Agenda and minutes

            Apologies were reported on behalf of Councillors Armitage, Bradshaw, Carson, Corr, Hargey, Hutchinson, McCoubrey and R. Patterson.

            The minutes of the meeting of 19th February were taken as read and signed as correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Shadow Council at its meeting on 3rd March.

            No declarations of interest were reported.

            The Committee was advised that correspondence had been received from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) seeking the Council’s views in respect of proposals which had been formulated for the listing and de-listing of a number of buildings in Belfast. The Committee agreed with the Agency’s proposals to list the following buildings:

·        The Synagogue, Somerton Road 

·        Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children

·        Microbiology Building, Grosvenor Road  

·        External Waiting Hall - Royal Victoria Hospital

·        Direct Wine Shipments, Corporation Square

·        Congregational Church, 101-103 Donegall Street

·        1 Victoria Square

·        4, 5 and 6 Murray Street

·        Central Hall, Rosemary Street

·        1-5 Castle Lane and 23-29 Cornmarket

·        13-17 Grosvenor Road

·        War Memorial Building, 9 Waring Street

·        McCracken’s Bar, Joy’s Entry

·        Belfast Telegraph Offices, 124-144 Royal Avenue         

Dankse Bank – Donegall Square West

            The Committee was advised that a letter had been received from representatives of Danske Bank requesting that that it would agree not to support a proposal to list the bank’s corporate headquarters in Donegall Square West. The letter had indicated that the building acted as the bank’s regional operations centre for the island of Ireland and added that the listing of the building could impose unnecessary constraints on the ability of the bank to upgrade or re-develop its headquarters.

            The Committee noted the information which had been received but agreed that it was minded, given its unique architectural and contemporary style, to support the proposal to list the building.

Advance Notice of Delisting

The Committee agreed that it would be opposed to delisting of the following properties:

·        Arnott House – Bridge Street

·        Donegall Chambers –Donegall Place

·        81-87 Royal Avenue

·        23-37 Talbot Street

·        Imperial House – Donegall Square East

·        20-22 Castle Street

·        56-88 Royal Avenue

·        Fountain House - Donegall Place

            The Committee considered the following report which gave an overview of the Council’s preparations for assuming responsibility for the planning function from 1st April onwards:

“1.0  Background information

1.1    On 1st April 2015 a range of planning functions will transfer from DOE to the council.  The Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for this ‘project’ is John McGrillen and a programme team of DOE and BCC officers is coordinating delivery of a detailed project plan.  A project board (the ‘Planning Panel’) has also been established with input from across Council. 

1.2    The transfer of planning is largely seen in two phases - transition and transformation.  The current priority is a successful transition.  Namely, ensuring the Council can discharge its statutory duties and deliver business critical planning functions from 1st April 2015. 

1.3    At its meeting on 13 January the Council’s Audit Panel requested that the SRO submit to the Shadow Planning Committee a state of readiness report (and that this be forwarded to the Audit Panel following Shadow Planning Committee consideration).   A report was subsequently presented to Shadow Planning Committee in February and also to the Council’s Assurance Board and Audit Panel in early March.

1.4    The purpose of this report is therefore to provide an update on readiness since the previous report to committee and highlight key areas requiring further action and the proposed work to address these.  Readiness in this instance has been judged by our ability to:

1.     Receive and process new, or live, applications for planning permission, Tree Preservation Order requests and enforcement case; and

2.     Support the work of the new Planning Committee.

1.5    Appendix 1 outlines the key deliverables that must be in place in order for this to happen and provides an assessment of readiness; indicated by a Red, Amber, and Green (RAG) status.  This has been informed by input from officers and senior managers across council. 

1.6    The SRO’s assessment at this time indicates that the majority of tasks are either completed or on target for completion within the required timescales and, as such, it is considered that the Council is well placed to deliver planning from 1st April 2015.  However given the scale of change and ongoing issues that still need to be managed regarding the portal, processes, governance arrangements and staff transfer, it is inevitable that issues will arise in the early weeks and months following the transfer of planning.  Any such issues will continue to be managed by the project team in consultation with planning staff.

