Agenda item

            The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1       The purpose of this report is to update Members on the following Notice of Motion:

            ‘This Council notes that, with the Belfast Agenda and the Local Development Plan coming into reality, there will be a need for 66,000 new housing units by 2035. This will need an imaginative response by all, including the Council.

            The Council calls upon all statutory bodies to review their land ownership and to determine if any such land is surplus and suitable for housing.  Subject to legal requirements, the Council asks that consideration be given to making that land available to meet any identified housing needs and projected needs in terms of growth.

            The Council is committed to a shared future and, therefore, is committed to shared housing. This shared housing should consist of community background, private and social housing.’

1.2       Proposed by Councillor Armitage and seconded by Councillor Nicholl, at Council on 3rd January, and was referred to the People & Communities Committee for consideration.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to;

·        Note the update provided.

3.0       Main report

3.1       Key Issues

            Members are reminded that the Notice of Motion that was brought to the January Council meeting around housing provision was discussed by this Committee at its meeting on 6th January.  It was agreed at that meeting that the Director of City and Neighbourhood Services would liaise with officers from other services within the Council to ensure that there is no duplication of work. A summary of the work ongoing is outlined below.  Members should note that one of the ambitions in the Belfast Agenda is that our city is home to an additional 66,000 people by 2035, which will require approximately 32,860 housing units.

3.2       The Council is currently undertaking an Urban Capacity Study (UCS), which is an assessment of the potential for land across the city to accommodate housing and employment uses (or both in some cases).  It will form a key part of the evidence base for the Local Development Plan and will be published as a technical supplement to the LDP when it goes out for consultation in the coming months.  It is key to note that at this stage the UCS only considers land that is obviously surplus to requirements.   

3.3       One of the key actions in the Department for Communities’ (DfC) delivery plan for the draft Programme for Government is the creation of a central register of surplus public sector land that may be suitable for housing.  Officers have met with DfC and they have advised that this work is ongoing and that they are currently identifying surplus land within the estates of 4 departments. They did not provide the detail of which departments they are working with.

3.4       The Council’s Planning Service also complete an annual monitoring report which is a high level report of the land zoned for housing and land that has planning approvals for housing.  This report provides a monitor of how much land has housing built on it but it will not identify surplus land if it has not already been zoned for housing.

3.5       The City Centre Development team are currently undertaking a number of pieces of work that relate to housing provision in the city centre. ‘City Centre Living’ is a workstream that builds on a previous Council motion around housing, and an update was taken to City Growth and Regeneration Committee in January following a study visit and workshop in the autumn. The City Centre Living workstream is considering a number of issues, including how to promote residential development above commercial and retail premises. It is also specifically looking at how to make use of publicly owned land in the city centre, and the City Centre Development team are already working with DfC, NIHE and others on this. Alongside the use of land itself, City Centre Living is also about public and private sector partners promoting mixed use, mixed tenure housing schemes that incorporate tenure-blind design and other positive design features. In terms of the City Centre Regeneration and Investment Strategy (CCRIS), the Belfast Agenda and the Local Development Plan.  A report providing Members with an update on this work was brought to the City Growth and Regeneration Committee meeting in January 2018.  This update provided information on the study visit and workshop which had taken place in October 2017.  

3.6       Additionally, the City Centre Development Team is currently undertaking consultation on the draft Inner North West Masterplan. This document will help to guide and direct development in the area between Queen Street and Donegall Street in the city centre, informing types of uses and character of developments coming forward, whilst also establishing design principles such as how this area connects to surrounding neighbourhoods and other parts of the city. This consultation ends on 8th May.

3.7       Members are assured that Officers from the various services will continue to liaise around overlapping pieces of work in relation to housing provision, and updates will be brought to the relevant Committee as required. 

3.8       Financial & Resource Implications

            There are no financial or resource implications associated with this report.

3.9       Equality or Good Relations Implications

            There are no equality or good relations implications associated with this report.”

            The Committee noted the update.