was now currently in year six.

            As previously reported at the August meeting, it was anticipated that any new requests could therefore be considered as part of a new Community Asset Transfer process, proposals for which were currently being drawn up by officers.  He advised that it was anticipated that a report outlining the details of the proposal would be submitted to the November meeting of the Committee.

The Committee noted the information which had been provided.  

As detailed in the previous report, Partner Agreements were currently in operation at seven playing field sites across the city, one of these being Loughside Playing Fields.  These agreements had all recently been extended for a further year, beyond the initial five-year Partner Agreement period, based on satisfactory performance by the Partners.

            The Director of Neighbourhood Services reported that, in each of the Partner Agreements, apart from Loughside Playing Fields, the agreements had defined areas of responsibility which included keyholding and service operations of the changing rooms and toilets. The agreement with Loughside Playing Fields included keyholding responsibility which only permitted the Partner access to a small office space, all other keyholding/operations at the pitch changing rooms and toilets had been undertaken by Loughside Recreation Centre staff.

            The Committee was advised that a suggested variation to the existing agreement proposed to include additional responsibilities for the Partner, these would include further keyholding and service operations by way of a variation agreement.

            In order to facilitate the proposed change to the agreement, some minor works had been carried out to the interior of the building at Loughside Playing Fields.  These included the installation of an external door that would enable the Council to extend the Partner’s area of responsibility to the changing rooms,  whilst removing access to the remainder of the building. Consultation had taken place with the Partner who had advised that they would be willing to increase their area of responsibility within the building, this would align their Partner Agreement with the others, subject to relevant terms and conditions (to be determined by the Council).

            The Committee agreed to vary the terms of the Agreement at Loughside Playing Fields, specifically to extend the Partner’s area of responsibility within the building to include access to four team changing rooms plus male and female toilets.

The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting held on 10th August, approval had been granted for the Council to work in partnership with Cycling Ulster to support its bid to the Whitemountain Programme to access external funding to upgrade the BMX track in Ormeau Park. The proposed upgraded track would facilitate increased usage for structured training and sports development activities and enhance the facility for general recreational use by the public.

            The Director of Neighbourhood Services advised that Cycling Ulster had submitted an application to the Whitemountain Programme, which had reverted to Cycling Ulster, seeking confirmation, before 29th October, that planning permission was not required for the upgrade works and that a formal agreement be put in place which would clearly articulate the  availability of access to the site for public recreational use.

            In terms of the planning issue, Cycling Ulster had indicated that it would provide this either through their professional advisers or through a statement from Belfast City Council Planning Office. 

            The Director detailed that, in terms of the formal agreement regarding availability, Cycling Ulster had requested that the Council would establish a Preferential Use Agreement with them, stipulating the following.

·        the opening hours of the site and the hours during which it would be available to the general public;

·        the limited number of hours during which the site would be closed to the public for Cycling Ulster preferential use;

·        the booking system which the Council would operate for Cycling Ulster use;

·        that the booking would not be required for recreational use; and

·        that the site would be open for recreational use at no charge at all other times.

            The Members were reminded that similar agreements were in place which afforded preferential use to other partner organisations.  Generally, such agreements provided either significant financial contribution to help develop the Council asset or contributed to delivering local sports development outcomes at the site.

            Several Members referred to the facility and stated that they would welcome the introduction of similar facilities across the city.  A number of other specific queries were also raised in regard to the current status of previous requests.

            The Director of City and Neighbourhood Services provided the Members with an assurance that officers would be looking at improvements across the whole of the city in terms of the Parks Estate through the Belfast Open Spaces Strategy (BOSS).  He confirmed that projects currently on the list had not been forgotten about but stated that they needed to be managed collaboratively to ensure the best use of open spaces across all areas of the city.  He also confirmed that, as with this request, where possible, external funding opportunities were identified and applied for, however, these were not always successful.

