Agenda item

            The Committee was reminded that officers had been working to create a successful model of engagement for large-scale events in the city that operated at Belfast Park venues.

            The Neighbourhood Services Manager outlined that, as the Members were aware, there were many challenges to the delivery of a consistent approach to engagement due to the diverse nature of event types, participant numbers and venues.  Depending on the specific venue, the Council could accommodate attendances of up to 42,000 people at a single concert, this, along with varied levels of input from neighbourhood and community development organisations in the areas immediately surrounding the venues, compounded the challenges of adopting a consistent approach.

            The officer continued that, in addition to ad hoc requests, there were also events that occurred on an annual basis and the promoters responsible for these events usually applied to the Council for multiple year permissions to use the venues to enable them to secure headline acts.

            The officer specifically referred to Ormeau Park.  He reported that in 2022 the Parks Events and Outreach Manager in City and Neighbourhood Services, supported by colleagues in building control, had started a multi-agency approach to the pre-event resident and community engagement regarding the events being delivered in Ormeau Park.

            He advised that the engagement forum included attendance from the following stakeholders:

·      The event promoter and their event safety advisor;

·      Community Provision;

·      Building Control;

·      Community Safety;

·      Regulatory Services;

·      PSNI;

·      Elected representatives from local DEA’s;

·      Resident and Community organisations operating in the local are;

·      Local Businesses; and

·      Youth Practitioner Organisations operating in the local area.

            The officer advised that the community sector organisations, resident groups and businesses had welcomed this approach, as they felt that it was the most effective way for them to work with the range of relevant agencies, to have their concerns heard, to contribute ideas and solutions and ultimately to reduce negative impacts on their neighbourhood. Post evaluation sessions were conducted following events by the engagement forums to review the success and impact of the agreed mitigations, with a ‘lessons learned approach’.

            Regarding the Boucher Road Playing Fields, in 2023, officers, supported by the Elected Members, had endeavoured to replicate the Ormeau Park approach for the series of August and September festivals. The engagement had led to many improvements and had been deemed successful by the residents who had attended the pre-event session.

            The Committee was advised that one of the key challenges at this venue was that there was a lower level of residents, community organisations and businesses to participate in engagement events, in comparison to the Ormeau and Ravenhill areas. The only way to currently engage was to leaflet drop all the residents to try to host a session with a high number of individuals rather than a strong collective voice.  It was recognised that attempting to organise effective engagement with a promoter and a large group of dissatisfied individuals would be counterproductive rather than progressive at this stage. The officer detailed that, in order to try and support new initiatives, a series of meetings had taken place with Elected Representatives from the Balmoral DEA, which had resulted in a number of agreed actions for developing and growing the capacity of a stakeholder forum specific to large events at Boucher Road.

            He the provided an overview of the main actions arising from this, as follows:

·      Council officers and Elected Members to meet residents in March/April and draft a list of key issues and mitigations;

·      Community Services area support team to work with residents and businesses to establish a representative forum which would attend future pre-event and post-event engagement meetings;

·      Council officers and Elected Members to present the issues and mitigations to the promoter of the first concert in May, with the expectation to include the key actions within the site licence between the Council and the promoter; and

·      A post event evaluation session to be arranged with residents following the event.

            The officer concluded by advising that it was anticipated that the work, supported by community services, to establish a stakeholder engagement forum would continue throughout the summer months with the aim of being ready to engage with promoters and other agencies for the August and September festivals. Once a representative group had been established, the stakeholder engagement forum for events at Boucher Road would involve attendance by the same agencies as those described for the Ormeau Park approach.

            Several of the Members welcomed the progress made through engagement for both locations, in particular, the approach currently adopted at Ormeau Park and agreed that this approach, where possible, should be mirrored at Boucher Road. 

            A Member suggested that invitations to the proposed stakeholder engagement forum meetings in respect of events at Boucher should also be extended to Councillors representing the Black Mountain DEA as well as the Botanic DEA as there was often a ‘fall out’ from such events into those areas in close proximity and noted the need for stakeholder engagement sessions to be held both prior to and immediately following each event.

            The Members also discussed other areas that could be further discussed at the stakeholder meetings which included the need to better publicise to residents when the events were being held, especially those occurring during the week.  A Member also highlighted the need to have a better messaging campaign around events to promote awareness of consent and sexual assault and to highlight the support systems available for vulnerable young people and it was suggested that Events Tech staff should remain immediately following the events to help safely clear the area.

            Following a suggestion from a Member, the officer agreed to investigate whether the provision of spike testing kits could be introduced at concerts by the promoters.

            Several Members also sought clarity on the new Social Value Fund and how this would be administered and allocated and stressed that the money needed to benefit the local communities.  

            The Committee endorsed the approach currently adopted at Ormeau Park and agreed to support the continued development of the evolving approach at the Boucher Road Playing Fields, it also agreed that invitations to any stakeholder engagement forum meetings in respect of events at Boucher also be extended to Councillors representing the Black Mountain DEA and noted need for stakeholder engagement sessions to be held both prior to and immediately following each event.