Agenda item

            The Director of City Regeneration and Development submitted for the Committee’s consideration the following report:

 

“1.0  Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

 

1.1       The purpose of this report is to brief Members on key city infrastructure issues in advance of presentations from Northern Ireland Water (NI Water), Department for Infrastructure (DfI) Roads and Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHC) at the special City Growth and Regeneration Committee being held on 28thAugust.

 

 

2.0    Recommendation

 

2.1    The Committee is requested to note this report and identify any strategic city infrastructure questions in advance of the Special City Growth and Regeneration Committee on 28thAugust 2019.

 

3.0    Main Report

 

Background

 

3.1    The City Growth and Regeneration Committee, at its meeting on 5th June, agreed to receive presentations from NI Water and NITHC. Representatives of DfI Roads will also attend to present the 2019/2020 Annual Report.

 

3.2    The Belfast Agenda recognises that infrastructure is key to the delivery of sustainable development and identifies that infrastructure planning for Belfast needs to be taken forward in a strategic and integrated way. A core goal of the Agenda is to work in partnership to plan for sustainable urban infrastructure.

 

Belfast Infrastructure Study

 

3.3    The City Growth and Regeneration Committee, at its meeting on 13thSeptember 2017, agreed to commission the Belfast Infrastructure Study. The study is intended to present a realistic phased approach to infrastructure delivery to support the growth outlined in the Belfast Agenda. Arup were appointed to develop the Infrastructure Study in July 2018 and are currently working to finalise a draft report by end of summer 2019. City Growth and Regeneration Committee, at its meeting on 13thFebruary 2019, agreed to hold a Members Briefing at which the initial out-workings of the Infrastructure Study will be presented. This will be scheduled during autumn 2019.

 

Infrastructure Initiatives

 

3.4    Below is a brief overview of strategic infrastructure initiatives relevant to NI Water, NITHC and DfI Roads and a summary of each organisation’s responsibilities. The brief descriptions below are intended to assist Members when considering strategic city infrastructure questions in advance of the Special City Growth and Regeneration Committee on 28th August.

 

NI Water

 

3.5    NI Water is a Government Owned Company and non-departmental public body within DfI.  NI Water was set up in April 2007 as the sole provider of water and sewerage services in Northern Ireland.

Living with Water Programme (LWWP)

 

3.6    The LWWP is led by DfI’s Water and Drainage Policy Division. LWWP is developing a Strategic Drainage Infrastructure Plan for Belfast (Belfast SDIP) to manage the flooding risk in Belfast, address the risk of infraction proceedings under the Water Framework and Urban Waste Water Treatment Directives in respect of Belfast Lough, and support economic growth.

 

3.7    The sewerage networks and wastewater treatment works serving Belfast require significant upgrades to facilitate future growth and development. One of the key aims of LWWP is to support economic growth. In addition, the Executive’s North Eastern Flood Risk Management Plan identifies the LWWP as the primary measure for managing future flood risk in Belfast. There have been a number of flooding events across Belfast on several occasions in recent years and Belfast is the largest of the 20 significant flood risk areas (SFRAs) identified by the EU Floods Directive Preliminary Flood Risk Assessments. This is a very significant issue for Belfast in that the finances have not yet being secured to deliver the upgrade requirements. If these finances are not secured development in the city may be restricted.

 

3.8    At the Special City Growth and Regeneration Committee on 28thAugust, NIW will present an overview of the LWWP, outline the work undertaken to date, and set out the proposed next steps and associated costs and timeframes.

 

Belfast Tidal Flood Alleviation Scheme

 

3.9    The Belfast Tidal project is an £18 million scheme of works led by DfI Rivers to provide a long-term approach to flooding from the sea in Belfast. The proposed scheme extends from Belfast Harbour to Stranmillis Weir and will comprise a number of different forms of both permanent and temporary flood defences. It is anticipated construction will commence in winter 2019/20 with completion the following winter 2020/21.

 

NITHC

 

3.10  NITHC is the public corporation providing public transport services in Belfast via subsidiary companies, operating under the brand name Translink. They include Metro (serves Belfast area), Ulsterbus (serves regional network), Glider and Northern Ireland Railways (NIR). Last year there were 84.5 million passenger journeys across Translink’s network; the highest in over 20 years and the third year successive year of growth.

 

 

Belfast Transport Hub

 

3.11  DfI granted planning permission for the new integrated Transport Hub in March 2019. The hub forms part of the wider proposed 20 acre Weavers Cross regeneration project and is a flagship project prioritised by the NI Executive. The scheme supports the Belfast Agenda growth aspirations and is identified in the Belfast City Centre Regeneration and Investment Strategy (BCCRIS) as one of the key transformative interventions for the city centre within the Linen Quarter Special Action Area.

 

3.12  Translink is liaising with Council on Buy Social clauses and a draft Memorandum of Understanding has been prepared and will be implemented upon appointment of the contractor. This Memorandum of Understanding agrees partnership working arrangements for Council and Translink to deliver employability and skills interventions. This will optimise the ability of those long-term unemployed and economically inactive within Belfast to access employment opportunities arising from the Buy Social requirements within the Belfast Transport Hub. This will initially focus on embedding the Construction Employment Academy model within the enabling works and construction phases of this redevelopment as a demonstrator project for the wider partnership to optimise the employment opportunities resulting from the wider redevelopment of the surrounding area.

