Agenda and minutes

            In the absence of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman, it was

      Resolved – That Councillor Maskey take the Chair.

(Councillor Maskey in the Chair.)

            Apologies were reported from the Chairman (Alderman Stalford), the Deputy Chairman (Councillor Ó Muilleoir) and Councillor Mac Giolla Mhín.

            The minutes of the meetings of 8th and 22nd May were taken and read as signed and correct. It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 1st June.

            In respect of item 8 viz., Donegall Pass Community Centre, Alderman Stoker indicated that he was a member of the centre’s management committee. 

            It was reported that a request to address the Committee had been received from representatives of Belfast City Bikes Tours. The Democratic Services Officer reminded the Members that the Council had, under the Department for Regional Development’s Active Travel Scheme, applied for funding to enable the establishment of a Belfast Public Bike Hire Scheme and, as such, it would be useful for the Committee to be provided with an overview of the operation of private bike tours in the City.

            The Committee agreed to receive a presentation in this regard at a future meeting.

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 17th April, it had endorsed the Council’s Retail Support Plan for 2012/2013 and agreed that a letter be forwarded to the Minister with responsibility for the Department for Regional Development requesting that consideration be given to addressing shoppers’ parking needs by introducing a range of initiatives in arterial routes and the City centre. 

            The Democratic Services Officer reported that a response had been received on behalf of the Minister which had outlined the range of schemes which had been introduced by the Department in this regard. The correspondence had indicated also that officials from the Roads Service would be prepared to attend a future meeting of the Committee to consider Members’ suggestions in relation to parking initiatives and respond formally in due course.

            After discussion, the Committee agreed to invite the representatives of the Roads Service to attend a future meeting.

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 22nd May, it had deferred consideration of a report in respect of a request from Co-operation Ireland for financial support in the sum of £25,000 to assist in the staging of an event entitled ‘The Pipes are Calling’, which was scheduled to take place at the Odyssey Complex in September. It had been noted that the deferral would enable further information to be obtained regarding the draft programme for the event and clarification on the level of financial contributions which had been committed by other bodies and agencies in relation thereto.

            The Democratic Services Officer reported that Co-operation Ireland had, given the limited timescale for organising and staging the event, since indicated that ‘The Pipes are Calling’ would be postponed until 2013.

          The Committee noted the information which had been provided and agreed that any further requests for assistance towards the hosting of the event would, in the first instance, be referred for consideration under the various grants’ programmes being delivered by the Department’s Tourism, Culture and Arts Unit

            Pursuant to the Committee’s decision of 22nd May, the Members received a presentation from Mr. D. Wolinski, Mr. R. Keene and Mr. N. Tilson, representatives of Digital UK, which provided an overview on the arrangements which had been put in place to ensure that the changes to television services in Belfast arising from the Digital Switchover would be implemented successfully in October, 2012.

Noted.

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 15th June, 2011, it had agreed, given the amount of business which it was required to consider, that it would meet twice-monthly, with a commencement time of 5.15 p.m. The Democratic Services Officer pointed out that, since that decision had been taken, the number of reports considered at meetings had reduced and that a significant number of decisions had been taken by the Committee without the need for debate. Accordingly, he suggested that, in view of the time constraints faced by Members, the Committee might wish to consider holding in future one meeting per month.

            Members expressed conflicting views in respect of the suggestion that the Committee might revert back to one meeting a month. A Member stated that a second meeting afforded Members a greater opportunity to review and scrutinise the work of the Department. However, other Members pointed out that that there existed a greater consensus amongst Members on a range of issues which had previously been the cause of debate and, as such, it was feasible to suggest that the business could be conducted in one meeting.

            After further discussion, the Committee agreed to continue to meet on a twice-monthly basis, at a commencement time of 5.15 p.m., subject to a further review in late-2012.

            The Director provided an overview of the debates which had been hosted by the Council during 2011/2012 as part of the State of the City initiative. He reviewed the benefits which had accrued in hosting the events and proposed that the Committee authorise the holding of four further debates in 2012/2013, an overview on which is set out hereunder:

The Director outlined the achievements of the regeneration consultants Urban Pollinators, particularly in respect of its place-making knowledge and its work on the Mary Portas’ Review of High Streets. He suggested that it would be prudent to invite Mr. Julian Dobson, Director of Urban Pollinators, to speak at a debate which would enable him to impart his experience on how to deliver meaningful City-centre regeneration projects, particularly within the context of the Council’s Investment Programme.

The Committee was apprised of the work of the above-mentioned initiative which was overseen by the European Commission and which had been developed in co-operation with the European Investment Bank and the Council of Europe Development Bank.

It was reported that the initiative provided support towards sustainable urban development and regeneration through innovative financial mechanisms.

The Director indicated that it would be beneficial to invite representatives from cities, such as Liverpool and Manchester, or programmes, such as the Scottish-based Amber Green Consortium, which had benefitted through the initiative, to contribute to a debate on the programme. Such a debate he pointed out would enable Members to assess the viability of the initiative in assisting future Council-led regeneration in the City.

The Director reminded the Committee that, at its meeting on 21st February, it had agreed that consultation on the Council’s Draft Masterplan would be carried over two phases. The Director pointed out that, on completion of the consultation process, it would be beneficial to launch formally the Masterplan as part of the State of the City initiative. He indicated that a debate could be held which could consider the Masterplan in the wider context of the regeneration of the City.  

