Agenda and minutes

          Apologies for inability to attend were reported from Councillors Abernethy, Kelly, McCallin and Smyth.

            The minutes of the meeting of 20th May 2026, were taken as read and signed as correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 1st June.

          Councillor R. Brooks declared an interest in item 2 (b) Application for a New Licence to operate a House of Multiple Occupation; and Councillor de Faoite an interest in item 2(d) Application for a Grant of a 7-Day Annual Entertainments for The Donegal, 11-17 Donegal Street.  Both Members left the meeting whilst the items were under discussion.

THE COMMITTEE DEALT WITH THE FOLLOWING ITEMS IN

PURSUANCE OF THE POWERS DELEGATED TO IT UNDER

STANDING ORDER 37(d)

The Committee noted the licence applications which had, since its last meeting, been issued under the Scheme of Delegation.

            The HMO Manager provided the Committee with an overview of the application.

            He outlined that the property had had the benefit of an HMO licence issued by the Council with a start date of 11th January, 2021, with an expiry date of 11th January, 2026, in the name of the existing owner.

            A reminder letter had been sent to the existing owner informing them that they were required to renew the licence before the expiry of the exiting one.

            The Committee was advised that an application for a new HMO licence was received from the applicant on 19th March, 2026.

            An application for a Temporary Exemption notice (TEN) was received on 23rd January, 2026, and granted on 26th January, 2026, with an expiry date of 26th April, 2026.  The TEN had subsequently been extended until 27th June, 2026.

The HMO Manager outlined that, pursuant to the 2016 Act, the Council could only grant a licence if it was satisfied that:

a)    the occupation of the living accommodation as an HMO would not constitute a breach of planning control;

b)    the owner, and any managing agent of it, were fit and proper persons;

c)     the proposed management arrangements were satisfactory;

d)    the granting of the licence would not result in overprovision of HMOs in the locality;

e)    the living accommodation was fit for human habitation and—

                                  i.         was suitable for occupation as an HMO by the number of persons to be specified in the licence, or

                                ii.         could be made so suitable by including conditions in the licence.

            The Planning Service had confirmed that a Certificate of Lawful Existing Use or Development (CLEUD) was granted on 3rd March, 2026.

It was reported that the NIHMO Unit had consulted with the Environmental Protection Unit in relation to nighttime and daytime noise; the Public Health and Housing Unit in relation to rubbish accumulation/filthy premises; and the Enforcement Unit in relation to litter and waste and all had confirmed that there had been no relevant enforcement action required in respect of any of the issues in the HMO in the last 5 years.  

For the purpose of Section 12(2) of the 2016 Act, the Council had determined the locality of the accommodation as being Housing Management Area (HMA) “2/22 Botanic, Holylands, Rugby” as defined in the document Council’s Local Development Plan Strategy, which was formally adopted in May, 2023.  It was reported that Legal Services had advised that there was a clear requirement in section 8 of the 2016 Act upon the Council to be satisfied that the granting of a licence would not result in overprovision.

The officers had had regard to:

a)    the number and capacity of licensed HMOs in the locality; and

b)    the need for housing accommodation in the locality and the extent to which HMO accommodation was required to meet that need.

            To inform the Council in its consideration of the above provisions, the Council had taken account of the 2023 Strategy given that “Nurturing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2b

            The Director of Planning and Building Control advised the Committee that anapplication had been received for the grant of a 14-Day Occasional Outdoor Entertainments Licence for the outdoor area to the rear of Lindsay House located at 8 Callender Street, based on the Council’s standard conditions to provide outdoor musical entertainment.  She reminded the Members that Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann was taking place in Belfast from Sunday 2 August to Sunday 9 August 2026 and the applicant planned to provide entertainment in this outdoor area from Friday 31 July to Sunday 9 August.  The applicant had also requested permission for the musical entertainment to run beyond 11.00pm until 1.00am in the outdoor area on ten nights.

There would be amplified entertainment in the outdoor area, and an acoustic report had been submitted. The Licensee had confirmed that the music noise level would be reduced after 11.00pm to reduce the likelihood of unreasonable disturbance to nearby residents.

            The Director reported that, subsequent to the report having been issued, the PSNI had indicated that it had no objections.  In addition, the issues which had been raised by the NIFRS could be dealt with as the work progressed to completion at the premises.  The other issues were set out in the report in relation to the acoustic report and the neighbourhood pre-notification letter and were being dealt with by the Environmental Protection Unit.

Moved by Councillor McKay,

Seconded by Councillor Bradley and

     Resolved – That the Committee approves the application for the grant of the 14-Day Occasional Outdoor Entertainments License; and agrees that entertainment should be permitted to take place beyond the standard hours of licence to 1.00 am on all ten nights from 31st July till 9th August, 2026, inclusive.

