Agenda item

            The Committee considered the following report:

 

“1.0      Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

 

1.1       To update the Committee on the progress of the Revitalisation Programme and provide a quarterly update on the work of the City Centre Regeneration Task Force.

 

2.0       Recommendations

 

2.1       The Committee is asked to note:

 

                                             i.      the progress on the City Revitalisation Programme;

 

                                           ii.     the progress to date on the priority areas of the City Centre Regeneration Task Force; and

 

                                  iii.the established governance structures and procedures to deliver the City Centre Regeneration Task Force Action Plan as business as usual.

 

3.0       Main Report

 

3.1       City Revitalisation Programme update

 

            Since the detailed update provided to the Committee on 7th August, officers continue to engage with key stakeholders to further develop and deliver a programme of activity to enhance the vitality and sustainability of the city centre, in the context of the budget envelopes previously agreed by the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on 22nd February 2019.  The following sections provide an update on the programme of activity being delivered across the City Revitalisation strands including:

 

·        Physical and Environmental Improvements

·        Enhanced Animation Programme

·        Marketing and Communications

 

            Physical and Environmental Improvements

 

                                          i.     Pop- Up Park

 

3.2       Work is continuing on proposals to deliver a pop-up park to Cathedral Gardens in time for Spring 2020, along with a bid to DfC for additional funding to increase the potential scope of the works. A design team (Park Hood) has been appointed and engagement with key stakeholders to inform design development is programmed to take place during October / November. The project is expected to be in place for a period of up to two years as a pilot project for the permanent Cathedral Gardens works.

 

                                         ii.     Bank Square Canopy

 

3.3       A key project for the City Revitalisation Programme was exploring the creation of an outdoor covered space for retailer-led themed events and other animation activity in Bank Square. Two pilot temporary canopy structures had been put in place during July and September, with an extensive and diverse programme of animation and events delivered attracting visitors and shoppers to spend time in the area.  In response to the first pilot installation in July, feedback from the public has been generally positive. Some reservations have been expressed by local businesses regarding the management and use of the canopy, in that the space was not licensed but was positioned adjacent to a number of licensed premises. This feedback was reflected during the second installation in September, with the canopy re-positioned to the north of Bank Square to make clear its function as a public space that complements local businesses rather than an extension of the businesses themselves.   In the absence of sufficient consensus among local businesses it is not considered appropriate to proceed with a permanent installation at this time, however should consensus be reached on the proposal by the businesses in the area, the council will reinvestigate and provide a report back to committee setting out the proposed way forward.

 

                                       iii.     City Dressing and Lighting Strategy

 

3.4       Work is underway to develop a City Lighting and Dressing Strategy, including the definition of key principles and mapping of distinct character areas within the city. A number of lighting pilots are being progressed which will trial approaches and opportunities for collaborative working to inform the development of the strategy. These include an interactive projection onto shop frontages in Castle Street, and a bespoke lighting feature in Castle Arcade. Contractors have been appointed and work is underway in both locations to secure necessary permissions. Planning applications are currently under consideration, with all locations expected to be installed during November and early December.

 

 

                                       iv.     Christmas Lighting Feature (Soda and Champ’s Christmas Adventure)

 

3.5       A Christmas lighting working group was established with BCC, BCCM, BID One and Destination CQ to provide additional proposals for the Christmas Lighting offer. BCC are working with specialist contractors to provide a large projected animation programme based on a theme developed in partnership with BID One, involving a dog and cat’s Christmas adventure. The animation will be presented in a series of episodes to build anticipation.  The main projection onto a building frontage on Royal Avenue opposite the entrance to CastleCourt, will be accompanied by a range of activities including a family activity hub, window display(s), activity booklet and themed marketing campaign. The projection will be further enhanced through an additional projection onto Bank Buildings which will build on the theme/message of the main animation.   

 

                                         v.     Entries and Lanes Strategy

 

3.6       The procurement of a design consultant (joint venture between Aecom and Tandem Design) is now complete for Phase 1 of the Entries Project which will include a programme of works in Castle Arcade, Crown Entry, Joys Entry, Pottinger’s Entry, Coles Alley, Wellington St and Winecellar Street. Design development is now well advanced with plans being developed for surface repairs, painting, enhanced lighting, de-cluttering, and wayfinding features.  Design concepts will also be developed through this commission for Jubilee Gardens, Wellington Street, High Street Entry, Sugarhouse Entry and Fountain Mews, and officers will continue to explore funding opportunities to support further delivery. Additional funding from the Department for Communities has also been confirmed to deliver the initial works.

