Agenda item

            The Director of City Regeneration and Development submitted a report which provided an update on the Urban Planning 2030 (UP2030) project and set out a final UP2030 Belfast Net Zero (NZ) Neighbourhood Framework for the Committee’s consideration. It was reported that, subject to the Committee’s approval of the Framework and ratification by the Council, the Framework would be submitted to the UP2030 Horizon Europe Consortium in December.

            The Director reminded the Committee that the Council had been involved in the three-year Horizon Europe consortium programme, UP2030, which aimed to guide cities through the transitions required to meet their climate neutrality ambitions, and that Belfast was one of eleven pilot cities within a large consortium of forty-seven partners across fourteen countries. She informed the Committee that the project would support the Council’s NZ Roadmap, the city’s Resilience Strategy, the Climate Change Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, and the city’s ambition to become net zero by 2050.

            She advised the Committee that the joint project, between the City Regeneration and Development team and the Climate team, developed the Framework with a focus based on the three thematic areas of active travel, greening and retrofit, and that those themes were underpinned by the UP2030 pillars of a fair and just transition, carbon neutrality and resilience. It was reported that during the development of the Framework, communication, engagement and capacity building were identified as critical areas that required additional focus.

            She highlighted the significant engagement that had been undertaken with local communities, city partners and Members to help shape the final framework. She highlighted that, although the geographic area of the UP2030 pilot, which was agreed at the Committee meeting in March 2023, had covered the Linen Quarter and surrounding city centre communities of Barrack Street, Sandy Row, Donegall Pass and the Markets, the Framework had been developed to be transferable and used to assist in other areas and communities.

            The City Regeneration Development Manager, the Regeneration Project Officer, and the Climate Project Support Officer presented the Committee with a detailed overview of the Belfast NZ Neighbourhood Framework’s seven main sections:

1.      Climate change in Belfast - The role of cities in achieving net zero, climate and health, climate and urban design, the Local Development Plan and climate measures;

2.      The Neighbourhood – engagement with community stakeholders within the pilot area to understand the lived experience of residents and the challenges that exist;

3.      Vision, Themes and Pillars – The vision would be to create a net zero neighbourhood that adapts and mitigates climate risks through increased greening, better active and sustainable transport, and more energy efficient low-carbon buildings. Three interconnected themes of Retrofit, Active Travel and Greening would be underpinned by the UP2030 pillars of a fair and just transition, carbon neutrality and resilience;

4.      Communication and engagement in the Neighbourhood – key findings from communication and engagement with local communities to support a fair and just transition and to help communities understand climate change through a horizontal priority approach of engaging, educating, elevating, enabling and embedding;

5.      Carbon emissions data study in the neighbourhood – detail of the work with the University of Cambridge (UCAM) to estimate the carbon footprint of the UP2030 project area;

6.      Net Zero enablers in Belfast - how ambitions sit within the context of the citywide climate efforts such as major projects, governance, data, strategic partnerships and capacity building; and

7.      Opportunities for the Way Forward – opportunities to move the work forward and highlight the need for cross-sectoral collaboration, a data-driven approach, and embedding climate action into decisions, policy and projects.

            During discussion, the Members thanked the officers for the significant work that had been undertaken throughout the project to develop the final framework, in particular the engagement and co-design of the framework with local communities. The Members also highlighted the benefit of the research’s extensive range of data collated in order to inform future interventions.

            The City Regeneration Development Manager, the Regeneration Project Officer, and the Climate Project Support Officer answered a range of questions from the Members in relation to the potential to extend low carbon district heating to residential and other non-central locations, how the learnings and findings could be shared, retrofitting Council buildings, the role of local communities, and the Walking Bus Programme for Schools.

            After discussion, the Committee:

i.        approved the UP2030 Belfast Net Zero Neighbourhood Framework;

ii.      noted that the Framework would be submitted to the UP2030 Horizon Europe Consortium in December, subject to Council ratification;

iii.     noted the contents of the report and the process to develop the Framework around the three main themes of Greening, Retrofit and Active Travel, and how the UP2030 project could be upscaled to help build understanding and capacity for communities in respect of net zero; and

iv.     noted the opportunity to use the Framework to integrate and inform both local community plans and Council workstreams such as the area planning approach, climate-related work programmes, the housing led regeneration programme and how it would align with the Belfast Agenda Community Planning Boards Action Plans.