Agenda item

            The Committee was reminded that the Council had previously, in 2007, entered into an Agreement for Lease with the organisation Upper Ardoyne Youth Centre (UAYC) to facilitate the construction of a Community Centre and Community Garden on land owned by the Council.

            The Company had constructed the youth centre using funding provided under Urban ll through the former North Belfast Partnership. The facility comprised a single storey brick building laid out to provide a partitioned meeting room, office, youth room and ancillary facilities, together with external yard space and grassed area. It was located on the Southeast boundary of Ballysillan Park at Alliance Drive.

            The Committee was reminded that the UAYC had been dissolved as a company in 2013, with the building having reverted to Council ownership in 2017. The North AWG had identified community and voluntary sector use as their preference for the building and officers from Estates and City and Neighbourhood Services had, since 2018, ran several exercises to secure a tenant, however, despite interest, the building had remained vacant.

            The Neighbourhood Services Manager advised that a further opportunity had been publicised to the community and voluntary sector in December 2023, with two organisations having expressed an interest in the building, as follows:

·        Wee Chicks, a provider of childcare for children aged 0 to 11. Currently operating in a building in Chichester Avenue providing places for 20 children. A move to the UAYC building would see capacity expand to 28 children; and

·        Streetbeat Youth Project, a voluntary organisation working with young people aged 11- 25 in North Belfast, with a particular focus on the Greater Shankill and Ballysillan areas. The organisation currently delivered programmes in a variety of premises including a number of local schools.

            The officer advised that, as both applicants satisfied the essential criteria, it was felt that any decision should be supported by considering the nature of the services to be provided from the building and the potential community benefit and she then drew the Members’ attention to the information from the respective submissions that had been summarised in the report. 

            The Members noted that officers were recommending that the Committee consider Streetbeat Youth Project as the preferred applicant, based on their potential to deliver a wider benefit for the local community and on their potential to utilise the adjacent Ballysillan Park to maximise on diversionary activities to reduce the negative impacts of ASB on the community.

            At the request of a Member, officers agreed that they would signpost Wee Chicks to other premises, where available, given the current childcare pressures and the need to build capacity in this area.

            The Committee agreed:

·        to recommend to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee that Streetbeat Youth Project be appointed as the lessee for the vacant premises formerly known as Upper Ardoyne Youth Centre, with lease terms to be drawn up by estates officers and agreed through the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee; and

·        officers to ensure that Streetbeat liaise with local youth providers, such as AYE, to ensure coordination, particularly around diversionary activities.