 

                                       vi.     Deep Clean and Graffiti Removal

 

3.7       The cleanliness and physical appearance of the city centre was a key point from the majority of stakeholders. The City and Neighbourhood Services department are now operating a hot water washer to provide a deep underfoot clean to the public realm, and have a dedicated team working on the deep clean throughout the city centre. The initial focus for this work is on the underfoot cleaning (pavements/granite) and the gable walls. Officers are currently delivering anti-graffiti artistic shutter wrapping in College Street as a trial and will be subject to agreement with property owners.

 

                                      vii.     Belfast in Bloom

 

3.8       The enhanced Belfast in Bloom programme is currently being rolled-out with additional greenery and colour being introduced across the city centre including the installation of enhanced planters, hanging baskets, flower towers and floral features along a 70-metre stretch of new pedestrian railings around Bank Buildings. A new and creative floral display feature has been installed in City Hall grounds.

 

            Enhanced Animation Programme

 

3.9       As previously agreed by this Committee, the animation programme focused on scaling up planned animation activity in order to drive additional footfall into the city centre, particularly those parts of the city that have suffered most from a reduction in footfall since the fire at Bank Buildings.  Since the August report to Committee, the key activities that have been undertaken include:

 

·        the rollout of the Summer Music programme – involving more than 56 performances in indoor and outdoor spaces across the city centre.  These events attracted more than 9,000 people in total.  They included the very popular ‘Mix the City’ event which took place within City Hall grounds; and

 

·        support to enhance Culture Night and to run the first ever Culture Day event – organisers estimate that around 85,000 people attended Culture Night with up to 35,000 coming into Belfast for the first ever Culture Day.  This targeted the family audience and included programming of events all across the city centre.  Feedback from participants, businesses and the event organisers has been very positive and the indications are that they will continue to build on this approach to next year, seeking to extend the appeal of the event and to continue to build its reputation in order to grow the visitors from out of state. 

 

            Marketing and Communications

 

3.10      The ‘Make it Belfast’ campaign went live on Monday 13th May, with radio advertising, followed by outdoor, digital and press advertising from w/c 20 May for six weeks. Social media ran throughout May up to the end of August to ensure an ‘always on’ approach to the campaign. There was an additional burst of advertising in late July which continued up to the end of August with further radio, outdoor, regional press, digital and programmatic display and film advertising.  Supporting material including a ‘Make it Belfast’ campaign tool-kit was developed for use by all stakeholders to further strengthen and add value to the campaign.  This campaign is to be built upon again for the Christmas period (see below).  

 

            Proposals for Christmas 2019

 

3.11      Through engagement with partners, there has been an interest in exploring additional activity to supplement the Christmas 2019 marketing and animation plans, in order to recover some of the footfall that was lost to the city as a result of the Bank Building fire and which, traders believe, they have not been able to attract back to the city.

 

3.12      In line with the overall Revitalisation Budget approved by the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee in February 2019, Council officers have worked with partner organisations to bring forward a targeted programme of investment in the lead up to and over the Christmas period. The overall expenditure from the Revitalisation budget will be £300,000.  In addition to this expenditure, partners from other organisations including Belfast One Business Improvement District (BID) and the major shopping centres will be investing significant resources in city animation at this time of year. 

 

3.13      Some of the initiatives that are being planned in conjunction with other partners include:

 

·        delivery of a music programme to enhance visitor experience (2-3 large scale events) supplemented by a wider range of smaller pop up street activity to enhance the festive atmosphere across the city centre, focusing on some key dates and busiest periods;

 

·        delivery of the popular Christmas Market: the market will open on 16 November (aligning with the lights switch-on) remains key for the city attracting over 1 million people last year;

 

·        delivery of a new lighting projection project (see above – Christmas lighting feature) alongside an engagement hub/Santa’s Post Box attraction which will attract family audiences and engage children in craft workshops, storytelling etc.; and

 

·        enhanced marketing campaign: this will build on the ‘Make it Belfast’ strapline (see above).  Consideration will be given not only to attracting visitors from other parts of NI but also from out of state, particularly RoI – given that the currency situation is currently favourable for those in the Eurozone. 

 

            Site Hoarding

 

3.15      The Department for Infrastructure continues to engage with the Primark site management and senior management regarding the location of the site hoarding on Castle Place. The Department continues to challenge Primark to review their working practices and programming to enable restoration of the operation of Castle Place. Members will be notified of any pending changes to the current position.