            Following a query from a Member regarding the specific request by Cycling Ulster to close the track for a limited number of hours and the potential impact that this might have on existing recreational users of the track, the Director of Neighbourhood Services suggested that the Committee grant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

            The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1       Members will recall that the Committee, at its meeting in December 2020, considered a report from officers on Alley-gating, Alleyway Transformation and Un-adopted alleyways.

1.2       This report provides the committee with an update on progress to date, in particular, the ongoing discussions with officials from the Department for Infrastructure (DFI) on accessing funding available to support Alleyway Transformation projects.

2.0       Recommendation

2.1       The Committee is asked to note the update on alleyway transformation and un-adopted alleyways and to agree the delivery of a number of pilot alleyway transformation schemes throughout the city.

3.0       Key Issues

3.1       Members are reminded that the December 2020 report provide an update on work officers have been carrying out in respect of un-adopted alleyways, alley transformation and sourcing financial support for alleyway transformation schemes.

3.2       The report identified the top 20 problematic un-adopted alleyways in the city and beginning with the top 4 (one from each area of the city) a cross departmental group was set up to identify ownership and engage the relevant statutory authorities to deal with the problems found.  The work of this group was paused as a result of the pandemic but will recommence once resources are in place to proceed.

3.3       In December 2020, the DFI Minister wrote to all Councils in Northern Ireland offering monies via the Blue/Green Infrastructure fund to deliver alleyway transformation initiatives across Northern Ireland.  Due to the Pandemic Officers were not in a position to engage at that time but have been in discussions with officials from the Department since early summer with regard to how much funding was available to the Council, how the Council could access this money and to understand the scope of the fund.  Discussions also explored the possibility utilising this funding to support bringing un-adopted alleyways up to an adoptable standard.

3.4       DFI confirmed that £1-2 million is available to all 11 Councils in Northern Ireland but as yet no set criterion has been developed as to how it can be accessed and what it can be utilised for.  

3.5       Initial engineering survey work has identified that the cost for upgrading unadopted alleyways, to meet an adoption standard would consume most of the proposed DfI budget, which is to be allocated across all the councils in Northern Ireland. As a result, it was felt that given the limited pot of money available it would be better to focus on transformation schemes that could be delivered at a lesser cost.

3.6       This would enable the monies to be spent on the transformation of alleyways, through cleaning and greening interventions.  This would not prohibit un-adopted alleyways from taking part in the scheme, but this would be dependant on their condition.

3.7       DFI have agreed that in order to test the processes required to deliver an alleyway transformation scheme, a number of pilot projects be initiated, to develop a framework which will be used for a larger  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

            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 seek members views on the funding approach in respect of the Councils Revenue, Capacity and Advice grants for 2022/2023.  

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Members of the Committee are asked to.

·        Agree to extend the existing Community Development Grants’ funding agreements for Capacity Building, Revenue for Community Buildings and Advice to the 31 March 2023 (at the current funding allocation, subject to confirmation of the 22/23 funding allocation from DfC), including extending the previously agreed bridging funding for St. Simon’s Hall.

·        Note the reprofile of the agreed annual BCC contribution of £90,000 to Active Belfast. Funding will be used to extend funding agreements with current Active Belfast grant holders in order to complete their original programmes in 2021-22 and provide a budget for developmental projects and the re-profile of £23,133 from the BCC budget to Jog Belfast.

3.0       Main report

3.1       Community Provision Capacity, Buildings Revenue and Advice Grants 22/23

3.2       Background

            Council’s capacity, buildings revenue and advice grants aim to promote and invest in a resilient and effective independent community sector across the city by offering a number of different funding streams that any eligible group operating in Belfast can apply for:

            Capacity Building

            Aimed at Lead community development organisations that advocate the interests of their local groups, area and residents; and support local groups to ensure good practice in governance, committee procedures, appropriate policies and financial management.

            Revenue for Community Buildings

            Aimed at community organisations which address the needs of their community by delivering a broad-based programme from their building.   The building may be used by the local neighbourhood, or the community may be from across the whole city for a thematic/special interest group.

