Agenda item

            The Committee considered a report which provided an update on the current status of Objective 3.1 - Shared Spaces and Services under Peace IV which had been designed to support capital projects and specifically an update on the status of the two projects, the Shankill Women’s Centre (SWC) and Black Mountain Shared Space (BMSS), for which the Council had previously agreed to act as delivery agent.

            After discussion, the Committee:

·        noted the update on Peace IV - Shared Spaces and Services theme and that as a result of only 2 projects (both outside of the Belfast area) successfully receiving a commitment for funding under the last round of funding that the call for applications under this theme has been re-opened;

·        noted the feedback on the SWC and BMSS applications under the previous round of funding as outlined in paragraph 3.3 of the report and that both projects were informed that value for money including ongoing sustainability and quality of project design were key areas of concern for SEUPB;

·        noted that in the next round of funding that SEUPB have stressed that no project will succeed unless a number of key criteria are demonstrated particularly that the ongoing revenue costs are secured and evidenced.  Reflecting this they are advising that each application must be submitted by a lead partner who will effectively act as the ‘guarantor’ for projects and who will be responsible for underwriting construction costs, ongoing sustainability costs etc.

·        noted that there is strong support for, and commitment to, both the BMSS and SWC projects – both are in the Peace IV Springfield regeneration area and the Council are the owners of the BMSS site;

·        in light of the above, agreed, given the previous Committee decision to act as delivery agent and on the basis of the points set out below, that the Council continues to support the BMSS and SWC applications under this second call and acts as the lead partner for both projects -  and noted the potential implications of this decision  particularly from an ongoing revenue perspective:

o   the Council is in ownership of one of the sites;

o   the council’s commitment to Shared Space;

o   the Council’s commitment to Interface Regeneration;

o   the existing partnership and relationship in the development of the projects;

o   the scale of the potential of the investment for Belfast (over £10 million); and

o   to ensure Belfast gains maximum investment from the Peace IV programme;

·        in agreeing that the Council acts as the lead partner for BMSS and SWC, the Council reserves the right to relook at the scope of both applications and their business case, designs, governance etc. and that, in parallel to supporting the application process, a robust financial due-diligence is undertaken from a Council perspective in relation to the ongoing revenue implications and their potential impact from a rates perspective with the results of this due-diligence process to be brought back to Committee;

·        noted that given the stringent requirements on demonstrating ongoing sustainability it was likely that the Council may be approached by other groups within the city to support their applications and take on the role of lead partner – given the implications of this and the resources requirements needed to help support groups it was agreed that the Council does not accede to any further requests for support.