 

            City Centre Regeneration Task Force

 

3.15      The City Growth and Regeneration Committee, at its meeting on 7th November 2018, agreed to the establishment of a City Centre Regeneration Task Force, jointly chaired by Council’s Chief Executive and the Head of the Civil Service. The purpose of the Regeneration Task Force (RTF) was to ensure that the appropriate leadership and procedures were put in place to effectively oversee the delivery of key priority areas to enable the achievement of the objectives of the Belfast Agenda and the Belfast City Centre Regeneration and Investment Strategy (BCCRIS).  The work of the RTF focused on three thematic priority areas, namely:

 

·        City Resilience – medium to long-term city centre recovery plan; city centre leadership and management, and identification of catalyst development opportunities to stimulate wider regeneration;

 

·        Re-imagining and Diversification of City Centre Land Uses – to include focused actions around increasing inclusive city centre living; use of public land to deliver on priorities and realisation of growth ambitions; enhanced open spaces and family/leisure based activities; and

 

·        Infrastructure and Connectivity – public realm and connectivity into and around the city centre; transport strategy and connectivity etc

 

3.16      Since November 2018, the Task Force has met five times with quarterly updates reported to the City Growth and Regeneration Committee.

 

3.17      The Task Force, at its meeting on 20th September 2019, reviewed progress to date and agreed that it was now appropriate to formalise its future approach to standing down the Task Force with the emerging priorities encapsulated into business as usual within the relevant statutory authorities. A Task Force in its nature is a temporary group with a focused role. As set out in the Terms of Reference, the RTF has demonstrated a collective response and resourced targeted city centre recovery efforts, it has developed focused priorities to address medium and long-term interventions with a collective public/private sector commitment to oversee the continued delivery of these actions.

 

3.18      At its next meeting in January 2020, the RTF will formalise the establishment of the governance arrangements as outlined below to oversee the continued delivery of the action plan under the key thematic areas:

 

            City Resilience:

 

·        the delivery of the Revitalisation Programme following the Bank Buildings fire (see above) is well advanced with appropriate systems and governance in place to complete the work-strands;

 

·        the Joint Regeneration Group (JRG), co-chaired by the Council’s Director of City Regeneration and Development and DFC’s Belfast Regeneration Director will assess the progress of the agreed action plan. The progress around the action plan will be reported through the CG&R committee and the relevant departmental governance structures;

 

·        the City Centre Reference Group is now established to provide a public/private forum to provide input and guidance to the work of the JRG; and

 

·        the review of the BCCRIS document is complete with renewed focus established on inclusive residential and infrastructure/connectivity issues in the city centre and aligned with the City Growth and Regeneration Committee priorities as agreed in June 2019 and further discussed at the workshop in September 2019.

 

 

3.19      Re-imagining and Diversification of City Centre Land Uses:

 

·        The first phase of the Strategic Sites Assessment has completed the review of strategic public sector assets and appropriate governance is in place to deliver this phase and subsequent phases of the project, subject to City Growth and Regeneration Committee approval;

 

·        Procedures are in place to address overcoming the obstacles to the city centre housing supply including the establishment of a city centre waiting list, piloting and testing mixed tenure development, procurement issues and the advancement of additional products for affordable housing;

 

·        Procedures are in place for the review of non-domestic rates and will be overseen by the Department of Finance; and

 

·        The delivery of Cathedral Gardens will be advanced to deliver enhanced open spaces and additional locations are being explored.

 

3.20      Infrastructure and Connectivity:

 

·        Work is underway to assess the future connectivity and pedestrianisation of the city centre, with established governance across the statutory authorities for planning (BCC), regeneration (DfC) and infrastructure (DfI) to bring forward the Belfast Future Vision;

 

·        Procedures are in place to develop the Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan in advance of Ministerial approval; and

 

·        The design development of Streets Ahead 5 is being advanced in tandem with the design for BRT Phase 2, the first phase of the entries project is expected to complete in March 2020, and procedures are established to deliver a public realm catalyst projects programme of works.

 

3.21      The priority focused areas within the action plan align with the priorities of this Committee, as agreed in June, 2019, and further discussed at the workshop on 25th September, 2019. Members will therefore continue to be updated in relation to progress at future meetings of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee.

 

3.22      Financial and Resource Implications

 

            It is intended that the Task Force will provide a collaborative public sector approach in terms of how we collectively maximise our investment and efforts to revitalise the city centre.  Staff time will be required to support the Task Force, as well as the Joint Regeneration Working Group.

 

3.23      All items of expenditure set out above are being delivered within the budget that was approved for the Revitalisation programme at the 22 February meeting of the SP&R Committee.  

 

3.24      Equality or Good Relations Implications/Rural Needs Assessment

 

            None associated with this report.  The Council’s Equality and Diversity Officers will be consulted on any future changes to strategies or plans that are currently in place.”

 

            The Committee adopted the recommendations.