Agenda and minutes

            Apologies for inability to attend were reported from Aldermen McCoubrey and Smyth and Councillor McCarthy.

            No declarations were reported.

            It was reported that correspondence had been received from the Roads Service in respect of the notification of a request to amend legislation at one of the Glengall Street coach parking bays to enable the changing of the smaller coach parking bay to a bus stop.  A copy of the correspondence in relation to the matter was made available at the meeting for the information of the Members.

            The Committee noted the information which had been provided.

            It was noted that no requests had been received.

(Mr. T. Martin, Head of Building Control, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Head of Building Control reminded the Committee that, at its meeting on 17th April, the Licensing Committee had approved an Amusement Permit Policy, the overall aim of which was to provide guidance for Members, Officers, applicants and the general public to ensure greater clarity, transparency and consistency in the decision-making process when considering applications for amusement permits.  A copy of the Amusement Arcade Policy was available on the Modern.gov website.

            Mr. Martin advised the Committee that the policy contained five criteria for assessing the suitability of a location for a proposed amusement arcade, viz.,

·         its impact on the retail vitality and viability of Belfast;

·         a cumulative build-up of amusement arcades in a particular location;

·         the impact on the image and profile of Belfast;

·         its proximity to residential use; and

·         its proximity to schools, youth centres and residential institutions.

            He informed the Committee that, whilst the policy was intended primarily to provide a guide for assessing applications for amusement permits by the Licensing Committee, its inter-relationship with planning policy would imply that it should also act as guidance for decision-making on related applications for planning permission by the Town Planning Committee.  This was because applicants were usually required (except in the case of renewing amusement permits) to first obtain planning permission for the proposed amusement arcade from the Planning Service before applying for an amusement permit from the Council.

            In that regard, the Committee’s agreement was being sought for officers to establish the following process:

·         the Democratic Services Section to distribute the Planning Consultation lists to the Building Control Service, via email, highlighting any planning applications for amusement arcades;

·         the Democratic Services Section to routinely ask the Planning Service to remove any applications for amusement arcades from their Streamlined application list, to provide sufficient time for the Building Control Service to assess the application against the Amusement Permit Policy and report to the Committee;

·         the Building Control Service to report to the Town Planning Committee when a planning application for an amusement arcade was to be considered; and

·         the Town Planning Committee would include in its response to the Planning Service on any planning application for an amusement arcade, reference to the Amusement Permit Policy and whether or not the application complied with the Policy.

The Committee agreed to take the Amusement Permit Policy into account when considering planning applications in respect of amusement arcades and agreed further that the above-mentioned process would be developed to ensure that the Town Planning Committee was given the necessary information about the policy and the location of any proposed amusement arcade to enable the Members to be informed fully when considering such planning applications.

            The Committee noted a list of new planning applications which had been received by the Planning Service from 23rd April until 6th May.

            The Committee noted information which had been received regarding the dates for the holding of future appeals.

            The Committee noted a list of decisions which had been issued by the Planning Service between 24th April and 8th May in respect of streamlined planning applications.

            The Committee noted a list of deferred items which were still under consideration by the Planning Office.  A Member pointed out that there was an increasing number of applications included on the list and requested the Planning Service to process the outstanding items expeditiously.

            The Committee considered further the undernoted planning applications and adopted the recommendations of the Divisional Planning Manager thereon:

            The Committee considered the schedule of planning applications which had been submitted by the Divisional Planning Manager in respect of the Council area and agreed to adopt the recommendations contained therein.