Agenda and minutes

            Apologies for inability to attend were reported from Councillors Ekin, Kirkpatrick, Kyle, Mac Giolla Mhín and Mhic Giolla Mhín.

            The minutes of the meeting of 9th March were taken as read and signed as correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 1st April, subject to the omission of the minute under the heading “Belfast Welcome Centre” which, at the request of Councillor N. Kelly, had been taken back to the Committee for further consideration.

            Due to the lengthy agenda, the Committee agreed to defer until its next monthly meeting consideration of the following items:

·         Presentation from representatives of British Telecom;

·         Departmental Plan 2010-2011;

·         Community Revenue Grants – Options Paper; and

·         Shaftesbury Community and Recreation Centre.

To consider further the minute of the meeting of 9^th March under the heading “Belfast Welcome Centre” which, at the request of Councillor N. Kelly, was referred back to the Committee for further consideration by the Council at its meeting on 1^st April (extract herewith)

            The Committee considered further the minute of the meeting of 9th March under the heading “Belfast Welcome Centre”, a copy of the minute in this regard is set out hereunder:

“Belfast Welcome Centre

      (Mrs. P. Davison, Estates Surveyor, attended in connection with this item.)

      The Committee considered the undernoted report:

‘Relevant Background Information

      The Belfast Visitor and Connection Bureau occupies premises currently leased to Belfast City Council in Donegall Place. BVCB has been approached by Failte Ireland to consider moving their operation into the Belfast Welcome Centre premises in Donegall Place. Failte Ireland requested a meeting with BVCB on 14 January to discuss the possibility of a shared working space.

      Failte Ireland has operated a walk in enquiry office in Belfast for over 42 years.  They closed their premises in Castle Street just after Christmas 2009 as their lease was due to terminate and the building was unfit for purpose and presented significant health and safety issues for staff continuing to work there.

      The service Failte Ireland currently operates is purely information provision and accommodation booking for the Republic of Ireland. After 42 years with a base in Belfast they have a loyal local customer base of regular customers who call in to pick up information and book short breaks, with an annual footfall of just over 20,000 visitors. This service is provided Monday – Friday during core office hours by three members of staff, sharing two full time posts.

      BVCB have identified a space that could accommodate Failte Ireland. This space was used as an extra card sales point, however a new main counter was installed last year and extra tills and credit card machines behind the new counter mean the space is now redundant.

Key Issues

      BVCB point out that the concept of shared space in Tourist Information Centres and visitor attractions is not new. Failte Ireland has shared office space in the Derry/Londonderry T.I.C. since it opened and more recently NITB have moved into Dublin Tourism Offices.

      BVCB have identified the benefits to this shared space approach:

      Financial Benefit:

      BVCB has proposed a licence fee of £25,000 per annum plus vat. The only additional payments by Failte Ireland would be for separate phone and broadband lines.

      In the current economic climate, additional income to BVCB is welcomed when funding is decreasing and generating commercial income is more challenging.

      Customer Focused:

      The shared space further promotes the “one stop” approach – Belfast Welcome Centre regularly gets enquiries from customers requesting information on the Republic of Ireland and BWC refer them to the Castle Street premises.

      New customer base:

      In facilitating Failte Ireland customers in the BWC, the BWC can avail of a new market. The current price differential between the euro and the pound means Belfast will benefit with the local customer base attracted by deals in Northern Ireland as opposed to the Republic of Ireland.

      The request for shared space was discussed at the BVCB Board.  While  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

            The Head of Economic Initiatives advised the Committee that a request for funding had been received from the Federation of Passenger Transport Northern Ireland.  She explained that the Federation was a small not-for-profit organisation which had been set up to promote passenger transport and coach tourism.  It represented 70% of private coach companies in Northern Ireland, involving over 300 coaches, as well as Translink, and worked in partnership with other organisations such as Coach Tourism and the Transport Council in the Republic of Ireland.