2.0    Summary of key issues

2.1    There are a number of key issues of which members should be aware. These are summarised below with details of current and proposed mitigating actions.  Further detail on these and other work streams is outlined in Appendix 1.

2.2    These actions have been included within the project plan and issues log that is reported regularly to the Planning Panel and TMT.  Key issues that remain critical in relation to day 1 include: 

2.3    Planning Portal

·        The re-configuration and testing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The Committee considered the following Council response to the Department for Regional Development’s consultation regarding the proposed new bridge over the River Lagan between the Ormeau Embankment and the Gasworks Estate:

“Council Response

Belfast City Council welcomes the opportunity to comment on the proposed pedestrian and cycle bridge over the River Lagan, Belfast. The Council has a keen interest in this proposal due to its proximity to the Ozone Leisure Centre and Ormeau Park. Whilst the Council is broadly supportive of the proposed development to improve connectivity of the city to surrounding neighbourhoods it is essential to consider any environmental issues arising from the proposed pedestrian and cycle bridge.  It should be noted that the bridge proposal will be located on DSD land at the east and west bank of the river. It is anticipated that this land will be transferred to council ownership as part of the DSD asset transfer in April 2016.  The Council will engage with DSD and DRD regarding detailed design and management of these areas.

In the response below some strategic context is outlined before specific comments in relation to the proposal under consideration.

Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan

Within BMAP two new pedestrian/cycle bridge crossings are proposed to serve key activity spines between the east and west sides of the River Lagan. These are proposed to improve the connection between the extension of existing riverside walkways and the more strategic sections of the pedestrian network, whilst facilitating better access to and from the City Centre. The Council welcomed the proposed pedestrian/cycle bridge crossing Gasworks to Ormeau Embankment (Proposal CC 023/02) in relation to improving the connections and accessibility of the city centre.

Belfast City Masterplan

Belfast City Masterplan sets out the strategic objective for an Accessible and Connected City. The masterplan aims to deliver a placemaking solution for the Shaftesbury Link (City Centre Ring Southern Section) which contains the potential for a pedestrian bridge from the Gasworks to Ormeau Park in order to link the residential neighbourhoods to Ormeau Park.

Belfast City Council City Centre Regeneration Strategy and Investment Plan

The draft Belfast City Centre Regeneration Strategy and Investment Plan identified the policy objectives to “Create a green, walkable, cyclable centre” and “Connect to the city around”. These are two of the eight policies outlined in the draft plan.

The objective to “Create a green, walkable, cyclable centre” is to “reduce the area of asphalt and increase green space in the city centre through provision of new open spaces, a comprehensive streetscaping programme and development of the Lagan corridor as a recreational spine.”

The objective to “Connect to the city around” aims to “reduce barriers between the city centre and the communities that surround it by connecting to activity in adjacent neighbourhoods, developing two new pedestrian bridges over the River Lagan and reducing road widths, improving pedestrian crossings, streetscaping key corridors and improving the built form relationship at the edge of the centre.” 

Belfast City Council welcomes the proposed development of a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

(Ms. N. Largey, Council Solicitor, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 19th February, it had considered a draft Operating Protocol to oversee the running of the Planning Committee from 1st April onwards. At that meeting, the Committee had agreed that the Protocol would be re-examined with a view to reflecting a range on comments and suggestions which had been made by Members.

            Accordingly, the Council’s Solicitor outlined the principal aspects of a revised Operating Protocol and outlined how it had been amended to address the issues which had been raised. Specifically, she referred to the amendment regarding representations to the Committee by Elected Members. In addition, she clarified that Members would be permitted request that an application be removed from a delegated list only if that application was within their District Electoral Area.