The Committee was advised that an application for the grant of a 7-Day Annual Entertainments License had been received for The Donegal, 11-17 Donegal Street.

The day and hours that outdoor musical entertainment was proposed to be provided were:

· Monday to Saturday:            12.00 noon to 11.00 pm; and

· Sunday:        12.30 pm to 10:30 pm

The applicant had applied to provide outdoor entertainment to the rear of their vacant building at 11-17 Donegall Street.  Works had commenced to reinstate an existing outdoor area to the rear of the building, which was the area where it was proposed to provide outdoor entertainment.

The granting of an outdoor entertainments licence would not confer nor negate any requirement for planning permission which might be required depending on the duration of the use.

The Members were advised that no written representations had been lodged as a result of the advertisement of the application.  Subsequent to the report having been issued, the PSNI had indicated that it had no objections to the application.  A response was still outstanding from the NIFRS and the granting of a Licence would be subject to a satisfactory response.

The works to create the outdoor entertainment area were due to be completed on 18 July 2026.  If the Committee decided to grant the Outdoor Entertainments Licence, it would not be issued until such time as all works were completed to the satisfaction of the Service.

The applicant proposed to provide non-amplified musical entertainment within the rear outdoor area of his building in the form of traditional music live bands during the Fleadh. Entertainment would not be provided beyond the standard finishing time for outdoor musical entertainment of 11.00 pm.   

If a decision was taken to Grant the licence, a condition would be added to the licence relating to the sole provision of non-amplified musical entertainment.  The following special conditions are attached to the Outdoor Entertainments Licences.

1. Maximum numbers will be agreed at the discretion of the Building Control service and will vary depending on the individual entertainment proposals.

2. Prior to entertainment taking place, the licensee is required to demonstrate evidence of early consultation with Building Control service and have in place a robust system for dealing with complaints. This is to be agreed in advance.

The Committee approved the application for the grant of the 7-Day Annual Outdoor Entertainments Licence with special conditions.

The Director reported that an application had been received for a 14-Day Occasional Outdoor Entertainments Licence for a car park located at 38-56 North Street.  The applicant has also proposed to provide entertainment within the new outdoor area beyond 11.00pm. 

            The day and hours proposed were:

·       Thursday 6, Friday 7, and Saturday 8 August: 11.30am to 01.00am the following morning

All remaining days of the 14-Day Occasional Licence were to remain as standard hours:

·       11.30am to 11.00pm

There would be no amplified entertainment in the outdoor area.

            In addition, the applicant has requested permission to provide entertainment beyond 11.00pm within a marquee to be located at the site.  This structure was subject to the conditions of a Marquee Entertainments Licence granted for the site.  The day and hours proposed were:

·       Thursday 6, Friday 7, and Saturday 8 August: 11.30am to 01.00am the following morning

            There would be amplified entertainment in the marquee.

            Both the PSNI and the NIFRS had been consulted and responses were still outstanding.   Should the Committee be minded to grant the Licence, it would subject to satisfactory responses from both.

            The other issues were set out in the report in relation to the acoustic report and the neighbourhood pre-notification letter and were being dealt with by the Environmental Protection Unit.

            The Committee:

• Approved the application for the grant of the 14-Day Occasional Outdoor Entertainments Licence with special conditions;
• Agreed that entertainment should be permitted to take place beyond the standard hours of licence to 1.00 am on all three nights from 6th till 8th August, 2026, inclusive; and
• Agreed that, in relation to the marquee, entertainment should be permitted to take place beyond the standard hours of licence to 1.00 am on all three nights from 6th till 8th August, 2026, inclusive.

The Director submitted for the Committee’s consideration application for the grant of a 14-Day Occasional Outdoor Entertainments Licence for the outdoor area/carpark to the rear of the Oh Yeah Music Centre at 15-21 Gordon Street, based on the Council’s Standard Conditions to provide outdoor musical entertainment. 

The Committee was reminded that Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann would run for 8 days from Sunday 2 August to Sunday 9 August 2026 and the applicant planned to provide entertainment on four days from Thursday 6 August to Sunday 9 August 2026, up to the standard finishing time for outdoor entertainment of 11.00pm.

The PSNI and the NIFRS had been consulted and responses were still outstanding.   Should the Committee be minded to grant the Licence, it would subject to satisfactory responses from both.

Musical entertainment was to be amplified and would cease at 11.00pm.  The Council’s Environmental Protection Unit was to provide a maximum sound level to be adhered to and, if the Committee agreed to grant the Licence, this would be included as a special condition.

The Committee approved the application for the grant of the 14-Day Occasional Outdoor Entertainments Licence with special conditions.

