(report to follow)
Minutes:
The Committee considered the undernoted report:
“1 Relevant Background Information
1.1 The purpose of this report is to seek agreement on the membership of steering groups to oversee –
1. The Titanic Centenary, the Olympic celebrations and the associated promotion of the City to the international tourism market;
2. The ongoing development of Titanic Quarter
1.2 The report will also update Members on progress in the development of the NI 2012 business case to the N.I. Executive.
1.3 At a meeting of the Development Committee on 5th November 2010 a report was brought forward on Belfast and Northern Ireland 2012. The report highlighted the fact that 2012 would be marked by a number of high profile events, which provided an opportunity to market Northern Ireland and Belfast in the international market place and in doing so create a step change in the contribution which international tourism could make to the economy of Belfast and Northern Ireland.
The events include –
- The centenary of RMS Titanic
- The opening of the Titanic Signature Project
- The opening of the MAC
- The 50th anniversary of the Belfast Festival at Queen’s
- The 150th anniversary of the Ulster Hall
- The opening of the SS Nomadic
- The completion of the Giants Causeway Visitor Centre
1.4 The report also highlighted that in addition to those events, the staging of the 2012 Olympic Games in London presented significant opportunities for Belfast to become involved in the wider activities relating to the Games including:
- the installation of a ‘live screen’ in the grounds of City Hall;
- participation in the Legacy Trusts Community Celebrations via the Land of Giants proposal; and
- the staging of the Olympic Torch Relay.
1.5 Following discussion, the Committee agreed that:
- an All-Party Steering Group be established to oversee the Council’s input into the 2012 Programme and the development of the Titanic Quarter;
- authority be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Town Solicitor and Assistant Chief Executive, to sign a legal agreement in regard to facilitating the Olympic Torch Relay; and
- to allocate, in principle, the sum of £600K to a Land of Legends Programme for Belfast in 2012 subject to a further report providing a more detailed analysis of the Programme and a breakdown of the costs being submitted to the Committee and the allocation of a further £200K be considered by the aforementioned Steering Group.
1.6 In the course of the discussion of the report, a number of Members indicated there would be a number of historic centenaries occurring over the period 2012/2022, which the Council would need to consider in addition to those identified in the report.
1.7 At the Council meeting of 1 December, 2010 it was decided that an All-Party Steering Group be established to oversee the Council’s input into the 2012 Programme and the development of the Titanic Quarter; that the group consider the issue of the decade of centenaries and that a core set of principles should be developed which would apply to all these events.
1.8 Subsequent to the Council meeting, a report was tabled at the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee seeking Members’ direction on how they would want to take the matter forward and to determine the allocation of responsibilities to the Development Committee and the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee.
1.9 The Committee decided an All-Party Working Group be established, which would be convened from the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee to consider historic centenaries over the next decade and that a further report on the Steering Group being created to deal principally with the Titanic and the Olympic Games celebrations and the marketing of the City related thereto would be submitted to the Development Committee. For the sake of completeness, the Historic Centenaries Working Group, reporting to the Strategic Policy & Resources Committee, has now been established and had its initial meeting on Monday 7 February.
The purpose of this report is to deal with the Titanic and Olympic celebrations.
1.10 At a special meeting of the Development Committee on 30th November 2010, the Committee considered progress on the Titanic Quarter Memorandum Of Understanding. Following the progress report, the Committee agreed that further consideration should be given to the setting up of an All-Party Steering Group to oversee the development of Titanic Quarter, which would be separate from the All-Party Group established to oversee the 2012 events. That recommendation was accepted by Council at its meeting on 5th January, 2011.
That recommendation now needs to be considered in line with the recommendation of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee set out above.
2 Key Issues
2012 Events
2.1 At the special Development Committee meting on 5th November, 2010 the Committee was provided with a copy of the draft 2012 Events Programme commissioned by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.
2.2 The purpose of the above report was to provide the basis for a business case which is to be presented to the Northern Ireland Executive to secure funding for the events outlined with the Programme.
The key objectives of the business case are –
- create a positive and distinct visitor experience for those visiting Belfast and Northern Ireland in 2012;
- showcase Belfast and Northern Ireland on the local, national and international stage as a unique place to live, learn, work and visit;
- explore notable events in Belfast and Northern Ireland’s culture and heritage and celebrate its major contribution to the world;
- build an awareness in Belfast and Northern Ireland that will motivate tourists to visit during 2012 and thus create a step change in the number of international visitors in the future;
- develop a volunteer greeters’ programme to ensure a warm welcome and a quality visitor experience at events; and
- develop a sense of belonging and pride amongst local people.
2.3 Following the presentation of the draft report in November, a creative team was drawn together from Northern Ireland’s cultural community supported by James Waters of Festivals and Events International (FEI). On 31 January, a final NI 2012 programme was presented to the NI 2012 Steering, which was chaired by DETI Permanent Secretary, David Sterling. A copy of the report is attached (Appendix 1).
2.4 A large number of potential projects were considered by the creative team from which 7 Tier One signature projects have been identified.