            Advice Funding

            Council provides funding for generalist advice services to five area-based Consortia, consisting of 20 Advice Organisations throughout the city. The level of funding is based on an allocation formula (weighted for population size and level of deprivation) agreed by Council in 2015.  There is a stipulation by the DfC that all groups must be registered with the regional body, Advice NI, and adhere to a range of policies and quality standards.

            Funding for the grants programme comes from two main sources, Council and DfC via the Community Support Programme (CSP).  At August Committee members agreed to accept the CSP Letter of Offer (LoO) from DfC, which also included 2 additional allocations for Welfare Mitigations Extensions. 

3.3       Key Considerations

            In normal circumstances, applications under the capacity and revenue grant schemes are normally facilitated through an open call in October of each year, for activity in the upcoming financial year.   Application calls are required to take place in October to allow application development, assessment and award of grants.

            Members are aware that as a result of COVID, contracts associated with our revenue and capacity grants had been extended from 2020/2021 at the same allocation level into 2021/2022.  This  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

            The Director of Neighbourhood Services reminded the Committee that the Council had previously agreed to provide £200,000 in funding to the Irish Athletic Boxing Association Ulster Branch (IABA) in the current financial year for delivery of an agreed action plan which supported the Belfast Boxing Strategy and he then provided an update on the progress in relation to the agreement up to the end of June 2021.

            He explained that, in line with the Council’s objectives, the Belfast Boxing Strategy Steering Group had met quarterly.  The Steering Group was chaired by the Director of Neighbourhood Services and attended by Council officers, IABA officers and officials and Co. Antrim officials.

            The Committee was reminded that the Council had previously agreed a total of 37 Indicators with the IABA to monitor delivery of the programmes.  The Director reported that the IABA had been compliant with all the reporting requirements. He advised that the IABA had provided narrative against each of the KPIs to describe progress against each indicator and planned to ensure that all targets were achieved at year end. Whilst the performance reports indicated some significant underperformance against targets, he highlighted that it was important to note that participation in boxing had been heavily restricted under the Covid19 restrictions, given that boxing was a full contact indoor sport. Where possible, the IABA had mitigated against this by modifying delivery of many elements to online methods.

            The Committee was advised that the 2021 – 2022 action plan had been developed with this in mind and therefore many of the indoor contact-based elements had been programmed into Q3 and Q4 of this financial year.

            The Committee noted the progress update report regarding the IABA.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1       A report outlining the ongoing recovery of the pest control service was presented to Committee in June of this year. The report highlighted some of the difficulties faced by the pest control team in resuming home treatments and other aspects of the service. We agreed to keep the recovery of the service and the measures we had put in place under close review and the purpose of this report is to update Members on the current position.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to note the current position and waiting times for pest control services and the actions being taken to manage its ongoing recovery.

3.0       Main report

3.1       In the June committee report Members were reminded of the significant impact the pandemic has had on the staff and delivery therefore delivery of service due to furlough, contact tracing and shielding etc.  However, despite significantly reduced resources, the Pest Control  service continued to deliver the sewer baiting programme throughout that time and residents were offered advice and information. The tenants of social housing were advised to contact their housing provider to obtain pest control services.

3.2       In September of last year, the service was able to resume some home treatments, however, risk assessments and health and safety controls meant that these could only be provided   for the most vulnerable or if significant public health issues were identified. Most visits were restricted to external only, with officers providing advice and information.

3.3       The pest control team continued to work with Corporate Health and Safety and when transmission rates reduced, and restrictions eased, further risk assessments, with additional safety measures, enabled home treatments to resume in June.

3.4       In planning to resume the home treatments concerns were expressed by staff and Trade Unions that because of high demand for the service and the reduced number of visits that could be made in a day because of the additional safety requirements, there was potential for a long waiting list to build up very quickly. They were concerned about the negative impact that this could have on public perception of the service and, in turn, on staff morale.

3.5       It was proposed to effectively manage the waiting list in the first instance by only undertaking home treatments in private rented sector and owner-occupied property and continuing to refer the tenants of social housing to the Housing Executive and Housing Associations.

