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 seek approval from Members for requests to host events in a number of parks, namely:

 

I.                 Request from the Northern Ireland Boys’ Football Association (NIBFA) to have free use of the facilities at the City of Belfast Playing Fields, Mallusk on Saturday 31st August 2019 and Saturday 7th September 2019, for its annual football festival.

II.               Request from Pieta House to have free use of Ormeau Park for its ‘Darkness Into Light’ charity fundraiser walk at on Saturday 11th May 2019. 

III.              Request from the Belfast City Marathon Ltd., for the free use of Ormeau Park for the Belfast City Marathon on Sunday 5th May 2019.

IV.             Request from the A Bit Of  A Do, an Events and Corporate Entertainment organisation to host a ‘Big Picnic’ in Drumglass Park from 14.00 – 20.00 on Saturday 15th June 2019.

 

2.0      Recommendations

 

2.1      The Committee is asked to approve the:

 

§     Request from the Northern Ireland Boys’ Football Association (NIBFA) to have free use of the facilities at the City of Belfast Playing Fields, Mallusk on Saturday 31 August 2019 and Saturday 7 September 2019, for its annual football festival and all subsequent years, subject to conditions set out in 2.2.

§     Request from Pieta House to have free use of Ormeau Park for its ‘Darkness Into Light’ charity fundraiser walk on Saturday 11 May 2019subject to conditions set out in 2.2.

§     Request from the Belfast City Marathon Ltd., for the free use of Ormeau Park for the Belfast City Marathon on Sunday 5 May 2019subject to conditions set out in 2.2.

§     Request from the A Bit Of A Do, an Events and Corporate Entertainment organisation to host a ‘Big Picnic’ in Drumglass Park from 14.00 – 20.00 on Saturday 15 June 2019, with set up and take down before and afterwards,subject to conditions set out in 2.2 and 2.3.

 

2.2       The Committee is asked to grant authority to the Strategic Director of City and Neighbourhood Services, to approve future requests under delegated authority and subject to satisfactory terms being agreed and on condition that the Event Organiser:

 

   §       completes the appropriate Event Management Plan;

   §       resolves all operational issues to the Council’s satisfaction;

   §       meets all statutory requirements including Public Liability Insurance cover, Health and Safety, licensing responsibilities; and

   §            shall consult with adjoining public bodies and local communities, as necessary.

 

2.3       The Committee is asked that, in relation to the request from ‘A Bit of A Do’ to host a Big Picnic in Drumglass Park on 15 June 2019, that they grant authority to the Strategic Director of City and Neighbourhood Services subject to satisfactory terms being agreed and on condition that:

 

§   The event organiser completes an appropriate legal agreement, to be prepared by the City Solicitor;

§   The use of the site on this date will be subject to licence and a report will be taken to the Licensing Committee for them to consider;

·          The event organiser meets all statutory requirements of the Building Control Service including the terms and conditions of the Park’s Entertainment Licence;

·          Negotiates an appropriate fee for use of Drumglass Park taking into account costs to the Council, minimising negative impact on the immediate area but also the potential wider benefit to the city economy; and

·          The Council writes to the event organiser to advise them that it reserves the right to introduce a ‘social clause’ into any future legal agreements at any time (subject to Council approval of such a policy).

 

3.0      Main report

 

          Key Issues

 

3.1       I.            Request from the Northern Ireland Boys’ Football Association (NIBFA) to have free use of the facilities at the City of Belfast Playing Fields, Mallusk on Saturday 31 August 2019 and Saturday 7 September 2019, for its annual football festival.

 

·        The NIBFA annual football festival has been taking place at the City of Belfast Playing Fields since 1976 and they use this facility as this is the only venue in Belfast capable of staging their event.

·        The NIBFA has a total membership of over 1,300 teams (approximately 24,000 members) and many of these teams participate in this annual football festival.

·        The NIBFA has been granted permission for free use for this event for over 40 years by Belfast City Council.

 

3.2             II.     Request from Pieta House to have free use of Ormeau Park for its ‘Darkness Into Light’ charity fundraiser walk on Saturday 11 May 2019.

 

§  This is an international event highlighting the issue of suicide awareness and the associated process of bereavement, grief and reflection. It involves a 5K walk or run starting at the same time in all venues before dawn.

