Agenda and minutes

An apology for inability to attend was reported on behalf of Councillor Nicholl.

            The minutes of the meetings of 9th and 23rd January were taken as read and signed as correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 4th February.

            Councillor Beattie declared an interest in relation to item 3a, Belfast Harbour Commissioners - Proposed Memorandum of Understanding, in that he was on the Board of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners and left the meeting whilst the matter was under consideration.

The Committee was reminded that, at the meeting of the Council on 4th February, the following motion, which had been proposed by Councillor Attwood and seconded by Councillor Heading, had, in accordance with Standing Order 12(f), been referred to the Committee for consideration:

“This Council:

·        notes that Enterprise Zones, Manufacturing Zones and Simplified Planning Zones have been used in Scotland and England to promote housing, business and industry;

·        notes that these zones can offer business rates discounts and additional tax breaks, backed by a simplified local planning process which can support businesses, help budding entrepreneurs to start and assist established companies to grow; and

·        notes that the first 'Enterprise Zone' in NI, the Atlantic Link Campus in Coleraine, has attracted the global data centre firm 5NINES, following a £20 million investment.

The Council agrees to research, scope out and develop options for the development of enterprise, manufacturing and simplified planning zones in Belfast, which will include the possible development of an enterprise zone along the interface corridor from West to North Belfast.”

After discussion, the Committee adopted the motion and agreed that a report outlining the potential for the development of enterprise, manufacturing and simplified planning zones in Belfast, as called for within the motion, be submitted to a future meeting.

The information contained in the reports associated with the following three items is restricted in accordance with Part 1 of Schedule 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

            Resolved – That the Committee agrees to exclude the members of the Press and public from the Committee meeting during discussion of the items as, due to the nature of the items, there would be a disclosure of exempt information as described in Section 42(4) and Section 6 of the Local Government Act (NI) 2014.

The Strategic Director of Place and Economy informed the Committee that the Belfast Harbour occupied a significant part of the City and was Northern Ireland’s principal maritime gateway and logistics hub. In addition to its core port-related business, it played an important role in the tourism sector in the City and had a significant real estate and property development focus.

He reported that, whilst discussions had taken place over the past few years between the Council and the Belfast Harbour Commissioners around specific projects and programmes of joint interest, it was recognised that there was the potential for them to work together in a more strategic and integrated way to maximise their respective development, regeneration, innovation and tourism opportunities. Following recent discussions, it was proposed that both parties enter into a strategic partnership arrangement, which would be underpinned by a Memorandum of Understanding. 

He drew the Members’ attention to a draft Memorandum of Understanding, which set out the proposed principles and scope of the partnership, together with a broad outcomes process and pointed out that further discussion and agreement was required around joint thematic priorities and projects/programmes and required outcomes. Governance arrangements were still to be agreed to ensure that they were aligned to the respective decision-making structures and the Memorandum of Understanding would, when finalised, be presented to the Committee for approval.   

The Committee agreed, in principle, to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Belfast Harbour Commissioners and noted that discussions were ongoing between the Department for Infrastructure and the Council regarding the replacement of former Councillor Jones on the Board of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners.

The Committee was reminded that, due to the previous post-holder having left the Council in June, 2018, arrangements now needed to be put in place for a recruitment exercise to fill on a permanent basis the post of Director (Operational) of City Regeneration and Development.

The Committee agreed that the Elected Member representation on the recruitment panel for the post should consist of the Chairperson, the Deputy Chairperson and Councillor Black (or their nominees).

(Mr. N. Grimshaw, Strategic Director of City and Neighbourhood Services, and Mr. A. Cairns, Zoo Manager, attended in connection with this item.)

The Strategic Director of City and Neighbourhood Services submitted for the Committee’s consideration a report outlining the performance of the Zoo for 2018, under five key areas, namely, Animal Collection/Welfare, Education Services, Financial Performance, Marketing and Events and Visitor Services.

He then reviewed the circumstances which had led to the escape on separate occasions of a Red Panda and a Chimpanzee from the Zoo and the measures which had since been put in place to prevent a reoccurrence. An independent review of Zoo safety and security had been commissioned.