            She explained that the Federation was seeking support towards the initial set up costs of establishing a new coach parking facility at Donegall Quay, on the site of the old Seacat terminal.  The site, which comprised 0.78 acres and which could accommodate 35 large and 5 medium sized coaches, was owned by the Belfast Harbour Commissioners.  The Federation planned to secure the area by a series of Closed-Circuit Television cameras with 24 hour surveillance.  A new gate would be erected and controlled by a remote keyless entry system, which would be supported by an online booking facility and randomised entrance codes for vehicles.  There would be a 24 hour emergency and call out facility.

            The Federation’s business plan for the Coach Park was based on 50% of the space being allocated to local hotels in Belfast at a cost of £2,000 per annum (£2.74 per day) and the remaining spaces being made available to visiting coaches at a cost of £10.00 per day.  The business plan showed a deficit of £8,300 in year one.  However, in years two and three the model demonstrated a profit of £7,199 and £12,615 respectively.  Any profit would be reinvested into the development/expansion of the facility.  Therefore, the Federation was seeking support from the Council towards the initial set up costs, that is, the £8,300 deficit in year one.

            The Head of Economic Development stated that at present there were six coach parking bays at College Square North, two bays at Glengall Street and one bay for drop off/hop on at Victoria Square.  However, there had been reports of vandalism from coach operators due to lack of secure overnight parking in the City.  She indicated that the proposal fitted in well with the draft Belfast Integrated Strategic Tourism Framework 2010-2014, which the Committee had approved in February.  That Framework had identified the need to sustain quality infrastructure and services across the City, of which coach parking would be an essential requirement.  The Framework had identified also the need to exploit the opportunity presented by the Republic of Ireland market and the all island touring market.  In both instances, coach operators played an important role in delivering visitors to the City.

            The Northern Ireland Tourist Board was supportive of the proposal and had agreed in principle to offer support of 25% of the year one deficit on the basis that the Council would cover the remaining 75%.

            The Committee agreed to provide a one off payment of £6,230  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

            The Committee noted the contents of a report which provided details of projects awarded funding under the Rolling Programme and the Community Festivals Fund by the Director of Development in accordance with the authority delegated to him.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      Belfast City Council received an invitation from the Belfast Media Group to participate in two conferences in Belfast and New York aimed at showcasing the new Belfast through its Quarters.  The first conference took place in Belfast on 24 and 25 March and the second will take place in New York on 9 and 10 June 2010.

      Members will be aware that at a meeting of the Development Committee held on 10 February 2010, approval was given for the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Development Committee, or their nominees, plus two officers, to attend the City of Quarters Conference and to sponsor a dinner for conference delegates on 26 March at a cost of no more than £3,000.  The conference explored flagship Quarters, asking how they can be linked to each other to create more than the sum of their parts and what is required to ensure that their economic benefits are felt in disadvantaged areas.

      Members agreed in principle on 10 February 2010 to participation in the New York conference pending further investigation of costs and potential opportunities for Belfast.

Key Issues

      Following on from the City of Quarters Conference in Belfast, the Belfast Media Group and their sister paper the Irish Echo are convening a conference in New York under the title of ‘New York – New Belfast’.  The purpose is to forge links between commerce, culture and education as well as profile key developments created through cultural quarters and other opportunities to an influential US audience as well as through the media.

      Proposed Programme

      The conference will open on 9 June in Fordham University, Manhattan and move to the Ritz Carlton Hotel on 10 June for further plenary sessions.  This will be followed by the 3rd annual Ireland?US top 30 companies’ awards sponsored by KPMG.  Through Ulster University’s links with Fordham University, students on an entrepreneur’s programme from University of Ulster will be in New York on those dates and will be linked into the conference.

