Agenda item

            The Committee noted the contents of the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      Members will be aware that, in June 2003, the DSD published ‘People and Place: A strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal’, a document which aims to tackle the complex, multi-dimensional nature of Northern Ireland’s most disadvantaged urban neighbourhoods.  In order to progress this Agenda, DSD progressed the establishment of 12 Neighbourhood Renewal Partnerships within the BCC area.  Each Partnership was tasked with producing a Vision Framework (7-10 years) and Action Plan (3 years) for the Neighbourhood Renewal area. The 12 Partnerships are:

      - Inner East  Belfast                          - Inner South Belfast

      - South West Belfast                         - Greater Shankill

      - Greater Falls                                   - Lenadoon

      - Upper Springfield                           - Crumlin/Ardoyne

      - Inner North Belfast                         - Andersonstown

      - Ligoniel                                            - Upper Ardoyne/Ballysillan

      Each Partnership has developed its Action Plan which has been submitted to DSD for consideration.  These Plans propose thousands of actions that would need to be delivered by a range of organisations in key areas such as housing, health, education, community safety, good relations, employability, community development, culture, tourism, leisure, children and young people, older people and environmental and physical improvement.

Key Issues

      The Council has become a key participant in the neighbourhood renewal process and to date the following support has been provided:-

·         Officer participation provided on all 12 Neighbourhood Renewal Partnerships through Community Services.

·         Action Plan responses prepared for each of the 12 Neighbourhood Renewal Partnerships Action Plans.

·         Established a Neighbourhood Renewal Working Group comprising Council Neighbourhood Renewal representatives and representatives from Council Departments.

·         Formal presentations and workshops delivered to the Neighbourhood Renewal Partnerships.

·         Creation of a Neighbourhood Renewal Database detailing all key actions and implications for the Council in the neighbourhood renewal process.

·         Neighbourhood Development Officers in place to co-ordinate the delivery of actions within each Plan.

·         Commitment to deliver on neighbourhood renewal is embedded within the new Corporate Plan.

·         Provision of SNAP area-based intelligence to support the neighbourhood renewal process.

·         Neighbourhood renewal information directories prepared for the Partnerships detailing Council services and key staff working in the local area.

·         Development of the neighbourhood renewal section of the Council website, creating a central repository for all Action Plans and responses.

·         Integration of neighbourhood renewal within the Council’s SNAP/Local Area Working agenda.

·         On-going work with BRO regarding the development of a pilot partnership approach to the implementation of the Neighbourhood Renewal Action Plan in Lenadoon.  Proposals will be presented to Committee in due course.

Neighbourhood Renewal Action Plans:

Implications for BCC

      To date, co-ordinated responses have been prepared for the 12 Neighbourhood Renewal Action Plans.  Belfast City Council has been highlighted as having a lead or a supporting role in nearly 600 specific actions regarding service delivery at a neighbourhood level.  Whilst the majority of these can be addressed via co?ordination with the Council Departments there are still a number of issues that need to be considered within this, including:-

·         The Council has been identified as a key player in the implementation of neighbourhood renewal activity whilst all of the Action Plans have been developed the main challenge is ensuring successful implementation.

·         There are large differences in the number of actions identified within each Neighbourhood Renewal Action Plan, which highlights varying levels of capacity.

·         There are a number of key BCC service areas that have been identified as a priority in the neighbourhood renewal plans, which includes local economic development, community safety, community services, youth provision, alley-gating, physical renewal, cleansing, good relations, parks, sport and leisure, older people, well-being and the provision of advice services at a local level. This requires significant co?ordination.

·         The Council alone cannot deliver on these 600 specified actions as other organisations have also been asked to contribute alongside these actions.  This means that there is a need to build/work in partnership with a range of other partners, including statutory organisations, in order to successfully deliver neighbourhood renewal.

·         The neighbourhood renewal areas do not align with any existing Council boundaries which can make monitoring or planning work difficult.

·         Most Council services are not currently structured or planned on a local basis which can make it challenging to respond to the programme.

·         Many of the existing Plans are already being reviewed at different times which also makes co-ordination difficult.

·         The likely transfer of neighbourhood renewal responsibility to Councils through the Review of Public Administration.

Resource Implications

      Human Resources

      Co-ordinated by the SNAP Manager.

Recommendations

      Members are asked to:

·         Note the contents of the report.

Key to Abbreviations

NR                        Neighbourhood Renewal

NRPs       Neighbourhood Renewal Partnerships

NRA          Neighbourhood Renewal Area

NRAP        Neighbourhood Renewal Action Plan

NDO         Neighbourhood Development Officer

SNAP        Strategic Neighbourhood Action Programme

YENI         Young Enterprise Northern Ireland

DSD          Department for Social Development

BRO         Belfast Regeneration Office

LIAG         Local Implementation Action Group

MUGA       Multi-Use Games Area

ASB          Anti Social Behaviour

CC            Community Centre

PACT        Partners and Communities Together

LOTS        Living over the Shops

SRF          Strategic Regeneration Framework

HUB          Hybrid UseBuilding.”