Agenda and minutes

            Apologies were reported on behalf of Alderman Webb and Councillors Keenan and Reynolds.

            The minutes of meeting of 19th August 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 September. 

            No declarations of interest were reported. 

The Committee was reminded that the Council, at its meeting on 1st July, had acceded to a request by Alderman Rodgers that the minute of the meeting of 17th June, under the heading “Belfast City Centre Management – Request for Additional Funding”, insofar as it related to a request to provide funding to meet a proposed salary increase for Belfast City Centre Management (BCCM) staff, be taken back to the Committee for further consideration. At its meeting on 19th August, the Committee had agreed to defer consideration of the matter to enable a deputation from BCCM to attend a future meeting.

            Accordingly, the Committee considered further the undernoted minute of the meeting of 17th June:

      “The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 14th January, it had agreed to provide funding in the sum of £190,000 to Belfast City Centre Management (BCCM) as the Council’s contribution towards its running costs for 2014/2015. It was reported that the Board of BCCM had since undertaken a review of the salaries of its staff and had adopted the NJC scales, a measure which had resulted in a shortfall of £30,000 in salary costs for £2014/2015. Accordingly, the Director reported that a request for financial assistance for 50% of the shortfall, that is, £15,000, had been received from BCCM.

      In addition to the aforementioned request, the Director reminded the Committee that BCCM had been one of six successful applicants selected by the Department for Social Development to oversee a pilot Business Improvement District (BID) project.  He reported that BCCM had requested also that the Council consider making a contribution towards the employment of a Development Manager to oversee the implementation of that project. The total cost of employing the Development Manager, over an 18 month period, would be £90,000 and the Council had been requested to consider providing 50% of that cost.

      In respect of the request by BCCM for a contribution towards meeting the re?evaluated staff salary costs, Members expressed concern that the Council, should it accede to the request, would be creating a precedent which could encourage further organisations to submit one-off requests for funding. The point was made that employees within the public sector had been subject to pay freezes in recent years and BCCM should have anticipated the extra costs and incorporated them within their original request for annual funding. Therefore, it would be inappropriate for the Council to meet the request as submitted. 

      Regarding the request for funding for to employ a Business Manager for the BID pilot project, the Committee noted that the Department for Social Development had agreed to contribute a sum of £45,000 towards the post. Accordingly, the Council would be required to provide funding of £15,000 in 2014/2015, with a further amount of £30,000 being allocated within the Council’s 2015/2016 budget to support the project. 

      After discussion, it was

      Moved by Alderman Ekin,

      Seconded by Alderman Webb and  

                  Resolved - That the Committee agrees not to accede to the             request for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

            In accordance with its decision of 19th August, the Chairman, on behalf of the Committee, welcomed to the meeting Mr. P. Dyer, Mr. S. Kerr, Ms. C. McLaverty and Mr. P. Lynn, representing the St. George’s Market Traders’ Association.

            The representatives of the Market Traders requested that consideration be given to establishing a post of Market Manager who would be present during the days on which the facility was open to the public.

            The members of the Traders’ Association left the meeting.

            The Director reminded the Committee that a staff review of the Market was ongoing and that a further report in this regard would be submitted for its consideration in December. 

Noted.

            In accordance with its decision of 18th February, the Chairman, on behalf of the Members, welcomed Mr. J. Minne of JPR Consulting, together with Mr. D. Waugh of the Rank Organisation, who were in attendance to apprise the Committee of the plans which had been formulated to establish an entertainment centre in Belfast, which would include a casino.

            Mr. Waugh reported that the Rank Organisation was one of Europe’s largest entertainment companies and was proposing to create a £20 million entertainment complex on a site yet to be identified.  Such a facility, he reported, would include a mix of attractions, including a bowling alley, a casino, restaurants and a cinema. The development would incorporate also a hotel and would generate upwards of 200 skilled jobs.  Mr. Waugh pointed out that any proposal for Belfast would require the Council to seek special dispensation from the Northern Ireland Assembly to grant a gambling licence to allow a casino to operate.