      Participants at the conference confirmed by Belfast Media Group include the following:

Christine Quinn            Speaker of New York City Council

Rob Walsh                     Commissioner of Small Business

                                           Services New York City Council

John Connorton           Head of Friends of Belfast in New York

Niall Gibbons                CEO, Tourism Ireland

Gary Hanley                   Senior Vice President Invest NI, New York

Terence Brannigan      Chairman of CBI/NI MD of Resources

Len O’Hagan                 Chair of Belfast Port Authority

Mark Finlay                    President’s Club, Belfast

Paul McErlean               Chair – Cathedral Quarter Steering Group

David Lyle                      Lyle Bailie International & Board Member

                                           of Tourism Ireland

Patrick Loughrey          Founder of Connect Centre in North

                                           Belfast Forward Emphasis

Michael Sorkin              Author of ’20 Minutes in Manhattan’ and

                                           President Emeritus of George

                                           Washington UniversityDC (growing

                                           relationship between UU & George

                                           Washington University)

Fr Joseph McShane     President of Fordham University

      Commissioner Walsh will also lead a site visit to Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn, New York as part of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

            The Committee was advised that a request had been received from the organiser of the Milwaukee Irish Festival seeking Belfast to feature as part of its programme in 2010.  The Head of Economic Initiatives advised that the Festival was the world’s largest annual Irish cultural festival and took place over four days in Wisconsin, America.  This year, the Festival, which would be staged from 19th till 22nd August, aimed to promote Irish cultural through music, dance, cultural exhibits, drama and sport.  Over 130,000 consumers were expected to visit the Milwaukee Irish Fest, of whom 79% had roots in Ireland, 55% would have visited Ireland before, with 40% planning a visit to the island within the next year.

            There were two tourism areas within the 75 acre festival site.  Destination Ireland, which was sponsored by Tourism Ireland, and a Northern Ireland Village, which would include a marquee for each County/City showcasing its particular part of Northern Ireland.  As part of the 30th anniversary celebrations, Belfast had been asked to be represented as part of a Northern Ireland Showcase.  The organiser had requested also that Belfast mount a Titanic Exhibition.

            The Head of Economic Initiatives reported that the Milwaukee Irish Festival had approached the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure requesting it to consider funding organisations in Northern Ireland to attend the Showcase.  That request was being considered currently by the Department, however, it was unlikely to receive significant investment in 2010.

            She reminded the Members that the Titanic Exhibition had first been developed as part of the Smithsonian event in 2007.  It was owned by National Museums Northern Ireland and had been in storage for the previous few years.  Tourism Ireland, in partnership with National Museums, was currently looking at updating the exhibition, with a view to displaying it in the Grand Central Station, New York in September, 2010.  The costs associated with that would be in the region of £300,000 and it was considered to be unlikely, at this stage, that those partners would consider participating in the Milwaukee Irish Fest due to timing and budget constraints.  National Museums had indicated that it could supply some exhibition content if the production and erection could be covered by the organisers of the Festival.  Whilst the Festival would not have any budget to put towards these costs, it would have the skill and resources to erect the exhibition on site.

            The Head of Economic Initiatives pointed out that the Northern Ireland Tourist Board had established a Titanic 2012 Marketing Group to identify marketing opportunities between now and 2012 in order to promote the Titanic.  It had not included the Milwaukee Festival as part of its plans, although it had acknowledged its potential.  The Belfast and Visitor Convention Bureau had included £5,000 towards attending the Festival as part of its Marketing Plan 2010.  Having discussed that with representatives of the Bureau, it had been ascertained that they were keen to go to the event to explore the opportunities which it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

            The Committee was advised that Twenty Twenty Television was producing a programme entitled “We Built Titanic” for Channel 4.  As part of the programme, they were commissioning reproductions of certain elements of the Titanic, that is, the bow structure, the anchor, the first class smoking room and a third class cabin.  The bow structure was likely to be constructed during a week long build at the Northern Ireland Science Park and the third and first class rooms would be constructed at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.  The anchor would be made to scale at Forgemasters in Sheffield since that was one of only a few places capable of undertaking such work.  Once it had been completed, the plan was to transport the anchor from the ferry in Belfast to Queen’s Island, thereby repeating its historic journey complete with Shire Horses and wooden dray, and then find a significant location where the anchor could be erected temporarily, if not permanently.