The Director of Planning and Building Control reported that the  Fleadh Cheoil temporary campsite at Titanic Quarter Harland and Wolff had submitted a grant application for a 14-Day Occasional Indoor (Marquee) Entertainments Licence.

The Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann campsite in the Titanic Quarter would run for eight nights from Sunday 2nd August to Sunday 9th August 2026 and a request had been received from Nord Events Ltd. to permit entertainment to be provided beyond 11.00pm in a Marquee at the East Belfast Titanic Quarter - Caravan/Motorhome Site.

There was currently no Entertainment Licence in place at the site, however, an application had been received, and it would be issued under delegated authority, providing there were no objections, once the 28 day objection period had expired. This was not an application to vary the terms of the Indoor (Marquee) licence, but a request for the Council’s permission to extend the hours once the Entertainment Licence had been granted.

The event organiser had indicated that Indoor (Marquee) music events were scheduled for the nights of Sunday 2 August to Sunday 9 August inclusive. The request was to provide entertainment to midnight on all of these eight nights.  There would be no amplified entertainment at the campsite.

The PSNI and the NIFRS had been consulted and responses were still outstanding.   Should the Committee be minded to grant the Licence, it would subject to satisfactory responses from both.

The other issues were set out in the report in relation to the acoustic report and the neighbourhood pre-notification letter and were being dealt with by the Environmental Protection Unit.

            The Committee agreed that entertainment should be permitted to take place beyond the standard hours of licence to midnight on all eight nights of the Fleadh campsite from 2nd till 9th August inclusive.

The Committee was advised that a request had been received from the organisers of Féile an Phobail to permit the planned entertainment to run beyond 11.00 pm on up to eight nights during the festival event within Falls Park, running from Friday 24 July to Sunday 9 August 2026.

The Director informed the Committee that Falls Park has a 7-Day Annual Outdoor Entertainments Licence and a 7-Day Annual Indoor Entertainments Licence for a Marquee and both have been used to hold events in the past, primarily for this event.  The Licences were held by the City and Neighbourhood Services Department and were transferred to the organisers for the duration of their event.

As this is not an application to vary the terms of the Outdoor licence, but a request for Council’s permission to extend the hours under an existing Licence Condition, there was no requirement for public advertisement in this case.

The event organiser had indicated that outdoor music events were scheduled for Friday 24, Saturday 25, Friday 31 July, Saturday 1, Thursday 6, Friday 7 and Saturday 8, and Sunday 9 August 2026.  The request was to provide entertainment beyond 11.00 pm on all of these nights. 

The event organiser had indicated that it was intended only to operate to 1.00 am on three occasions.  These dates had been identified as Friday 7, Saturday 8 August and Sunday 9 August.  The Service was awaiting confirmation from the organisers on the  actual finish time of the remaining events for which extension beyond standard hours had also been requested.

The event had been running for over 30 years as a community festival and, in recent years, organisers had consolidated the music events hosted at Falls Park to six nights.  That decision was motivated by a desire to limit disruption to the community in close proximity to Falls Park.  However, the request for entertainment to go beyond 11.00pm for 2026 would be to increase the number of occasions to eight evenings. 

The applicant has indicated that it was intended that entertainment would go on no later than 1.00 am for the events on Friday 7, Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 August, with this request for extended hours on these nights being due to the diversionary nature of the events.

The Committee was reminded that in 2025 it had agreed to grant the organisers permission to operate on 6 nights of the event beyond the standard hours of 11.00 pm to 1.00 am and on all these nights entertainment did continue beyond 11.00 pm.

A significant factor, which was unique to this year’s event, was the operation of a campsite for the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann at a neighbouring location within Falls Park.  Féile an Phobail have a stated aim to deliver, in conjunction with Belfast City Council, a safe, accessible and well-managed facility for visitors to the city for the Fleadh Cheoil. 

The PSNI and the NIFRS had been consulted and responses were still outstanding.   Should the Committee be minded to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2i

The Committee considered an application for the grant of 7-Day Annual Outdoor Entertainments Licence based on the Council’s standard conditions, to provide outdoor musical entertainment for Laverys Bar, 12-18 Bradbury Bar.

The areas currently licensed to provide entertainment were:

·       Ground Floor Bar, with a maximum capacity of 485 persons.

·       First Floor Lounge, with a maximum capacity of 300 persons.

·       Second Floor, Pool Room Layout, with a maximum capacity of 300 persons.

·       Second Floor, Concert Layout, with a maximum capacity of 600 persons.

·       Mezzanine, with a maximum capacity of 60 persons.

·       Woodworkers Bar, with a maximum capacity of 210 persons.