            Mr. Waugh suggested that the form of gambling which would take place within the casino would be strictly regulated and monitored. The Rank Organisation would seek to recruit staff locally, specifically from areas of greatest social need. He concluded by pointing out that the Rank Organisation would, if granted permission to operate, extend its responsible gambling programme to Northern Ireland and would seek to engage with parties who may have concerns on the operation of a casino.

            During discussion, a number of Members expressed concern in respect of the proposals which had been presented. In particular, it was pointed out that a casino licence could not be granted in Northern Ireland under the current legislation. In addition, Members referred to the negative social and health impacts of compulsive gambling. Mr. Waugh undertook to consider the issues which had been raised, particularly to the research findings which he had referred to regarding the economic merits of such entertainment complexes, and undertook to clarify such issues at a future meeting of the Committee.

Noted.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1  Background Information

1.1 In August 2013 Members considered an update paper in respect of an International Marketing Framework for Belfast.

1.2 The report considered City Marketing and positioning.  Members approved the following;

·        The development of a city narrative.

·        A refresh of the City Brand ensuring it reflects the city’s ambitions, its values and narrative, which is collectively owned by the City’s stakeholders.

·        Agreed target audiences, product development priorities, marketing materials and communications channels, including a strong digital, on-line presence.

·        Agreement on the optimal structures for co-ordinated marketing of the city.

1.3 Members agreed to the recruitment of an external city marketing expert to undertake this piece of work and approved a budget of up to £50,000 from the existing City development budget to carry out the work.

2    Key Issues

2.1 Recruitment of the external agency/ City marketing expert has been delayed due to the need to align this with other related activity taking place in the Council, including the review of marketing and the community planning process.  It is also important that this aligns with a similar project being undertaken by Invest NI and NITB given Belfast’s importance in a regional context.

2.2 This piece of work is now underway and there have been some opportunities for council officers to feed into the development of the draft proposals.  This will provide a useful regional perspective to help frame the repositioning work for Belfast.

2.3 In parallel, Members will be aware of a range of strategy development activities being led by the council.  These include the Regeneration Strategy and Investment Plan, the draft Integrated Tourism Strategy and draft Economic Strategy.  All of these documents touch on the need to define the city narrative in order to help position Belfast and secure buy-in from partners.

3    Resource Implications

3.1 £50,000 has already been set aside within the existing City development budget during financial year 2014/15.

4    Equality and Good Relations Considerations

4.1 No specific equality or good relations considerations.

5    Recommendations

5.1 It is recommended that Members:

-       Note the contents of this report;

-       Give delegated authority to the Director of Development to approve the most economically advantageous tender for the city positioning work, subject to a form of contract being drawn up by Legal Services.”

            The Committee adopted the recommendations.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1  Relevant Background Information

1.1Members will be aware that the European Social Fund (ESF) is an EU fund to address economic inactivity and increase workforce skills.  In Northern Ireland, the programme is administered by the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL). Funding is allocated by means of an open call for projects.  Successful projects attract funding of up to 65% of the total project cost and project promoters are expected to find the remaining 35% funding from other sources.  Currently, Belfast City Council provides match funding for five projects and supports its HARTE programme – which is delivered by a partnership of local training providers. 

1.2At the August 2014 meeting of the Development Committee, Members were advised of DEL’s plans to launch a call for projects under ESF.  DEL has subsequently advised that the call will be launched in mid November 2014, closing date at the end of December 2014.  Projects will be assessed by a range of selection panels and it is expected that approvals will be issued late January/early February 2015 spanning 2015-2018. 

1.3Members also agreed a proposal to hold an event for training organisations across the city and other relevant partners interested in employability and skills development.  The aim of the event was to understand the scale and nature of existing and planned employability support activities across the city, with a view to informing how Council can best use its resources to support those projects requiring match funding and also ensure that a strategic approach is taken to the employability and skills challenges across the city.  The event took place on 3 September 2014 and almost 60 representatives from local training organisations attended. 

2    Key Issues

2.1Members have been updated on difficulties for the Council, presented by the open call process for ESF.  Updates have been provided in previous reports on officer engagement with DEL staff to identify a way in which the match funding provided by Council and other public sector bodies can be used to contribute to targeted delivery. While many of the individual projects produce positive outputs in their own right, it is almost impossible to measure the overall impact of the investment in terms of skills development or employment outcomes within the city.  In the Belfast City Council area, 44 ESF projects operate (around £35 million over three years) and 18 projects based in Belfast and operate regionally. 