The Zoo Manager provided further details around the escapes and outlined the role of staff employed at the Zoo and the maintenance arrangements which were in place currently. 

After discussion, the Committee:

(i)          noted the performance update for the Zoo for 2018;

(ii)         noted the circumstances surrounding the recent separate escapes of two animals and the measures which had since been put in place;

(iii)       agreed that a report on the outcome of the independent review of Zoo safety and security be submitted to its next monthly meeting;

(iv)       noted that a report on the development of  a North Belfast Masterplan, in the context of the Zoo, Belfast Castle, the North Foreshore and the Belfast Hills, was nearing completion and would be presented shortly for consideration; and

(v)        agreed that the Zoo Manager would, in future, attend appropriate meetings where matters in relation to the Zoo were on the agenda.

The Committee agreed to receive at a future meeting an update on the work of Tourism NI.

The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of Main Issues

1.1       To update Members in relation to work around City Centre Regeneration including:

·     City Centre Joint Regeneration Task Force

·     British Irish Parliamentary Assembly Committee Inquiry on Revitalisation of the High Street

·     City Recovery Update

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to note:

(i)          the update on the City Centre Joint Regeneration Task Force and the proposed next steps in bringing forward an action plan and areas for focus in terms of the medium/longer regeneration and revitalisation of the city centre; 

(ii)        the recent visit from the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly as part of their inquiry into ‘The Revitalisation of the High Street and Local Business’; and

(iii)      the update on City Recovery work and to note that a short presentation will be made at Committee on the evaluation of the Phase 1 recovery work and emerging proposals for the next phase of city centre revitalisation.

3.0       Main Report

3.1       (i) City Centre Regeneration Task Force

In November 2018 Members were advised of the proposal to establish a City Centre Regeneration Task Force jointly chaired by the Head of the Civil Service and the Council’s Chief Executive.  Membership of the Task Force also includes the Permanent Secretaries of the Department for Communities; Department for Economy; Department of Finance and Department for Infrastructure; the Director of Regeneration for DfC; the Council’s Deputy Chief Executive; Strategic Director Place & Economy and the City Regeneration Lead Officer.

3.2       Members were also advised that Committee would receive, on a quarterly basis, an update on the work of the Task Force.  

3.3       The Task Force is aimed at ensuring a collaborative public sector response to drive and resource the city centre recovery efforts in response to the Bank Buildings fire in the shorter term but also to provide a high level forum for the consideration of cross cutting issues and proposals for collaborative working and co-investment in the city centre in the longer term.   

3.4       The Task Force had its first meeting on 20th November 2018, followed by a further meeting on 11th January 2019.   A broad objective of the Task Force is to maximise the collective potential of our regeneration efforts to transform the city centre aligned to respective and collective priorities and identify an action plan accordingly.  It was recognised that there was an immediate need to drive and resource targeted city centre recovery efforts in response to the Bank Building Primark fire but also to consider the longer term revitalisation and regeneration of the city centre from an integrated and sustainable perspective. 

3.5       The immediate focus was on a recovery plan to address the issues of the Bank Buildings which included funding from central government.  The first phase of City recovery was in place until the end of January 2019 but with additional programming until the end of March.  Post immediate recovery the next phase moves into measures to drive city revitalisation,   as well  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

The City Regeneration and Development Lead Officer submitted for the Committee’s consideration the following report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of Main Issues

1.1            To update Members on key housing-related activities and integration of this work into the Belfast Agenda Living Here Board and associated Action Plan. 

To update Members on the proposal to hold Members’ and City Partners Housing Workshops to review and understand the key challenges and opportunities in relation to housing and the key areas for priority focus.  

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is requested to:

(i)       note the update in relation to housing and the proposal for alignment and integration of housing related work strands into the Belfast Agenda Living Here Board; and

(ii)      agree to hold a Members’ and City Partners workshop(s) on housing as set out below, with the first workshop proposed for March, 2019.

3.0       Main Report

Background

3.1       The Belfast Agenda and Local Development Plan set out the target to grow the population in Belfast by 66,000 by 2035.  To achieve this target there is a need for approximately 31,600 new homes between 2020-2035.  Aside from this overall requirement to increase the population, a specific stretch goal within the Belfast Agenda is to deliver 1,800 social housing units and agree a city target for affordable housing by 2021. The Belfast Agenda also contains objectives on increasing the supply of mixed tenure housing and encouraging city centre living.  In addition a key policy with the City Centre Regeneration and Investment Strategy is to increase the residential population of the city centre.