            The Head of Economic Initiatives advised that the producers were looking for a long-term home in Belfast for the Titanic anchor and had approached the Council to gauge interest.  The cost of producing the Anchor was approximately £50,000 and the production company was seeking to recoup some of those costs and had quoted a price of £20,000 for the Council to secure the anchor, which would be an excellent piece of public art.  There might be some additional costs associated with its installation depending on the site chosen.

            Council officers had discussed the proposal with representatives of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and the Arts Council for Northern Ireland and they believed it was an excellent idea.  It was felt that there might be opportunities to request financial support from those organisations as well as from the Titanic Quarter Limited, which had a public arts scheme, and the Odyssey Trust.  If the Committee were minded to provide an initial budget, it was felt also that this would enable funding to be levered from other agencies.

            The Committee agreed to provide £6,000 towards the purchase of the replica Titanic anchor, subject to the remaining costs being provided by other funders and organisations.

            The Head of Economic Initiatives reminded the Committee that the Council’s Development and Outreach Initiative Grants were designed to build capacity and to boost cultural activity in communities with weak cultural and arts infrastructure.  She advised the Committee that a budget of £166,500 had been established for the 2010/11 year.  However, twenty applications requesting funding of £342,392.55 had been received.  Due to the high standard of the submissions, only those projects scoring over 60% had been recommended for assistance.

            Accordingly, following the application and assessment process, it was recommended that the following awards be made:

            The Committee adopted the recommendations.

            The Committee agreed to defer consideration of a report in relation to Cultural Night 2010 to enable officers to discuss further with the organisers how the event would be delivered on the arterial routes in the City.

            The Committee was advised that the European Connected Health Campus, which was located at the Northern Ireland Science Park in Belfast, was seeking sponsorship from the Council towards the cost of the holding of the European Connected Health Leadership Summit, which would take place in Belfast on 15th and 16th June.  The Summit was part of a week-long programme of activities and events relating to connected health which included a Connected Health Expo and the Continua Health Alliance Annual Conference.  It was expected that at least 250 delegates from across the world would be in Belfast to attend the event.  The Campus was funded by its Members and supported also by Invest Northern Ireland and by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety.  The event, which would cost approximately £140,000, would be resourced by public and private sponsorship as well as participant contributions.  The Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, at its meeting on 19th March, had agreed to allow the Campus to hold a welcome reception in the City Hall on 15th June and to provide a contribution towards the cost of the drinks reception.

            The Committee agreed to provide funding of £5,000 towards the cost of holding the event.

            The Committee was advised that, at its meeting on 9th March, it had agreed to defer consideration of a report regarding the preparation of a Belfast Employability and Skills Strategy and Action Plan to enable those Party Groupings who so wished to receive briefings on the matter.  The Director of Development reported that, whilst a number of briefings had been held, there were a number of other Groups which still had to receive the briefing.  Accordingly, he recommended that, to enable this process to be completed, the Committee defer consideration of the matter and that a further report be submitted in due course.

            The Committee adopted the recommendation.

            The Committee was advised that the Department for Regional Development was considering currently the potential for the provision of new or extended taxi ranks in the City and was seeking comments thereon from the Council.  The ranks would be for the use of Belfast Public Hire taxis only.  The proposed changes to taxi legislation did not indicate any extension to taxi ranks for use by standard Private Taxi Hire.

            The Planning and Transport Policy Manager provided for the information of the Members copies of maps outlining the proposed locations and the times during which the new ranks would operate.

            The Committee agreed that an appropriate draft response be formulated for its consideration at the meeting on 12th May.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      This combined report comprises two items:

      1.   Proposal for Sunday Market in St George’s

Update to Members on the proposed Sunday Market in St George's Market.

      2.   Requirement for mobile wash hand facilities

The Markets Unit currently supply a small number of shared mobile wash hand facilities to food traders who currently trade at the markets.

      At a recent meeting with Environmental Health Food Safety Unit, Markets management were informed that to meet current Chartered Institute of Environmental Health requirements some of these traders need their own individual mobile units, due to possible risk of contamination and/or risk of food poisoning.