            The days and hours during which the premises are currently licensed to provide entertainment were:

·       Monday to Thursday:   11.30 am to 1.00 am the following morning

·       Friday: 11.30 am to 2.00 am the following morning

·       Saturday: 11.30 am to 3.00 am the following morning

·       Sunday: 11.30 am to 12.00 midnight.

The premise operates as a public bar and nightclub, with entertainment being provided on all floors in the form of live bands and DJs.

The applicant proposed to provide entertainment within three external areas, two of which were beer gardens located to the rear of Laverys Bar and the other was a roof top smoking area.

The proposed occupancy of the areas would be:

• External beer garden, with a maximum capacity of 80 persons.
• External first floor beer garden, with a maximum capacity of 140 persons.
• Roof Top smoking area, with a maximum capacity of 100 persons.

The applicant has applied to provide entertainment in the form of live music or DJ’s, within these existing outdoor areas.

The standard outdoor entertainment hours were Monday to Sunday: 11:30am to 11.00pm.  However, the applicant has proposed providing entertainment on the following days and hours:

·       Monday to Sunday: 11:30 am to 1.00am the following morning

The Members were reminded that all applications for the grant of Outdoor Entertainments Licences must be brought before Committee for consideration.

The Members were advised that no written representations had been lodged as a result of the advertisement of the application.  The PSNI had indicated that it had no objections to the application.  A response was still outstanding from the NIFRS and the granting of a Licence would be subject to a satisfactory response.

            A total of three during performance inspections have been carried out on the premises by Officers from the Service regarding the provision of indoor entertainment in the past 12 months.

The inspections revealed that the conditions of the Entertainments Licence were being adhered to and Officers were satisfied that all operational and management procedures were being implemented effectively.

Given the nature of the entertainment at the venue, an acoustic report outlining the measures to be taken to ensure minimal disturbance to neighbouring residential premises, both due to noise breakout or from patron activity, was requested and forwarded to the Council’s Environmental Protection Unit (EPU) for appraisal.

The Committee approved the application for the grant of a 7-Day Annual Outdoor Entertainments Licence with special conditions.

The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report

1.1       To consider a licence application and seek approval for the grant of a Caravan Site Licence, subject to conditions, in respect of a caravan site at Titanic Quarter, Hamilton Road, Belfast in accordance with the statutory requirements of the Caravans Act (Northern Ireland) 1963 Caravans Act (Northern Ireland) 1963 .  In considering any licence application, Councils must have regard to the Model Licence Conditions 2025 – Residential Sites and Holiday Sites issued by the  Department for Infrastructure (DfC). https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/publications/model-licence-conditions-2025-documents

2.0       Recommendation

2.1       The Committee is requested to;

·       Note the contents of this report concerning the application for a Caravan Site Licence at Titanic Quarter, Hamilton Road, Belfast.

·       Consider the grant of the Caravan Site Licence subject to the site being constructed and completed in accordance with the approved plans and in compliance with all statutory requirements, including full Planning Permission, under the Caravans Act (Northern Ireland) 1963 and associated licence conditions following a final site inspection and receipt of satisfactory documentation /certification

·       Note that the Scheme of Delegation will be updated to include the Caravans Act (Northern Ireland) 1963

·       Delegate authority to the Strategic Director of City Operations for the grant of a Caravan Site Licence in respect of this application

3.0       Main Report

3.1       Under the Caravans Act (NI) 1963, any caravan site operator must hold a valid licence issued by the Council. The Caravans Act (Northern Ireland) 1963 confers upon the Council the power to issue caravan site licences and to attach conditions to the site licence.

3.2       The Council received an application for a caravan site licence in respect of a site located at Titanic Quarter, Hamilton Road Belfast on 18th May 2026 and this has now been considered by officers. 

3.3       The applicant is Nord Events Ltd who have been appointed by the Council as the camp site operator for the provision of a caravan site to accommodate 349 holiday/touring caravans at this location for the Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann event (2nd to 10th August 2026).  A site plan has been included with the application detailing arrangements such as capacity, amenity area to include WC and showering facilities, waste disposal, hospitality area and car parking arrangements etc (Appendix 1).

3.4       As this is a temporary caravan site, it has not yet been constructed and therefore a full compliance inspection and review of all the necessary documentation cannot be completed until the site works are complete which is anticipated to commence mid-July.  Therefore, a licence can only be issued following a full inspection of the site arrangements in late July.

3.5       The Caravans Act (Northern Ireland) 1963 specifies that a district council may on receipt of an application issue a site licence in respect of land if, at the time when the site licence is issued, the land is entitled to the benefit of a permission for use  as a caravan site under the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011.

3.6       Temporary planning approval for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2k

            The Committee noted an update in relation to the steps taken regarding the suspension of the HMO register, agreed to maintain the current position and that report on future options be brought back to the Committee.