3.2       These represent challenging targets and it is clear that significant work and collaboration is required to support the provision of total housing supply across the city.

3.3       Although the Council does not have responsibility for the statutory delivery of housing it has a range of powers and is involved in various activities relating to housing. These cover the regulatory functions of planning and building control and the LDP; disposal of various Council lands for housing; city regeneration activities; city marketing and HMO licencing (due to transfer on 31 March 2019).  Housing related reports have been brought into various Council Committees on all these issues, including reports to the City Growth & Regeneration Committee on city centre living, but it is recognised that there is scope to try and align some of these workstrands to ensure a joined up approach in the context of the Belfast Agenda objectives.    

3.4       Achieving the overall Belfast Agenda housing target requires a step change in the current level of delivery and it is critical that key statutory partners and wider stakeholders work together.  As the lead body for the Belfast Agenda, the Council has an important role alongside other partners on this major issue. Through the Community Planning Partnership, strategic delivery boards, which includes the Living Here Board, have been set up to provide a structure for governance and support collaborative working across city partners on a range of issues. 

3.5       Belfast Agenda Living Here  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of Main Issues

1.1            To update Members on the following infrastructure and transport matters:

1.     Belfast Infrastructure Study

2.     Belfast Car Parking Strategy and Action Plan

3.     Translink Depot

4.     Review of Alfred Street / Upper Arthur Street Cycle Lane

5.     Transport Scheme Consultations

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

(i)       note the update on the Belfast Infrastructure Study and the intention to hold a Members’ Briefing to present the outworkings of the Study;

(ii)      note the update on the Belfast Car Parking Strategy and Action Plan and agree to a future Members meeting with DfI on the issue of problem parking;

(iii)    note the update in relation to discussions with Translink regarding the East Belfast Translink Depot and the proposal that the Council obtains further advice to ensure this work is approached from an optimal city regeneration perspective; 

(iv)    consider the draft response to the Review of Alfred Street / Upper Arthur Street Cycle Lane outlined in the attached appendix and, if appropriate, agree the response for submission to the Department for Infrastructure; and

(v)      consider the various Transport Scheme Consultations being undertaken by the Department for Infrastructure as outlined in the attached appendix, and if appropriate confirm Council’s support to these proposals.

3.0            Main Report

3.1       1.   Infrastructure Study

3.2       At the September 2017 meeting of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee it was agreed that specialist support should be commissioned to develop a Belfast Infrastructure Study. The aim of the study is to identify the infrastructure required to support delivery of the growth ambitions of the Belfast Agenda to drive physical and social regeneration. It will also identify the key strategic projects required to facilitate economic growth, positioning Belfast to attract inward investment, encourage development, and enable an accessible, inclusive and sustainable environment for residents and visitors.

3.3       Arup were appointed to develop the Infrastructure Study in July 2018 and have been engaging with key stakeholders throughout late 2018 to establish baseline information and undertake a gap analysis.

3.4       The study is based around two main categories of infrastructure i.e. Utilities and Strategic Transport and comprises three main stages:

1.     Baseline Review; i.e. capacity and current planned interventions, as well as how to support growth ambitions;

2.     Infrastructure Priorities; timeframes, criticality and geographic clusters;

3.     Delivery; including for example the potential to maximise resources by greater integration of proposed interventions.

3.5       In addition, Arup is considering issues of Local Connectivity & Placemaking and exploring the potential for future traffic analysis using an area based planning approach to take account of the transport implications of large or multiple developments within a given area.

3.6       A Visioning Workshop, attended by key delivery stakeholders from across various infrastructure sectors, took place at City Hall in November 2018. The workshop was intended to begin to agree a collective approach to infrastructure planning to achieve the ambitions of the Belfast Agenda.