They are –
- Titanic Signature Launch (Belfast)
- Land of Giants (Belfast)
- Clipper (Derry/Londonderry)
- PeaceOne and PeaceCamp (Derry/Londonderry)
- Giants Causeway Visitor Centre Opening
- Belfast Festival at Queen’s
- Magic Lantern – Titanic stories (Web presence)
2.5 The detail of each of these proposed projects is set out in Appendix 1, however, it should be noted that the Titanic Signature Launch consists of a series of 5 events to be spread over a period of time.
They are –
- A Visionary High – Tech Light Show projected onto to the Titanic Signature building;
- Titanic on Trial – a play commissioned by Belfast Festival at Queen’s;
- Choirs and Songs of Belfast, a cross-community choral project celebrating the traditional songs of the City involving over 1,000 people;
- Major Rock event on the Titanic Shipways.
2.6 The Land of Giants project has secured funding of £750K from the Cultural Olympiad Legacy Trust and is the subject of a separate report to this meeting of the Development Committee
2.7 It is proposed that the Tier One events would be supported by a number of other high quality Tier 2 events, which would contribute to the success of N.I. 2012. It is anticipated this would typically be existing events which could bid for additional funding from the NITB Events budget.
2.8 The total cost of delivering and marketing the programme of Tier One and Tier 2 events is in the region of £6.6m. It is recognised, however, that this is subject to the business case being acceptable to the N.I. Executive and funding being allocated accordingly.
2.9 In recognition that the full funding package may not be realised, the Tier One events have been prioritised as follows;
- Titanic Belfast Launch;
- Belfast Festival at Queens;
- Clipper;
- Land of Giants;
- Giants Causeway;
- Cultural Olympaid Projects;
- Magic Lantern – Titanic Stories.
It is the view of the consultants that at least 4 of the above list would need to proceed if the initiative is to achieve its objectives.
2.10 It is anticipated that the Belfast City Council Events Team would oversee the Titanic Belfast Launch events.
2.11 The DETI Permanent Secretary has agreed to submit a cross-departmental business case to the NI Executive on behalf of all the relevant Government departments who are involved in the funding and delivery of the NI 2012 Programme.
2.12 2012 Olympics
In addition to the Cultural Olympiad Legacy project, Land of Giants referred to above, the Council’s main involvement is the 2012 Olympic celebrations will be in the Olympic Torch Relay. The London Olympics Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOGOC) have written to the Council confirming receipt of the Council’s Letter of Agreement to Belfast becoming a Host Community for the Relay. Under the agreement the Council are bound to a confidentiality clause until the programme is launched.
2.13 The next steps therefore remain confidential at this stage, however, once they become known a further report will be brought to the Committee for its consideration.
2.14 As highlighted in Paragraph 1.9 above, the Development Committee at its meeting on 30th November 2010, asked that consideration be given to setting up a separate All-Party Steering Group to oversee development of the Titanic Quarter, which would be distinct from that proposed to look after the 2012 Titanic and Olympic events programme.
2.15 Having considered the complexity of the issued relating to the development of Titanic Quarter and the delivery of the objectives of the Titanic Memorandum of Understanding and the scale of the 2012 Events Programme, officers would agree that 2 distinct and separate working groups would be the most appropriate way forward.
2.16 A separate report on the development of the Titanic Quarter will be brought to the Committee in due course.
3 Resource Implications
3.1 Financial Resources
The overall projected expenditure associated with the Programme is £6.4m.
At its meeting of 5 November, 2010 the Committee agreed, in principle, the sum of £600K to the Events Programme for Belfast in 2012 subject to a more detailed analysis of the Programme and a breakdown of the costs. It was further agreed that a further £400K be considered by the aforementioned Steering Group.
3.2 Human Resources
The Belfast City Events Team will provide administrative support and expert advice to the company set up to deliver the Land of Giants project. In addition, it is anticipated that it will take the lead in delivering the Titanic Launch element of the NI 2012 Programme and support LOGOG – organising the Olympic Torch run.
The Events Team will be supported by officers across the Council in the form of a cross-departmental 2012 Events Team.
4 Equality and Good Relations Considerations
4.1 The Titanic Belfast projects and the Land of Giants are to be designed to ensure the engagement of all sections of the community across the City. The Council’s Good Relations Unit will participate in the cross-departmental 2012 Events Team.
5 Recommendations
5.1 Members are asked to:
1. Agree the memberships of All-Party Working Groups to oversee;
- The 2012 Events Programme, the associated marketing of the City and the events relating to the 2012 Olympic Games;
- The development of Titanic Quarter.
2. Endorse the NI 2012 Events Programme set out in Appendix 1.
3. Support the proposal that a cross-departmental business case be submitted to the NI Executive for the allocation of funding for the NI 2012 Programme.
4. Consider how the Council contribute to gaining political support for the proposal.
5. Note that a further report on the development of Titanic Quarter will come to Committee at a future date.
6 Decision Tracking
Regular reports will be brought to the Development Committee via the All-Party Working Groups.”
After discussion, during which the Director of Development outlined how the programme of activities would appeal to local communities throughout Belfast, the Committee adopted the recommendations as set out in the foregoing report.