Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

 

 

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

 

1.1       The Council’s Capital Programme is a rolling programme of investment which either improves existing Council facilities or provides new Council facilities. This report outlines highlights of current status of projects under the Programme along with projects recommended to be moved Stages.

 

2.0       Recommendations

 

2.1       The Committee is asked to;

 

            General

 

·        note the update in relation to the Capital Programme as outlined in 3.1 and that the Property & Projects Department is happy to arrange site visits for Members/ Party Groups to any capital project (section 3.1)

 

            Proposed movements on/additions to the Capital Programme

 

·        agree that the IT Programme - Corporate Asset Management System is moved to Stage 3- Committed - Tier 0 – Schemes at Risk pending the tender return price at which stage the final budget will be brought back to Committee.  Members are further asked to agree that the necessary procurement processes be initiated as required with contracts to be awarded on the basis of most economically advantageous tenders received and full commitment to deliver (section 3.3-3.7)

·        agree that the following projects at are moved to Stage 2 - Uncommitted on the Capital Programme

 

-       Waste Plan – New citywide kerbside collection system – OBC to be worked up and brought back to Committee for further consideration (section 3.9 - 3.10)

-       Waste Plan – Waste Transfer Station Upgrade - OBC to be worked up and brought back to Committee for further consideration (section 3.11)

-       Belfast Zoo – Works at the Large Cats Enclosure and the Aviary -  OBC to be worked up and brought back to Committee for further consideration (3.12-3.14)

 

 

3.0       Main report

 

            Key Issues

 

3.1       The Council’s rolling Capital Programme is a significant programme with over £185m of projects recently completed or currently underway. Members are asked to note the updates under the Capital Programme since the last update report. 

 

            Projects recently completed/in final stages of completion

 

·        the £3.8m upgrade of the Tropical Ravine which has been handed over to the C&NS Department – the project was officially opened on Wednesday 11th April by the Lord Mayor, Cllr McAllister and Sir Peter Luff, the Chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund.  The opening was extensively covered by local media and reaction to the new building has been overwhelmingly positive

·        New 3G pitches and pavilions at Falls Park and Cherryvale as part of the Pitches Strategy

·        Works on Phase 2 of Olympia which includes includes the construction of a new pitch and play park, re-provision of Midgley Park, a new tree lined boulevard leading from the Boucher Road and the development of two commercial sites at the front of the site. Works are due to complete in the coming weeks with an official opening planned for the end of May. In addition Members are asked to note that the two sites which front onto the Boucher Road have now been put out to the market with a particular emphasis on uses which would be complementary to the sports village such as a hotel or leisure.  Members are asked to note that a report will be brought to Committee following receipt of offers and that any deal would be subject to Planning and the purchaser(s) would be expected to develop within an agreed timeframe. 

·        Playground Refurbishment Programme 2017-2018 - three major refurbishments at Hanwood, Botanic Gardens and Blythefield and minor/partial refurbishments at six other sites across the city

 

            Projects currently on the ground

 

·        Works on the new leisure facilities at Andersonstown, Robinson and Brook 

·        New mini 3G pitch at Clarendon

·        Upgrade works at the West Wing outdoor space, City Hall (including the Cenotaph)

·        Environmental upgrades at Falls Park and Skegoneil

·        Phase 4 of the citywide alleygating programme

 

            Projects at tender preparation stage 

 

·        Preparatory work is continuing on a wide range of projects including Avoniel and Templemore leisure redevelopments, the City Cemetery HLF project, the baby plot memorial at the City Cemetery and a range of IT projects including a new HR/payroll system

 

            Proposed movements on the Capital Programme 

 

3.2       Members have previously agreed that all capital projects must go through a 3 Stage process where decisions on which projects progress are taken by SP&R. Members are asked to agree to the following movements on the Capital Programme

 