Key Issues

      1.   Proposal for Sunday Market in St George’s

      Members will be aware from previous reports that the traders in St George’s market have been championing plans for an additional market on a Sunday to be added to the existing weekly schedule.  Research into the level of interest in a Sunday market has been undertaken with 84 existing traders having confirmed their intentions to date. 

      The traders who have shown interest are eager to acquire approval and support from Council as quickly as possible in advance of the summer season to enable them to forward plan their trading commitments from June onwards.  A number of the traders have been approached by other markets across the region and beyond, regarding trading at other Sunday markets; their preference is largely to trade at St George’s however should this not be agreed by Council they wish to know as soon as possible to allow them to avail of opportunities at locations outside Belfast.

      St George’s Market traders propose to trade from 10am to late afternoon on a Sunday.  They are mindful of Council’s work in encouraging Sunday leisure activities through our work in cultural tourism on creating things for locals and visitors to enjoy on Sundays in association with our other programming that is underway or planned.  The type of market envisaged is a mix between Friday and Saturday traders.  However, space permitting other traders not currently part of St George’s will be included.

      A number of external organisations have already made bookings for use of St George’s on a Sunday throughout the year including some which are now annual events.  Precedence will be given to existing bookings and to supporting cultural festivals including Chinese New Year, Holi and the India Festival which use St George’s on a Sunday.

      Feasibility of Market

      Given the level of interest from existing traders in operating a Sunday market, the proposal would appear feasible.  At this point, the operational costs directly pertaining to the market would largely be covered from income generation via stall hire fees for Sunday. 

Fees per stall are proposed at the present rate of £13.00 per stall plus £3.00 for electricity usage.  Quarterly payment in advance would also be encouraged to encourage regular attendance by traders and assist with cashflow.

      Car parking is an issue that would require management in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

            The Committee was reminded that the Belfast City Marathon had been arranged since 1982 by an organising committee involving the Council, Athletics Northern Ireland and other partners and sponsors.  Since its inauguration, the Council had co-sponsored the event, with £40,000 having being allocated for the 2010 event.  The event traditionally takes place on the first bank holiday Monday in May and in recent years overall participation in the event had risen dramatically.  However, the Chairman of Belfast City Marathon Limited had written to the Council seeking support to change the Marathon event day to a Sunday.

            The Head of City Events and Venues reported that when the marathon had first commenced in the early 1980s, the May Bank Holiday Monday had been a quiet day for the City.  However, that was no longer the case and Bank Holiday Mondays were now, for the most part, treated as normal working days.  By the nature of the range of events delivered by Belfast City Marathon Limited on that day, there was considerable disruption to transport, traffic and commerce in the City.  There were a number of reasons supporting a switch to a Sunday which included:

(i)   all major international marathons were held on a Sunday.  International marathon participants were accustomed to and preferred to visit and participate in major City marathons over a weekend, which enabled them to return home without sacrificing their Monday’s at work;

(ii)  the costs of policing, as highlighted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, would be reduced greatly should the event switch to a Sunday.  That had become a major issue affecting the level of support and resources which the Police could make available to the event; and

(iii)there would be much less disruption to the City on a Sunday when the bulk of the event would be completed by 1.00 p.m.  Retailers were not open before 1.00 p.m. on a Sunday and most other businesses were closed.

            In addition, Belfast City Marathon Limited had received letters of support for the proposed change to a Sunday from Translink, the Department for Regional Development Roads Division, Belfast Centre Management and the event’s key organising partner, Athletics Northern Ireland.

            After discussion, the Committee agreed to support Belfast City Marathon Limited’s proposal to switch the Belfast Marathon event to take place on a Sunday from May, 2011 onwards.

            The Director of Development advised the Members that a Corporate Poverty Strategy was being developed currently and it was felt that it would be appropriate to hold Party Briefings prior to a report on the Strategy being submitted to the Committee and he recommended accordingly.

            The Committee adopted the recommendation.