3.6       Given that our pest control service for treatment of public health pests are free of charge C&NS does not have an SLA or MoU with the NI Housing Executive or Housing Associations. As such, at the request of Members, the Operational Director wrote to the Chief Executive of the NI Housing Executive and all Housing Associations advising them of our ongoing approach during the pandemic. A letter of response was received from the Housing Executive noting the approach.

3.7       The Operational Director also wrote to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

            The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1       At the People and Communities Committee meeting on the 10th August 2021, Members were asked to consider a request received from Colonel Dan Rex MVO, CEO to the Queen’s Green Canopy, inviting Belfast City Council to celebrate Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee and at the same time, promoting the importance of trees to the environment by planting trees in one of our Parks

1.2       Committee Members at that meeting recommended that, in accordance with the Council decision of the 4th May 2021, the Chief Executive exercise her delegated authority to defer consideration of the report to enable information to be obtained by officers and submitted to a future meeting in regard to the proposed locations as to where the trees would be planted and to establish the varieties of the trees to be planted, ensuring that those selected were of a native species and to guarantee inclusion within the Council’s One Million Tree planting initiative.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

·        Agree to one (QGC) tree planting event proposed for Belmont Park, where 500 small native trees will be planted between November 2021 and March 2022, in the lead up to the official Platinum Jubilee celebrations planned for 3rd – 6th June 2022.

·        All 500 young, native trees planted as part of this (QGC) event will be automatically added to the Council’s on-going One Million Tree planting running total.

·        Agree the Council’s Outreach officer for the east of the city, work with local community groups to plan and take part in the proposed (QGC) event.

·        Agree to the installation of one small (QGC) plaque at the Belmont Park planting site.

3.0       Main report

3.1       On 8th March 2021 correspondence was sent out to all the Chief Executives in Northern Ireland from Colonel Dan Rex MVO, CEO to the Queen’s Green Canopy inviting Councils to take part in the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative.

3.2       Colonel Dan Rex invited representatives from Councils and other interested parties to an on-line presentation which took place on 22nd March 2021 and this was attended by representatives from Belfast City Council; Mid Ulster Council; Ards and North Down Council; Lisburn and Castlereagh Council and Antrim and Newtownabbey Council, Viscount Brookborough KG, The Earl of Caledon Lord -Lieutenant, Mathew Stewart, Abercorn Estate, Robert Scott Lord – Lieutenant Co Tyrone, Nicola Brady General Secretary.

3.3       The presentation set out what the (QGC) project entailed:

1.     Thanking Her Majesty, the Queen for her exceptional service

2.     To celebrate Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee

3.     Promote the importance of trees to the environment

4.     Involving communities; charities; schools; youth groups and councils in tree planting; creating a lasting legacy in honour of the Queen’s leadership

3.4       The (QGC) is particularly focused on supporting urban tree planting, in the most disadvantaged communities across Northern Ireland

3.5       The (QGC) currently has a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

The Committee was advised that a request had been received from Gospel Van Ministries seeking to deliver a weeklong programme of drive thru gospel services at Ballysillan Playing Fields Carpark during October.  The event would be set up on the tarmac carpark area which services both the park/playing fields and the leisure centre and confirmed that there should be adequate car parking for park and centre users.

            The Committee granted permission for Gospel Van Ministries to deliver a weeklong programme of drive thru gospel services at Ballysillan Playing Fields Carpark, from Monday 4th - Friday 8th October 2021 from 7.30 p.m. – 8.30 p.m.  subject to the completion of the appropriate event management plans and satisfactory terms being agreed by the Director of Neighbourhood Services and on the condition that the Event Organisers:

·        resolve all operational issues to the Council’s satisfaction;

·        meet all statutory requirements including Public Liability Insurance cover, Health and Safety, and licensing responsibilities; 

·        consult with adjoining public bodies and local communities as necessary; and

·        ensure that the proposed event adheres to the relevant Government Covid19 Regulations in place at the time of the event.