Agenda and minutes

The Chief Executive submitted the summons convening the meeting.

            Apologies were reported on behalf of Alderman Browne and Councillors Bradshaw, Newton and Walsh.

            Moved by the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor,

Seconded by the Deputy Lord Mayor and

      Resolved - That the minutes of the proceedings of the monthly meeting of the Council of 1st December and the special meetings of the Council of 1st and 16th December be taken as read and signed as correct.

            The Chief Executive reported that requests to film and record the proceedings of the meeting had been received from a number of broadcasting organisations.

            The Council granted the approval sought.

            Members referred to a range of individuals from the City who had been recognised in the New Year’s Honours List. In particular, tributes were paid to the former Lord Mayor Pat McCarthy, Mr. Nigel Grimshaw and Mr. Carl Frampton.

            The Lord Mayor, on behalf of the Council, congratulated all those individuals who had been recognised in the New Year’s Honours List.

            The Deputy Lord Mayor expressed congratulations to those Council staff who had been involved in the hosting of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards at the SSE Arena in December.

            The Lord Mayor reported that Mr. Danny Lavery, a former Deputy Lord Mayor, had recently undergone a surgical procedure and expressed his best wishes to Mr. Lavery for a speedy recovery.

Moved by Councillor Boyle,

Seconded by Councillor Long,

      That the minutes of the proceedings of the Strategic and Policy and Resources Committee of 18th December be approved and adopted.

Moved by Alderman Kingston,

Seconded by Alderman Stalford,

      That the decision of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee of 18th December, under the above-mentioned heading, be rejected and accordingly the Council agrees to welcome the attendance of the Northern Ireland team, manager, coaches and officials of the Irish Football Association at the civic reception which was held in the City Hall on 9th November in celebration of Northern Ireland’s qualification for the European Championship tournament in France; and welcomes also the qualification of the three other national teams from  the  British Isles, i.e., England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland, and agrees that the Lord Mayor write to all four national football associations expressing our congratulations on qualifying for the 2016 European Championships.

            On a recorded vote, twenty-two Members voted for the amendment and thirty-four against and it was declared lost.

Further Amendment

Moved by Alderman Rodgers,

Seconded by Councillor Dudgeon,

      That the decision of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee of 18th December, under the above-mentioned heading, be rejected and accordingly the Council agrees to invite the football teams from the three home countries, i.e., England, Wales and Northern Ireland, along with the Republic of Ireland, to a reception in the City Hall to mark their achievements in qualifying for the 2016 European Championships.

            On a recorded vote, twenty Members voted for the amendment and thirty-three against, with three ‘no votes’ recorded, and it was declared lost.

            At the request of Councillor R. Brown, and with the consent of the Council, it was agreed that the minute of the meeting of 18th December, under the above-mentioned heading, be amended to provide that the remit of the proposed feasibility study for the development and delivery of the City Energy Strategy would be submitted to the Committee for its consideration prior to it being finalised.

Adoption of Minutes

            Subject to the foregoing amendment, the minutes of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee of 18th December were approved and adopted.

Moved by Councillor Boyle,

Seconded by Councillor Hargey and

      Resolved - That the Council agrees to confirm the amendments to its Standing Orders, as set out within the summons for the meeting, to take account of the establishment of the Belfast Waterfront and Ulster Hall Shareholders’ Committee.

Moved by Councillor Corr Johnston,

Seconded by Alderman McKee,

      That the minutes of the proceedings of the People and Communities Committee of 8th December be approved and adopted.

Amendment

Moved by Councillor Corr,

Seconded by Councillor Ó Donnghaile,

      That the decision of the People and Communities Committee of 8th December, under the heading “Court of Appeal Hearing Update – Dual Language Street Sign at Ballymurphy Drive”, be rejected and accordingly the Council agrees to exercise its discretion and approve the application to erect a second street nameplate in Irish at Ballymurphy Drive.

            On a recorded vote, twenty-four Members voted for the amendment and twenty-six against and it was declared lost.

Amendment

Amateur Boxing Strategy – Update

Moved by Alderman Kingston,

Seconded by Alderman McKee,

      That the decision of the People and Communities Committee of 8th December, under the above-mentioned heading, be amended to provide that the Council agrees to write to Sport NI requesting that it provide an update on the progress which has been achieved in enabling those clubs affiliated to the Northern Ireland Boxing Association to receive official recognition by that organisation.

            On a recorded vote, thirty-five Members voted for the amendment, and seventeen against, with two ‘no votes’ recorded, and it was declared carried.

Adoption of Minutes

            Subject to the foregoing amendment, the minutes of the People and Communities Committee of 8th December were approved and adopted.

Moved by Councillor Hargey,

Seconded by Councillor Howard and

      Resolved - That the minutes of the proceedings of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee of 3rd and 9th December be approved and adopted.

Moved by Councillor Hussey,

Seconded by Councillor Dudgeon and

      Resolved - That the minutes of the proceedings of the Licensing Committee of 16th December, omitting matters in respect of which the Council had delegated its powers to the Committee, be approved and adopted.

Moved by Councillor Garrett,

Seconded by Councillor Armitage and

      Resolved - That the minutes of the proceedings of the Planning Committee of 15th and 17th December, omitting matters in respect of which the Council has delegated its powers to the Committee, be approved and adopted.

            In the absence of Councillor Bradshaw, the Council agreed, in accordance with Standing Order 13(i), that the notice of motion standing in her name be withdrawn from the agenda. It was noted that Councillor Bradshaw wished to place the notice of motion on the agenda for the Council’s monthly meeting in February.

Move by Councillor Mullan,

Seconded by Councillor Craig,

      “In March, 2013 the former Belfast City Council unanimously supported a motion calling for the then Minister for Health to introduce an opt-out organ donation scheme in order to increase the number of organ donors.

      This Council welcomes the movement of the Human Transplantation Bill through the Assembly, which is designed to save lives by changing the system of consent for transplantation by making it "the societal norm". This new ‘soft opt-out’ system with appropriate family safeguards; a requirement for express consent in certain cases and the ability for people to nominate advocates to affirm their wishes upon death; aims to increase the number of organ donors here.  

      The Council notes with concern the continuing shortage of organ donors, and agrees to write again to the Minister of Health urging him to support such a scheme, which would help save the lives of the many seriously ill people currently on long waiting lists and who are dependent on the gift of organ donation.” 

On a vote by show of hands, forty-three Members voted for the motion and four against and it was declared carried.

“This Council agrees to send a letter to the Minister requesting the Minister to bring in legislation to prevent vehicles from overtaking school buses while the bus is stationary and children are departing from it.”

Move by Councillor Boyle,

Seconded by Alderman Convery,

      “This Council agrees to write to the Minister for Regional Development requesting that she introduce legislation to prevent vehicles from over-taking school buses while the vehicle is stationary and children are departing from it.”

            At the request of Alderman McGimpsey, Councillor Boyle agreed that second last line of his motion be amended to include the following:

      “This Council agrees to write to the Minister for Regional Development requesting that she introduce legislation to prevent vehicles from over-taking school buses while the vehicle is stationary and children are ‘getting on to or’ departing from it.”

Amendment

Moved by Councillor Sandford,

Seconded by Alderman Stalford, 

      “This Council agrees to write to Minister for Education and to the Minister for the Environment asking what additional road safety measures could be introduced to increase the safety of children when they are getting on and off school buses.”

            The amendment was put to the Council and passed unanimously. It was then put to the Council as the substantive motion and passed unanimously.