2.2The transfer to councils of responsibility for community development and regeneration powers from Department for Social Development (DSD) means that there is likely to be a much more significant and diverse demand on Council resources to match fund projects in the coming financial year as well as in future years.  While DEL has signalled that there are a number of ESF measures that will be 100% funded i.e. Family Support Programme and measures to target young people aged 16-24 not in education, training or employment – other measures (e.g. support for economically inactive, lone  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

(Councillors Attwood and Garrett attended in relation to this item.)

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.Relevant Background Information

1.1In December 2013, Fold Housing submitted a planning application for a mixed-use scheme on the former Visteon site on Blacks Road in West Belfast.  The proposed development consists of demolition of existing buildings and development of 244 social and private/affordable residential units with access from Blacks Road.  The proposal also involves a non-residential element to include community centre and class B business units with associated parking which will be accessed from Finaghy Road North.

1.2Following meetings with various groups on the proposal, an elected member requested that the Council commission a Feasibility Study of the site.  The purpose of the Feasibility Study was to consider the optimal use of the site to support future city development.  

1.3On 18 March 2014, Development Committee agreed to allocate £15,000 for the preparation of a Feasibility Study on the site.  A consultant was subsequently appointed on 1 August to undertake the Study examining the suitability, viability and deliverability of various land use options on the site. 

1.4A draft Feasibility Study has been completed which explores the following land use options:

Option 1:        All industrial / Business

Option 2:        All residential

Option 3a:      70% Industrial / Business

                        30% Residential

Option 3b:      30% Industrial / Business

                        70% Residential

Option 3c:      40% Industrial / Business

                        40% Residential

            20% Other (Community, Creche, Convenience Store, Nursing Home)

2    Key Issues

2.1Key Development Considerations

2.2Ownership

      The site was acquired by Fold Housing Association in June 2013 at a reported cost of £2.4m.  It is estimated that the cost of demolition and pre-development investigations undertaken to date is approximately £1m.  It is noted that the cost of re-acquiring the site for non-residential use would significantly impact upon the feasibility of any future development options. 

2.3Planning and Policy Considerations

      On the 9th September 2014, the zoning status of the site as unzoned white land was confirmed by DOE Planning via its formal adoption of the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan 2015 (BMAP).  As a result, it is now confirmed that it is no longer designated as an Area of Existing Employment, as previously proposed under draft BMAP.  In this regard, there is no longer a presumption under planning that only employment uses should be developed on this former industrial site.  Rather, the site can be developed for non-employment purposes if it satisfies a number of planning considerations outlined in Planning Policy Statement 4 entitled Planning and Economic Development (PPS 4).

2.4Under PPS 4 a range of land uses can be considered feasible for this site. Indeed, judging by the experience of the former Bass Ireland site on the Glen Road, this can also include mainly residential use. On balance, therefore, the percentage mix of uses proposed under the extant planning application would have to be seriously considered by DOE Planning under the adopted BMAP and PPS 4.

2.5Environmental Factors

      The Feasibility Study examines  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

            The Committee agreed to defer, to its meeting in October, consideration of the above-mentioned report to enable further information to be provided in respect of the proposed costs to the Council in partaking in the campaign.

            The Committee agreed to provide funding in the sum of £7,500, to match fund the sum provided by the Arts Council for Northern Ireland, to enable the appointment of a Music Laureate for Belfast for 2014/2015.  It was noted that the Director would undertake to investigate the feasibility of the Music Laureate delivering a number of outreach activities to local schools and community groups. 

            The Director provided an update regarding the establishment of Community Oil Buying Clubs, a project which the Committee had endorsed at its meeting in June.  He reported that officers from the Department, together with representatives of a range of statutory bodies and agencies, had developed a ‘practical guide for setting up a club’, which was aimed particularly at community groups and workers within Belfast.  It was pointed out that the public launch of that guide would take place in the City Hall on Tuesday 28th October, and that all Members of the Committee would be invited to attend.

            Noted.