Agenda item

            The Committee considered the following report:

 

“1.0      Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

 

1.1       To provide an overview of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee’s priorities for the financial year 2020-21, which have been developed in the context of the current work programme, the workshop with members in September and the draft Corporate Plan. This has been informed by the commitments that are in place and the ongoing work that the Committee has oversight for in the delivery of the Belfast Agenda.

 

1.2       These priorities have been developed to highlight the Committee’s role in delivering on the Belfast Agenda priorities and demonstrate the centrality of growing and diversifying the local economy to deliver inclusive and sustainable growth and  improve the quality of life in Belfast so that by 2035:

 

-       Our economy supports 46,000 additional jobs

-       Our city is home to 66,000 people

-       There will be 33% reduction in the life expectancy gap between the most and least deprived neighbourhoods

-       Every young person leaving school has a destination that fulfils their potential

 

2.0       Recommendations

 

2.1       The Committee is requested to approve the priorities for 2020/21, which will inform the development of the more detailed Committee Plan.

 

3.0       Main Report

 

3.1       Key Issues

 

            The City Growth and Regeneration Committee is responsible for:

 

-       the development and implementation of strategies, policies, programmes and projects directed towards regeneration and growth of the city in the context of outcomes agreed in the community (Belfast Agenda) and corporate plans and other corporate strategy decisions; and

 

-       oversight of the exercise of Council functions in relation to economic development, urban development, tourism, culture and arts, European and international relations, car parks, city markets, city events, Belfast Castle, Malone House and Belfast Zoo.

 

            Key Priorities

 

3.2       The Committee has a key role in overseeing the delivery of several key strategies and frameworks aimed at driving regeneration and inclusive and sustainable growth of the city.  In particular:

 

-       The Belfast City Centre Regeneration & Investment Strategy (BCCRIS) 2015-2030 was produced and adopted by the Council in 2015 and; subsequently adopted as policy by the Department for Communities (DfC). The Strategy provides the framework for change to drive the regeneration of the city core and its surrounding areas.

-       Delivering inclusive growth through a series of frameworks and strategies for economic development, employability and skills, international relations and the Cultural Strategy. These strategies and frameworks work together to support a balanced approach to sustainable and inclusive economic growth in the city.

 

3.3       These have directly informed the draft 2020/21 priorities for the Committee’s consideration and are key mechanisms to deliver the shared ambitions of the Belfast Agenda.  The Committee will receive more detailed work programmes and reports to support delivery of these priorities.

 

3.4       The draft priorities have been shaped by the current work programme which was agreed by Committee in June 2019; the feedback from the Committee workshop in September; and the draft Corporate Plan, which was subject to public consultation.  It also takes account of emerging Local Development Plan and key developments such as Brexit, the Belfast Region City Deal, the draft Inclusive Growth Strategy and the Council’s Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Plan and the commitment to work towards zero carbon. 

 

3.5       The draft priorities have been set out below to align to and support the delivery of the Council’s draft Corporate Plan.

 

3.6       Corporate Cross Cutting Priorities - priorities which will have a multitude of social, economic and environmental benefits for the city, with inclusive growth at the centre in order to achieve the ambitions of the Belfast Agenda.

 

3.7      Delivering the Belfast Region City Deal by progressing the following projects within the BRCD timelines:

 

-       Delivery of the Destination Hub; development of Outline Business Case and site selection

-       Shaping and developing Innovation and Smart Districts; development of Outline Business Cases

-       BRT Phase 2; development of Outline Business Case

-       Ormeau Park Bridge; development of Outline Business Case

-       Support the delivery of the Employability & Skills programme; development of the Outline Business Case

 

 

3.8       Deliver the Cultural Strategy ‘A City Imagining’

 

-       Continue with the development work on the UNESCO city of music bid, with a view to making an application in 2021

-       Agree the proposals to work on a focus programme of cultural celebration in 2023.

-       Sustainable tourism development, including implementing the neighbourhood tourism strategy, and developing a leisure and business tourism strategy with partners.

 

3.9       Committee key actions to deliver on the Belfast Agenda priorities

 

-       Growing the Economy - to create an inclusive, resilient economy through creating good, long term jobs

-       Encourage business start-up and support indigenous business growth to support inclusive and sustainable growth by:

-       Creating a balanced city economy by increasing the level of support and volume of Social enterprises and Co-operatives

-       Developing the Enterprise Framework action plan for the city to improve and join up provision of support and increase the volume and value of business start ups across all sectors of the local economy

-       Completing the development plan for St George’s Market and implement the key recommendations to support the ongoing sustainable development of the venue as a key location for tourism, business start-up and city animation

-       Providing support to entrepreneurs to start a business and for existing businesses to grow, including oversight of the Innovation Factory.