§  A local Northern Ireland woman, Colette Snoddy, undertook to stage this event in 2016, following her own experiences after the suicide of her son Matthew in 2015. The 2016 event in Newtownabbey was an overwhelming success and prompted Colette to move the event to Ormeau Park in 2017.

§  Hundreds of thousands of people around the world will get together to walk from the darkness of night into the light of morning to help a global fight against suicide and self-harm. On the 11 May 2019, the light will spread across the world in over 200 venues, in 19 countries across 5 continents.

§  Symbolically the walk represents the therapeutic counselling journey. It sparks conversation about the importance of mental health and wellbeing in all our lives. The entry fees raised around the world allow Pieta House and their international charity partners to continue to deliver their vital services.

§  Last year, 872 people participated in the Ormeau Park event raising £42,167 together for a brighter future. This year, Pieta House is collaborating with PIPS charity to support vital programmes in the local area.

§  This event will require access to Ormeau Park outside the normal park opening hours and will require additional human resources to facilitate it.

 

   3.3     III.     Request from the Belfast City Marathon Ltd., for the free use of Ormeau Park for the Belfast City Marathon on Sunday 5 May 2019.

 

§   The Council has previously approved the date of the Belfast City Marathon being moved from the traditional Bank Holiday Monday to Sunday 5 May 2019.

§   The Belfast City Marathon celebrates its 38th year in 2019 and is the biggest mass participation event in the city with over 17,000 runners expected to participate and around 30,000 spectators predicted to turn out.

§   Belfast City Marathon will have 5 main charities linked to the event and expect participants to raise over £1.2 Million raised for these and other charities.

§   The organisers will require access to Ormeau Park for set-up from Friday 3 May 2019 from 9am and will exit the site by 4pm on Monday 6 May 2019.

§   This will result in the closure of a substantial area of the park.

§   The organisers will be bringing food vendors, funfair rides, inflatables, marquees, stewards and toilets to the site. 

  

  3.4     IV.        Request from the A Bit Of A Do, an Events and Corporate Entertainment organisation to host a ‘Big Picnic’ in Drumglass Park from 14.00 – 20.00 on Saturday 15 June 2019.

 

§   The event will be based in Drumglass Park for one day to provide a family orientated event which will also encourage good relations between residents in this area.

§   There will be a range of children’s activities, vendors on site offering Prosecco, Gin and other alcoholic beverages, food and entertainment. There will be a charge for entrance to this event.

§   The event organiser is proposing to protect parts of the open space grass area with industry standard terraplas covering.

§   There will be fencing erected to separate the play park from the event area to ensure that they play park can remain open and to avoid disruption to users.

§   The event organiser will be required to carry out reinstatement of the grounds. Therefore a bond of reinstatement will be paid by the event organiser prior to the event.

§   The promoter will be required to liaise with the Community Parks Manager, the Building Control Service, PSNI, Transport NI and other emergency services to produce an appropriate Event Management Plan and Traffic Management Plan for council’s approval.

§   An appropriate fee will be discussed and agreed with the event organiser over the coming weeks and will be paid in advance. Officers will assess the offer and ensure it will provide value for money based on market rates and the indirect income this will generate for the city and night time economy in terms of hotels bookings, taxi hire and restaurant use.

 

Financial and Resource Implications

 

3.5       There are significant benefits for the City of Belfast in terms of income generated from events such as these in terms of income for shops, hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, taxi companies, tourist venues, public transport, air, bus and rail companies.

 

I.            Request for the NIBFA to hold its annual, football festival at the City of Belfast Playing Fields, Mallusk.

 

NIBFA has requested free use of the facilities as has been granted in previous years.

            

ll.          Request for the Darkness into Light Charity Walk in Ormeau Park.

 

There are additional human resource requirements but these will be managed within the current resources. 

 

III.     Request the use of Ormeau Park for the Belfast City Marathon

 

Requirements can be met within existing resources.

 

IV      Request use of Drumglass Park to host a ‘Big Picnic’

 

An appropriate fee will be negotiated for use of Drumglass Park taking into account costs to the Council, minimising negative impact on the immediate area but also the potential wider benefit to the city economy.

 

Asset and Other Implications

 

3.6       Council Officers will liaise with the event organisers in relation to the potential environmental impact of these events, and ensure that the legal agreements appropriately reflect the level of risk to the Council.

 

Equality or Good Relations Implications/

Rural Needs Assessment

 

            It is anticipated that these events will deliver a positive impact for equality and good relations.”

 

          The Committee adopted the recommendations.