Project	Overview	Stage
Corporate Asset Management System	Part of the IT programme – development and implementation of a fit for purpose corporate asset management system	Move to Stage 3- Committed Recommended to be held as at Tier 0 - Scheme at Risk pending tender return
Waste Plan – New kerbside collection system	The implementation of a new city wide kerbside collection scheme for dry recyclables and food waste. Required to help the Council met its challenging recycling targets Identified in the 10 Year Waste Plan agreed by the People and Communities Committee in June 2017	Move from Stage 1 Emerging to Stage 2- Uncommitted
Waste Plan – Waste Transfer Station upgrade	Construction of an additional Waste Transfer Station at the North Foreshore, to accept segregated dry recyclables and food waste from a kerbside sort collection scheme, as well as other associated recyclables. Required to help the Council met its challenging recycling targets Identified in the 10 Year Waste Plan agreed by the People and Communities Committee in June 2017	Move from Stage 1 Emerging to Stage 2- Uncommitted
Belfast Zoo – Works to the Large Cats Enclosure and the Aviary	Members have previously agreed their ambitions and objectives for the Zoo and will be aware that a feasibility study on the longer term management options for the Zoo is currently underway.  This proposal focuses on proposed immediate works required to the Large Cats Enclosure and the Aviary. Members are asked to note that work is also underway on looking at the wider capital investment requirements at the Zoo and the development of a wider capital financing strategy for these	Move from Stage 1 Emerging to Stage 2- Uncommitted

 

                                 Move to Stage 3 – Committed

 

                                 IT Programme - Corporate Asset Management System

 

3.3                           

Moved to Stage 2- Uncommitted on the Capital Programme	January 2016
Senior Responsible Owner (SRO)	Gerry Millar
Client Department	Property & Projects

 

            Members will be aware that prior to local government reorganisation in 2015 the Council already owned and managed a substantial estate.  This was significantly enhanced under LGR with the addition of over 70 assets which transferred from Lisburn and Castlereagh and has further increased since this time with the completion of new assets.  Due to the growing estate there is a requirement for the Council to have a fit for purpose corporate asset management system to support the strategic objectives of better financial management, information management, planning and performance and asset management. 

 

3.4       Over the last number of months a series of Envisioning/Discovery’ Workshops have been held to assist in the identification of outcomes, business aims and scope of system in order to produce a final systems specification for procurement purposes for the new system. In addition a cross departmental Steering Group, consisting of representatives from Estates, Facilities, PMU, Digital Services, Finance, C&NS and Legal, has been set-up and is meeting regularly to identify all asset related data, interdependencies, relevant processes and business service linkages in relation to the use and management of land and property information across the Council.

 

3.5       As part of recent pre procurement market research, officers attended a number of system demonstrations and undertook a comparative costing exercise. These are however impacted by the fact that there are a number of different options available which are impacted by how the system is hosted (i.e. on premise versus hosted by another organisation).  Given this, it is not possible to this point to accurately allocate a budget and that the only way to obtain definitive costings will be to go out to the market for tender via an open procurement process. In parallel to the procurement process, officers will continue the process mapping exercise, collation of asset related data-sets and cleansing of data..

 

3.6       It is therefore recommended that the Corporate Asset Management System is moved to Stage 3 – Committed on the Capital Programme but that this is recommended to be moved to Tier 0 – Schemes at Risk pending the tender return price.  An update will be brought back to Committee at this stage along with the final budget allocation and confirmation that this is within the affordability limits of the Council.

 

3.7       In addition Members are asked to agree that the necessary procurement processes be initiated with contracts to be awarded on the basis of most economically advantageous tenders received and full commitment to deliver for the above projects as required – this will be subject to SP&R approval in relation to the final budget allocation.

 

            Move to Stage 2- Uncommitted

 

3.8       Members are asked to note that moving a project to Stage 2 – Uncommitted on the Capital Programme does not constitute a decision to invest in any project.  OBC’s for these projects will now be worked up which will include firming up the options and the costs and further information will be brought back to Committee in due course.

 

3.9                            Waste Plan – New kerbside collection system

 

Moved to Stage 2- Uncommitted on the Capital Programme	January 2016
Senior Responsible Owner (SRO)	Gerry Millar
Client Department	Property & Projects

 

                                 Members will be aware of that the Council has significant waste targets to meet and as part of this in June 2017 the People and Communities Committee agreed the Council’s 10 Year Waste Framework.  This Framework set out the challenging targets which the Council is required to meet in terms of recycling levels including the statutory obligations under the Northern Ireland Landfill Allowance Scheme (NILAS) aimed at reducing the tonnage of waste disposed of at landfill and achieving a 50% recycling rate by 2020 as well as aiming towards a 65% recycling target by 2030. In addition other legislation such as the Food Waste Regulations (2015) has shifted the dynamics on how waste will be collected and treated. Given this there will be a requirement for capital investment in order to ensure that the Council can meet these targets and one of the options proposed under the Waste Framework is the implementation of a new citywide multi-sort, kerbside collection of dry recyclables and food waste.

