Agenda item

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 12th November, it had agreed to receive a presentation from representatives of the Nomadic Trust to allow them to update the Committee concerning the progress of the project and to consider the release of the penultimate £50,000 of Council funding.  Accordingly, the Committee was advised that Ms. L. Cowan and Messrs Ian Savage and Ronan Corrigan were in attendance and they were admitted to the meeting and welcomed by the Chairman.

            With the assistance of visual aids, Mr. Savage informed the Committee that the objectives of the Nomadic Trust were to:

(i)   effect a sensitive and sustainable restoration of the vessel;

(ii)  develop a highly entertaining, competitive and collaborative attraction;

(iii)focus on the wider social, heritage, educational and economic impact of the ship and to maximise access to it;

(iv)create a legacy for Belfast; and

(v)  be a well-governed Trust.

            He informed the Members further that the intention was that the refurbished Nomadic would become a museum where various artefacts from the period would be displayed and tours of the ship would be available in order to provide visitors with an in?depth understanding of its history and heritage.  In addition, the vessel would contain an exhibition and events area. 

            He pointed out that in the five months following the opening of the Nomadic to the public in 2007, the ship had attracted over 18,000 visitors and that an economic appraisal had ascertained that the refurbishment and associated costs would be in the region of £5 million.  He indicated that the Belfast Harbour Commissioners and Titanic Quarter Limited had agreed to restore the Hamilton Dock to enable the Nomadic to be permanently located thereat and, in September 2008, the Nomadic had been accepted onto the Core Collection of Historic Ships, which included other high profile vessels such as the Cutty Sark. 

            He advised the Committee that later in the month a public appeal for funds would be launched and that the Institute of Directors had nominated the Trust as the charity which it would support during 2009.  In addition, once a Conservation Management Plan had been completed, an application for assistance would be submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund.  Also, the Nomadic Trust had been shortlisted to receive funding under the Peace III Shared Space Initiative and the outcome of the final deliberations would be known in the coming weeks.  This, if successful, would result in the project receiving funding of £2 million.  He pointed out that, if the Trust received all the monies which it had applied for, it would have sufficient funding to complete the project to refurbish the vessel.

            Mr. Savage informed the Members that the Trust was grateful for the £150,000 which it had received in recent years from the Council and that this had been used to undertake a wide range of works, including the preparation of the ship for its opening in 2007, movement of the ship to the Odyssey, marketing activities, the development of the economic appraisal and ongoing running costs.

            At the conclusion of the presentation, the deputation withdrew from the meeting.

            The Committee discussed the matter and agreed to provide £50,000 to the Nomadic Trust as the penultimate tranche of the £250,000 of funding which had been agreed by the former Policy and Resources Committee at its meeting on 23rd March, 2007.