The Director outlined the benefits which could be accrued by hosting a debate which would examine the issue of community planning within the context of the Investment Programme. He outlined the range of groups which could be invited to partake in the debate which would consider issues associated with the Council assuming responsibility for community planning matters under the Review of Public Administration.

            During discussion, Members made the point that it would be necessary for the Council to ensure that measurable benefits would be achieved in the holding of the debates. It was suggested that invitations could be forwarded to a wider range of bodies, with particular emphasis on representatives of the community and voluntary sectors and that the issue of deprivation and need across the City should be integral to the debates.

            After further discussion, the Committee endorsed the holding of the four State of the City debates as outlined by the Director, subject to consideration of the Members’ comments in relation thereto. 

(Ms. P. Morrow, COMET INTERREG Programme Manager, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1  Relevant Background Information

1.1  The Council has been approached by Canan, the lead partner in an application for INTERREG IVA funding for a project called Connect G. This project has been shortlisted for funding and Canan is seeking additional partners for the project.  The project value is £1.175 million and will run from late 2012 to March 2015.

1.2 The purpose of Connect G is to improve the effectiveness of public agency service support for Gaelic language enterprise schemes through greater collaboration among a range of agencies. 

1.3 The overall aim of the project is to improve the effectiveness of public agencies in their support of Gaelic enterprises. This approach will be tested through a number of pilot projects, the results of which will inform the development of a shared strategy and a plan as to how agencies will collaborate in the future to support the growth of enterprises post project, in particular it will assist:

-     In developing, or have the potential to develop, Irish or Scottish Gaelic or cultural products or services; and

-     Projects using, or have the potential to use, Irish or Scottish Gaelic for marketing or branding.

1.4 The project will be delivered across the Irish border region, Northern Ireland and Belfast, together with western Scotland and the Western Isles. It will seek to pilot and evaluate the effectiveness of different types of service interventions and collaborations in support of Gaelic enterprises. The result of these evaluations will form the basis of a shared strategy and action plan for future collaboration. The main aims of the project will be to ‘raise ambition’, provide skills to meet objectives and to set out proposals on how such aims can be achieved. Accordingly, two pilot studies have been identified, viz.:

1.     Sectoral Approach

      This will pilot activity in support of three key sectors of Gaelic enterprise which the agencies consider to have potential for growth. These are in media, both – interactive and broadcast - cultural tourism and social enterprise. The support of each of the sectors will be overseen by a specific working group comprising of key agencies responsible for development this sector within INTERREG, thus ensuring that the project and its activities genuinely address the sector’s needs.

2.      Generic Approach

      This will address ‘incubation centres’ within the INTERREG area and provide opportunities to establish ‘clusters’ which are currently underutilised, possibly due to the lack of full support services which would assist in transforming infrastructure into a business growth unit. This project will seek to provide some of these services online and through face-to-face activities focussed on Gaelic enterprises. It will promote existing serviced space including that owned by some partners, which would be appropriate to Gaelic enterprise, such as, online support services, such as ‘The Gallery’ and ‘Inspire Videos’, together with addressing learning resources and mentoring support.

      Delivery Plan

      The project will be delivered through  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

(Alderman Stoker left the room whilst this item was under discussion.)

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1    Relevant Background Information

1.1Donegall Pass Community Centre was constructed in 2001 in direct response to community need in the area.  The centre has been accessed by the local community providing much needed services since that time.

1.2Council support for the community centre was approved by the Community and Leisure Sub-Committee at its meeting on 12th March 1996.  It was agreed that Council would part fund the construction of the centre together with associated running costs.  The total capital cost being £244,500:  75% of which was funded by ‘Making Belfast Work’.

1.3Under the original terms of the development the responsibility of managing the centre was undertaken by Council.  However this was viewed as a short term measure with the ultimate aim of transferring the management of the centre to the community.  Therefore at the meeting of the Community and Leisure Sub-Committee in August 2000, it was agreed that a provision be made within the revenue estimates to enable the centre to operate as a full time directly managed facility for a period of two years with a view to building local capacity to adopt the local community management model at the end of an agreed period.  This arrangement was further extended at the meeting of the Sub-Committee of 7th January 2003 and again in 2007 on the basis that both the local community and Council officers felt the capacity had not been adequately developed to support local independent management arrangements.

1.4Donegall Pass Community Forum (DPCF) developed an area master plan in 2009 for the Donegall Pass area. 

      The community centre is considered to be a vital part of the master plan which will enable the strengthening of community infrastructure and facilities.  Within this context officers met with representatives of the DPCF in order to assess the potential of the Forum to assume management responsibilities for the centre.  The outcome of this being that the DPCF, with support from Council, undertook a full economic business plan (2010).  This included stakeholder consultation, extensive desktop research and benchmarking analysis.  The study considered a range of options for the management of the centre and associated risk.

1.5The Development Committee at its meeting on 11th May 2011 agreed to the request from the DPCF to ‘seek to explore the possibility with Council of conducting a period of transition (1 year) which would allow it to fully examine the practicalities of assuming the management of the Centre successfully’.

1.6The Development Committee at its meeting on 14th September 2011 authorised a request from DPCF to extend the transition period for a further six months.

2    Key Issues

2.1The DPCF has now concluded the transition period which involved: members of the DPCF shadowing Council staff at Donegall Pass Community Centre; site visits by DPCF to other community managed facilities; and transfer of policy/procedures/centre budget and all relevant information to DPCF.

2.2DPCF has informed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

            The Committee agreed to defer, to its meeting 26th June, consideration of the above-mentioned report to enable further information to be provided.