Agenda and minutes

          Apologies for inability to attend were reported from Councillors Mac Giolla Mhín, McVeigh, Spence and Webb.

          The minutes of the meetings of 6th and 20th 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 2nd April.

            No declarations of interest were reported.

            It was reported that no requests had been received.

(Mrs. L. McCartney, Programme Coordinator, and Ms. R. Sloan, Department for Education and Learning, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1        Relevant Background Information

1.1       Members are reminded that at £7bn and covering 185-acres Belfast’s Titanic Quarter development is the largest urban regeneration project in Northern Ireland’s history and is one of the largest waterfront schemes in Europe.  At twice the size of London’s Canary Wharf the transformation of the Quarter into a mixed use maritime quarter is an investment in Belfast’s future prosperity – building on the city’s innovation, industry and tourism offering.

1.2       In 2009 Council recognised the projects regeneration potential and set about developing a collaborative approach to maximize the social and economic benefits of Titanic Quarter by initiating a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the private developer, Titanic Quarter Ltd to ensure that everyone within the city and beyond would have fair access to the benefits which would emerge as a result.

1.3       The unique agreement which was recently shortlisted as a finalist in the Best Joint Initiative category in The Local Government Awards Northern Ireland has brought together the Council, Central Government Departments, community and voluntary organisations, training providers and the private sector in a partnership to help integrate the former shipyards with the rest of Belfast and optimise the benefits arising from the regeneration of the area by:

I.      Promoting TQ as a prime employment option for local people and improving the skills of in accordance with employers’ needs;

II.    Maximising access by road, rail and bus from all parts of the city;

III.   maximising the maritime tourism potential;

IV.  Promoting quality public realm and mixed residential development; and

V.    Ensuring appropriate mechanisms are put in place to improve community awareness, engagement and ownership of the development of Titanic Quarter.

1.4       Members will recall from Council’s Development Committee meeting on 19 September 2011 that in order to achieve the objectives outlined above a three–tier governance structure comprising of a Strategic Advisory Board, a Coordinating Steering Group and a number of Thematic Working Groups had been established to take forward the development, implementation and monitoring of our overall implementation plan.

1.5       Six distinct action plans have been taken forward by the Council and its partners in the areas of employment and skills, tourism, public realm, access, housing and community outreach.  Progress reports on the achievements of each of the various work-streams are detailed in Section 2.

1.6       In summary an inter-agency ‘TQ Work’ Group has been established to develop and implement an action plan providing access to skills and training aimed at meeting the needs of Titanic Quarter’s employers.

1.7       A TQ Access Group was set up to address the issues of improving public transport access to the site (bus and rail), the creation of new cycle routes and improving pedestrian access from the city centre and neighbourhoods close to the former shipyards.

1.8       Council also embarked on a major engagement exercise with every section of society in partnership  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Committee was advised that a request had been received from the Ulster History Circle seeking financial support for the installation of seven blue plaques at various locations throughout Belfast. It was reported that the plaques would acknowledge the contribution made to the City’s history by the undernoted individuals:

            The Director advised the Committee that the cost associated with the erection of the plaques would be £4,800, provision for which had been made within the appropriate budget.

            The Committee agreed to provide funding in the sum of £4,800 for the erection of the plaques as outlined.

The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 9th April, 2008, it had agreed to delegate authority to the Director to award grants under the Rolling Programme of the Cultural Grants Scheme.  It was reported that, during the financial year 2011/2012, forty-three applications had been received for funding, twenty-eight of which had been deemed eligible for support under the pre-agreed criteria.  A sum of £49,290 had been included within the 2011/2012 budget for the Rolling Programme, of which £49,258 had been awarded to projects deemed eligible for assistance.

            The Director provided an overview of the range of organisations which had received funding and indicated that the average amount awarded had been £1,492.  He added that, of the projects which had received funding, seven had been delivered on a City-wide basis, three had been based in East Belfast, eight had been based in North Belfast, seven in South Belfast and three had been in West Belfast.  It was pointed out that a full list of those organisations which had been successful with their applications for assistance, together with a copy of the funding criteria, was made available on the Council’s Modern.gov website.

            The Committee noted the information provided and agreed that a sum of £50,000 be allocated within the budget for the Rolling Programme of the Cultural Grants Scheme for 2012/2013.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1        Relevant Background Information

1.1       Members will be aware that in September last year the recommendations from an independent review on the European Unit carried out by FGS McClure Watters in association with PMG Consulting were reported to the Development Committee.  The report included a recommendation that the Belfast in Europe platform co-ordinated by the European Unit should develop to become a greater asset for Council by taking on a more strategic role as the Northern Ireland European Regional Forum (NIERF). This Forum would provide a strong platform for collaboration on European (EU) policy and funding.

1.2       Committee agreed the recommendation and in October of last year letters were sent to existing members of the Belfast in Europe platform and to new organisations inviting them to re-affirm membership and/or to join the Forum to build a strong platform of strategic alliances and to ensure a balanced makeup of voluntary, private and public sector members.

1.3       There are now 46 people listed as members of the Northern Ireland European Regional Forum. It has senior representation from the European Commission Office in Belfast, Office of the First and Deputy First Minister, Northern Ireland Assembly, government departments, the community and voluntary sector and key agencies such as Police Service of Northern Ireland who are actively involved in European affairs. Forum members meet four times each year, a term of reference has been agreed and members work together to:

-     collaborate to identify suitable funding opportunities, to support bid development and project implementation

-     promote our region in Europe, demonstrating local good practice in a European context to attract new business/investment opportunities

-     promote best practice from other European cities in areas such as housing, security, employment, health and social services, education and economic regeneration to achieve maximum effect within the region

-     facilitate information exchanges between local people, professionals and politicians by hosting inward visits and showcasing our region in Europe

-     co-ordinate and share resources and information on current and future EU related activities

-     share information they have available on EU policy and utilise EU contacts and networks such as Eurocities to influence EU policy development.

1.4       Given the growing membership, representation at senior level and growing profile of the Forum, the newly established Northern Ireland Assembly EU Advisory Panel will keep a watching brief on the work of the Forum and feed key issues to and from the panel.

1.5       In addition, growing interest in the Forum has been shown by the Northern Ireland Barroso Task Force on Europe.  The Task Force is coordinated by the OFMDFM and reports directly to the two Junior Ministers.  The Task Force is structured around four high level multi-sect oral working groups led by a senior civil servant for each and supported by four new Brussels based desk officers around the themes of:

            -     Social cohesion

            -     Competitiveness and employment

            -     Innovation and technology

            -     Climate change and energy.

1.6       In order to tie neatly in with the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

                                             The Chairman advised the Committee that he had been approached by an Elected Member in respect the Belfast Waterfront and Ulster Halls.  He reminded the Committee that, under the Council’s previous governance arrangements prior to 2007, Members had been updated on performance, attendance and usage figures at both venues through the minutes of meetings of the Belfast Waterfront and Ulster Halls Board.  The Member had requested that this matter be revisited with a view to providing such figures within the reports or minutes of the Development Committee.

            The Director undertook to investigate the matter and update the Committee accordingly.