-       Helping businesses address the operational implications in relation to the emerging Brexit situation

 

3.10      Maximise the economic benefit of the Belfast-Dublin Economic Corridor

 

-       Continue to build the economic case for the Belfast – Dublin economic corridor; specifically examine potential joint investment proposals and the associated economic return

 

 

3.11      Position the City to Compete to help support the city’s goals for a sustainable and inclusive city

 

-       Develop an overarching framework for the purposes of attracting institutional investment aligned with our development priorities and to support other strategic initiatives 

-       Participate in national and international initiatives to secure strategic, institutional and real estate investment to support the city’s development and regeneration priorities

-       Develop refreshed communication and engagement with city stakeholders in the context of regeneration and development

-       Continue to deliver the International Relations Framework 2020-2021 and promote and market the city internationally to position Belfast as a location of

-       choice for business, tourism, education and investment

 

3.12      Living Here - Working with partners to maximise residential development opportunities

 

-       Working with statutory partners to provide strategic leadership to identify and unlock barriers to inclusive city centre living

-       Strategic use of public and private sector lands (SSA) to achieve the objectives of the Belfast Agenda and BCCRIS, including the promotion of inclusive residential opportunities

-       Working with communities to enable inclusive and shared spaces

-       Improve green infrastructure to support and encourage mixed tenure living

-       Attract investment & collaborative working with private landlords

-       Master-planning to deliver coherent urban design, residential communities & facilities

 

3.13      City Development - to ensure the city is sustainable with robust infrastructure that protects future generations

 

-       Provide strategic leadership on major developments to ensure alignment with Belfast Agenda and emerging policies and plans, such as the Council’s commitment to carbon reduction

-       Future City Centre Programme to diversify the offer and promote Belfast as a destination. This includes physical and environmental regeneration, city vitality, animation and positioning the city to compete

-       Developing and implementing priority areas of action emerging from the MOU with Belfast Harbour Commissioners

-       Continue to manage the City Centre Investment Fund and the promotion of The Sixth through Bel Tel LLP

-       Attract investment to promote employment, innovation and residential, taking account of the Council’s commitments to inclusive growth and climate adaption and mitigation

-       Strategic city-wide approach to development and use of public sector lands, taking account of climate adaptation and mitigation.

 

3.14      City connectivity, attractiveness and infrastructure to deliver on the city’s inclusive and sustainable growth ambitions

 

-       Improve engagement to address issues in existing communities, i.e. parking, connectivity, inclusive housing etc to improve the benefits & reduce the impacts of major regeneration and infrastructure projects.

-       Provide strategic leadership and lobby key government departments on major infrastructure schemes (Living with Water, York St Interchange, BRT, Belfast Streets Ahead, Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan, Car Parking Strategy)

-       City Centre Connectivity Study – Finalise and agree the ‘Bolder Vision for Belfast’ and integrate the outcomes into existing and emerging policies and plans, such as the inclusive growth strategy and Council’s climate adaption and mitigation plan

-       Public Realm Improvement Schemes (utilising existing developer contributions)

-       Finalise and Agree the Belfast Infrastructure Study

-       Promote sustainable connectivity to major economic centres (links to Belfast Dublin Economic Corridor)

-       Continue delivering the Car Parking Strategy Action Plan

-       Continue to make improvements and review the commercial aspects of BCC assets (Zoo, Belfast Castle, Malone House)

 

3.15      Working and Learning - to deliver on the inclusive growth by ensuring that people are appropriately skilled for the jobs created in the city by:

 

-       Supporting residents to access employment and/or upskilling opportunities through our programme of employment academies, European Social Fund projects and working with our partners to establish effective pathways of support.

-       Employability NI: working with the Department for Communities to ensure that the new mainstream support programme for the long term unemployed and economically inactive is effective in supporting those individuals in most need in Belfast to support inclusive growth

-       Exploring opportunities to develop strategic relationships with key employers in order to support greater alignment between skills supply and demand

-       Delivering on the opportunities from the implementation of the Developer Contributions Framework and Social Value Procurement Framework to support inclusive growth

-       Educational underachievement; including working with key partners to design and test new employability approaches targeted at those at risk of becoming NEETs and to identify and provide early intervention support to young people to deliver on the inclusive growth strategy.

 

3.16      Financial and Resource Implications

 

            The Committee Plan and annual programme of work will need to align with the budget agreed by the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on 24th January 2020.

 

3.17      Equality or Good Relations Implications/

            Rural Needs Assessment

 

            Strategies and plans are subject to the Council’s equality, good relations and rural needs requirements.”

 

            The Committee approved its priorities for 2020/21, as set out within the report.