 

3.10     Members are asked to note that DAERA is seeking to drive improved recycling performance in order to attain the 50% recycling rate for NI by 2020 as required under the EU Waste Framework Directive. It is supportive of the above proposed new kerbside system and is in the process of determining the level of financial support available to Councils which embrace segregated waste collection arrangements. It should be noted that the window of opportunity in terms of the funding arrangements with DAERA is likely to be extremely tight and it is therefore recommended that this project is now moved to Stage 2 – Uncommitted on the Capital Programme so that further detail can be worked through the development of the OBC.

 

3.11     Waste Plan – Waste Transfer Station Upgrade

 

Agreed as an Stage 1- Emerging Project	November 2017
Senior Responsible Owner (SRO)	Nigel Grimshaw
Client Department	City & Neighbourhood Services

 

                                 The Council currently relies heavily upon the private waste management sector to store, treat and dispose of its waste and the Waste Plan therefore identified as a priority the need for increased self-sufficiency for the Council. Related to the above proposed project Members are asked to note that the challenging recycling targets and the proposed implementation of a new city-wide kerbside collection system will have an impact on the Council’s current waste infrastructure. The Waste Plan therefore identified a potential expansion and improvement to the waste facilities at the North Foreshore involving the construction of an additional Waste Transfer Station (WTS) for segregated materials arising from the proposed change to kerbside collection schemes and any associated recyclables which may arise from further segregation of the residual waste stream.  Members are asked to note that the development of a new Waste Transfer Station will also provide additional capacity and contingency arrangements in the event of an unplanned closure of one of the bays in the existing WTS.  It is therefore recommended that this project is now moved to Stage 2 – Uncommitted on the Capital Programme so that further detail can be worked through the development of the OBC.

 

3.12     Belfast Zoo –Works to the Large Cats Enclosure and the Aviary

 

Agreed as an Stage 1- Emerging Project	January 2018
Senior Responsible Owner (SRO)	Nigel Grimshaw
Client Department	City & Neighbourhood Services

 

                                 As part of the discussion of the long-term future of Belfast Zoo, Members have identified priorities for change that include:

 

·        Enhancing the customer offer to generate additional revenue streams

·        Building a reputation for providing a high-quality visitor experience which brings people back time and again as well as attracting new customers and increasing dwell time

·        Providing assurance that the health and wellbeing of the animals is maintained

·        Providing strong education and conservation programmes

·        Providing an ability to access external grants and potential for generating third party investment for improvements

·        reducing the current Belfast City Council subsidy

·        Contributing to the Belfast Agenda

 

3.13     The SP&R Committee agreed in January that the ‘Belfast Zoo – Programme of Works’ project be added to the Capital Programme as a Stage 1- Emerging Project and that this would focus on two key work streams including

 

1.     Short-term – eradicate immediate health and safety issues that will in-turn generate additional revenue opportunities for the Zoo including proposed works at the Large Cats Enclosure and the Aviary

2.     Medium to long-term – this will follow the resolution of operator model considerations and the NFS proposals.  In consideration of these it will be imperative that, in the long-run, a new Master Plan is required to address outdated buildings and infrastructure, changing animal care and guest needs including accessibility, and to ensure the Zoo continues to evolve and be an example of a modern Zoo. Work is continuing on this

 

3.14     Members are asked to note that it is recommended that Belfast Zoo - Works to the Large Cats Enclosure and the Aviary is moved to Stage 2 – Uncommitted on the Capital Programme to allow the health and safety issues which have been identified to be addressed. Members are asked to note that the Belfast Zoo – Programme of Works which will look at the longer term requirements of the Zoo will remain as a Stage 1 – Emerging Project on the Capital Programme with further information to be brought back to Committee in due course.

 

3.15     Financial & Resource Implications

 

            Financial – Corporate Asset Management System – Budget to be brought back to Committee for sign-off following the tender return process.

 

                        Costs for the other projects will be worked up as part of the Stage Approval process and brought back to Committee for further discussion before any decision to invest

 

            Resources – Resources from Property & Projects and appropriate departments in working up proposals in conjunction with groups.

 

3.16     Equality or Good Relations Implications

 

            All capital projects are screened as part of the stage approval process.”

 

            The Committee adopted the recommendations.