Agenda item

(To consider further the minute of the meeting of 14^th April which, at the request of Councillor D. Browne, was taken back to the Committee for further consideration by the Council at its meeting on 4^th May).

            (Mr. G. Copeland, Events Manager, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee considered further the minute of the meeting of 14th April under the heading “Belfast City Marathon”, a copy of the minute in this regard is set out hereunder:

      “The Committee was reminded that the Belfast City Marathon had been arranged since 1982 by an organising committee involving the Council, Athletics Northern Ireland and other partners and sponsors.  Since its inauguration, the Council had co-sponsored the event, with £40,000 having being allocated for the 2010 event.  The event traditionally takes place on the first bank holiday Monday in May and in recent years overall participation in the event had risen dramatically.  However, the Chairman of Belfast City Marathon Limited had written to the Council seeking support to change the Marathon event day to a Sunday.

      The Head of City Events and Venues reported that when the marathon had first commenced in the early 1980s, the May Bank Holiday Monday had been a quiet day for the City.  However, that was no longer the case and Bank Holiday Mondays were now, for the most part, treated as normal working days.  By the nature of the range of events delivered by Belfast City Marathon Limited on that day, there was considerable disruption to transport, traffic and commerce in the City.  There were a number of reasons supporting a switch to a Sunday which included:

(i)   all major international marathons were held on a Sunday.  International marathon participants were accustomed to and preferred to visit and participate in major City marathons over a weekend, which enabled them to return home without sacrificing their Monday’s at work;

(ii)  the costs of policing, as highlighted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, would be reduced greatly should the event switch to a Sunday.  That had become a major issue affecting the level of support and resources which the Police could make available to the event; and

(iii)there would be much less disruption to the City on a Sunday when the bulk of the event would be completed by 1.00 p.m.  Retailers were not open before 1.00 p.m. on a Sunday and most other businesses were closed.

      In addition, Belfast City Marathon Limited had received letters of support for the proposed change to a Sunday from Translink, the Department for Regional Development Roads Division, Belfast Centre Management and the event’s key organising partner, Athletics Northern Ireland.

      After discussion, the Committee agreed to support Belfast City Marathon Limited’s proposal to switch the BelfastMarathon event to take place on a Sunday from May, 2011 onwards.”

            The Chairman (Councillor Humphrey) tabled for the information of the Members a copy of a letter which had been received from the Moderator of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church in Ireland, expressing concern at the Committee’s decision to support the switching of the event to a Sunday and indicating that many churchgoers and Christians would no longer be able to give the event their full support.  Accordingly, the Moderator had requested the Committee to reconsider its decision.

            With the permission of the Chairman, Councillor D. Browne, at whose request the matter had been taken back for further consideration, advised the Committee that he had received many complaints in relation to the Committee’s decision, particularly from faith-based organisations and groups which had not been consulted on the matter and therefore he was requesting that the Committee rescind its decision and agree that the Marathon continue to be held on the first bank holiday Monday in May.

            Several Members expressed the view that the event had always been held on that date and had been highly successful.  The reasons given for switching the event, such as the costs of policing, could be addressed easily through the use of civilian marshals.  In addition, consideration could be given to changing the timing and the route of the event to cause less disruption on the bank holiday Monday rather than move the event to a Sunday.  The point was made also that consultation with the faith?based communities, groups and organisations should have been a major consideration of the organisers before proposing to change the day of the event.

            In response, the Events Manager pointed out that the 2011 event was due to be launched in June and if the Committee were minded to change its decision it could request Belfast City Marathon Limited to continue to hold the event on the bank holiday Monday in 2011, which would allow time for proper consultation to take place on whether or not to switch the marathon to a Sunday in future years.

            After further discussion, the Committee agreed to rescind its decision of 14th April to support Belfast City Marathon Limited’s proposal to switch the Belfast Marathon Event to take place on a Sunday from May, 2011 onwards and accordingly agreed that the Company be requested to postpone any move to switching the Belfast City Marathon to a Sunday until after 2011, which would allow the Company to launch the 2011 event next month and enable it to consult with all interested parties with regard to any proposed changes for the 31st Belfast City Marathon in 2012.  In addition, there would be no commitment by the Council to support any potential change prior to the completion of such consultation.