            The Committee endorsed the following protocol, which would oversee the operation of the Council’s Planning Committee from 1st April, 2015 onwards:

“OPERATING PROTOCOL

BELFAST CITY COUNCIL PLANNING COMMITTEE

INTRODUCTION

1.   The following protocol has been developed for use by the Planning Committee (‘the Committee’). It should be read alongside relevant provisions of the Council’s Standing Orders and the Code of Conduct for Councillors and is not intended to replace either document. The key aims of the protocol are to ensure that:

Those who apply for, or object to, applications before the Committee are able to make informed representations and know the case which they have to meet; and

The Committee makes decisions in a sound, lawful, and transparent way and in a timely and efficient manner.

REMIT OF THE COMMITTEE

2.   The primary roles of the Committee will include:

Exercising the Council’s powers and duties in relation to local planning policies, plan strategies, the statement of community involvement and any other development plan documents;

Exercising the Council’s powers in relation to listed buildings;

Consideration of applications for planning permission  and development management in accordance with the Council’s Scheme of Delegation;

Responding to consultations issued by the Department of Environment, or any other Department, in relation to planning matters;

Responding to consultations in relation to regionally significant or major applications to be determined by the Department of Environment;

Scrutiny of the Council’s delivery of planning functions, to include development management, enforcement, etc .

3.   More detailed terms of reference can be found in XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.

FREQUENCY & TIME OF MEETINGS

4.   It is recommended that the Committee should meet every month; though there should be flexibility for additional meetings if required.

5.   Dates and times will be advertised at least 5 days in advance on the Council website.

SCHEME OF DELEGATION

6.   As per the requirements of Section 31 of the Planning Act (NI) 2011 the Council will operate a scheme of delegation for planning outlining delegation both to the Committee and officers (this can be found at XXXXXXXXXXXX).  The overall objective is to ensure that arrangements for decision-making on applications for local developments are efficient whilst ensuring that proposals  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

            The Committee considered the following report:

“1     Background Information

1.1    Members will be aware that a number of planning applications have been deferred by the Council’s Town Planning Committee. It is proposed to have a mop up meeting of the Town Planning Committee on 26th March 2015 to deal with those applications.

1.2    It is envisaged however that it will not be possible to deal with all of the deferred applications at that meeting. This will mean that there will be some applications which would have been decided by the DOE Planning Service but will then have to be determined by the Council as a result of the Council deferring the application.

1.3    There will also be a number of applications which have been deferred by Lisburn City Council and Castlereagh Borough Council which will be transferred to Belfast on 1st April 2015.

2       Key Issues

2.1    As members will be aware, the first actions of the Council as a local planning authority are likely to come under great scrutiny from the press, the general public, and in particular, those parties interested in the applications which have been deferred.

2.2    As the Council was not the decision maker in respect of those applications which have been deferred, it is likely that members have in the past made comments or expressed a view in relation to a particular application, or to a particular type of application. This will give rise to issues in relation to pre-determination, potential conflict of interest or the appearance of bias.

2.3    In addition, members will recall that the decisions of the Committee will be subject to the supervision of the High Court by way of judicial review. Judicial review is typically concerned with the decision making process as opposed to the decision itself. One of the grounds for judicial review is that there has been procedural unfairness in dealing with an application which includes, amongst other things, the appearance of bias.

2.4    In light of those considerations it is essential that the Planning Committee has a robust process in place for determining those applications which have been deferred so as to ensure that there is no appearance of bias, pre-determination or any other alleged impropriety.

2.5    In order to do so, it would appear that there are two options available to deal with deferred applications post April 2015. These are:

2.6    Option One

·        Delegate permission to the senior authorised planning officer to determine all applications which have been deferred prior to April 2015.

·        This will be subject to the senior authorised planning officer, in consultation with the Town Solicitor and Director of Development, bringing any application to Committee where it is deemed appropriate in all the circumstances to do so.

·        Any major applications, applications made by the Council, an elected member of the Council, a Council employee and applications relating to land in which the Council has an interest cannot be delegated and will therefore be brought before Committee.

2.7    Option Two

·        Apply the Scheme of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.