 

Weavers Cross

 

3.13  Weavers Cross is the wider 20 acre proposed mixed use regeneration project that the Transport Hub will be situated within. NITHC will be engaging with a range of stakeholders including Members in the near future regarding this project.

 

Belfast Rapid Transit (BRT) / Glider Phase One

 

3.14  BRT Phase 1 went live in September 2018 with Glider services G1 (East-West) and G2 (Titanic Quarter). The Colin Connect Transport Hub opened March 2019. Translink reported in May 2019 that the Glider has led to over 45,000 additional passenger journeys every week.

 

Belfast Rapid Transit (BRT) / Glider Phase Two

 

3.15  BRT Phase 2 (North-South) has been included as a key project within the proposed Belfast Region City Deal (BRCD). An outline business case for BRT 2 is being prepared for the BRCD process and further details on BRT 2 will be presented to a future meeting of City Growth and Regeneration committee.

 

 

DfI Roads

 

3.16  DfI Roads is the sole Roads Authority in Northern Ireland responsible for transport policies and initiatives. DfI Roads previously presented their annual report to City Growth and Regeneration Committee in November 2018.

 

Park and Ride Facilities

 

3.17  Proposals for Park and Ride sites are developed under the Park and Ride Programme Board which includes representatives from DfI and Translink. An expanded Park and Ride at Blacks Road opened in November 2018 and DfI are currently developing proposals to expand Park and Ride capacity at Ballymartin, Cairnshill, Moira, Mossley, Newtownards and Sprucefield and create new facilities at Comber, Tillysburn and Trooperslane.  To support the Park and Ride facilities new hard shoulder bus lanes on the M1 and M2 motorways began operation in March 2019.

 

York Street Interchange (YSI)

 

3.18  The YSI scheme is intended to address a major bottleneck on the strategic road network, replacing the existing signalised junctions at York Street with direct links between Westlink, M2 and M3, the three busiest roads in Northern Ireland. It will also separate strategic traffic from local traffic movements via underpasses below the existing road and rail bridges and underneath a new bridge at York Street.

 

3.19  Recognising the need for careful design to reduce the visual impact of the interchange and enhance connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists, DfI Roads established a Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) in January 2015. The SAG comprises statutory and community representatives. Significant engagement has been undertaken to inform design changes that will reduce the impact of the YSI on local communities and enhance connectivity.

 

3.20  The tender process to appoint a contractor to bring the scheme to a construction ready stage was undertaken in 2016. However, the tender was not awarded due to a legal challenge.  The hearing to consider the legal challenge took place in the High Court between February and March 2018. The court ruled that the contract award should be set aside and the matter will have to be reconsidered by DfI. The decision was appealed by DfI in November, 2018. DfI will provide an update at the Special City Growth and Regeneration Committee on 28th August, 2019.

 

 

Belfast Bicycle Network

 

3.21  A key Government priority for growing a sustainable economy involves promoting a modal shift from private car usage to cycling and walking. DfI have responsibility for coordinating relevant cycling and walking policy. DfI established a Cycling Unit in 2013, published a Bicycle Strategy for NI in August, 2015 and published the draft Belfast Bicycle Network Plan for public consultation in January 2017. The consultation report was published in February 2018 however the final Network Plan has yet to be published. Members may recall that a representative from DfI’s Safe and Sustainable Travel Division attended a special City Growth and Regeneration Committee on 28th November 2018 to present and update on the Belfast Bicycle Network Plan.

 

Residents’ Parking Zones

 

3.22  DfI Roads has completed one Residents’ Parking Zone in the Rugby Road area, which began operation in April 2018. DfI intend to carry out a project evaluation in due course taking into account the lessons learnt and subsequently a review of the Resident’s Parking Zone Policy will be completed to address how schemes are delivered going forward. DfI are also designing options to progress a Residents’ Parking Zone in the Iveagh Drive area that will be subject to consultation in due course. DfI will provide an update on Residents Parking Zones at the Special City Growth and Regeneration Committee on 28thAugust 2019.  Members may also recall that there was a DfI / Members meeting in May 2018 to discuss problem parking. As a follow up to this and in light of various concerns that Members have raised on the issue of problem parking, including a Notice of Motion from February 2018, DfI has advised that it will facilitate a further meeting on this issue and Members will be notified when DfI confirms a date.

 

Financial and Resource Implications

 

3.23  There are no additional resource implications associated with this report.

 

Equality or Good Relations Implications/

Rural Needs Assessment

 

3.24  There are no Equality, Good Relations or Rural Needs implications at this stage.”

 

            After discussion, the Committee noted the contents of the report and agreed that the following issues be raised also at the meeting:

 

·        the proposed Gamble Street rail halt alluded to within the draft Greater Clarendon (Sailortown) Masterplan;

 

·        the current status of the Bicycle Strategy for Northern Ireland, in the context of the Belfast Cycle Network;

 

·        overgrown entries and laneways;

 

·        electric vehicle infrastructure; and

 

·        the upgrading of existing drainage and water infrastructure.