3.7       Arup are currently preparing an Infrastructure Needs  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

The City Regeneration and Development Lead Officer informed the Committee that Belfast had, as part of its global 100 Resilient Cities work, been encouraged to apply for the ‘Streets for Kids Programme’. The Programme, which was part of the US National Association of City Transportation Officials - Global Designing Cities Initiative (NACTO-GDCI), sought to develop new technical guidance and advance street designs which created safe public spaces for children of all ages and abilities to learn, play and move around a city.

She drew the Members’ attention to the work which was being undertaken currently to revitalise the City centre and confirmed that Arup, a strategic partner in the ‘urban childhoods’ initiative, had, on the basis of its work to date, suggested that urban amenities which supported healthy child development contributed to improvements in public health and mobility and assisted in addressing issues such as urban loneliness, and climate change. Arup was working with the Commisioner for Resilience to host later in the year an event to connect, share and create ideas to support early childhood in urban settings with city leaders, development partners, designers, engineers and innovators.

The City Regeneration and Development Lead Officer explained that, from 2019 till 2021, NACTO-GDCI representatives would work directly with staff from eight selected cities to reimagine and redesign their streets to support comfortable, healthy and inspiring environments for all children. Staff would in 2019/20 receive one to two days of facilitated training, following which staff from four of those cities would be provided with more in-depth technical assistance/design support and funding for project implementation. Participating cities would, she pointed out, be required to commit only staff resources at this point.

She confirmed that, later in the Programme, the Council could potentially apply to partner NACTO-GDCI to design and deliver a demonstration project. NACTO-GDCI would provide match funding up to a maximum of approximately $20,000 for project implementation. She pointed out that, should the Council decide to apply, Committee approval would be sought, given the need to commit financial resources.

The Committee granted approval for an application to be submitted to the ‘Streets for Kids’ Programme.  

(Mr. R. Cregan, Director of Finance and Resources, attended in relation to the following two items.)

The Committee agreed that the following two reports should be considered jointly:

“1.0     Purpose of Report

1.1       The purpose of this report is to seek Members’ approval for a programme of events that will be delivered and supported by the Council’s City Events Unit, and the Tourism Culture Heritage and Arts team.  This includes the Irish Athletics Boxing Association’s (IABA) 2020 Elite Men and Women’s Champions which is the subject of 2 notices of motion.

1.2       The Committee is also asked to note the route for this year’s St Patrick’s Day parade due to the diversionary requirements enforced due to the Bank Buildings fire.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

(i)          approve the annual programme of Events for 2019/2020 within the attached appendix, based on previous year’s spend;

(ii)        note the 2019 St Patrick’s Day Parade route;

(iii)      approve the staging of the Irish Athletics Boxing Association’s (IABA) 2020 Elite Men and Women’s Champions. This item is based on a Notice of Motion presented to Members in March 2018 and subsequent report to Members in September 2018; and

(iv)      approve the use of a Council venue, such as one of its parks, to be part of the package of support for the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Championship.

3.0       Main Report

3.1       2019/2020 Events and Festivals Programme

On an annual basis, the Council’s City Events Unit delivers a series of large-scale public events, which are free to access by both citizens and visitors to the city, on behalf of Belfast City Council.  In 2018/2019, it is estimated that these events generated over £6 million of additional economic activity, with 208,511 visitors attending the events programme (Christmas, St Patrick’s and Culture Night details still to be added).

3.2       The Culture and Arts Unit also support a number of annual programmes and activities.   Members will be aware that a ten year Cultural Strategy for Belfast is currently under development and is due to be presented to Committee at a later date. This strategy will set out long-term recommendations for events in the city including a proposed investment model to be operational from April 2020.

3.3       For 2019/20, the recommendation is to follow the approach of recent years with direct approval of support for specified events through departmental budgets.  A separate report is being presented which asks committee to consider the allocation of non-recurrent funding to enhance the city’s events and festivals offer. Details of this non-recurrent funding is set out in the Progression of the Cultural Programme - Festival and Events Update report to Committee.

3.4       In relation to the allocation of departmental budgets, the draft programme of events being delivered or supported by the Council’s City Events Unit and other sections of the Place and Economy Department in 2019/2020 is outlined in the attached appendix.  This includes a range of projects across the calendar year, beginning with the Lord Mayor’s Day in April, through to the Christmas Lights Switch-On in November and finishing with the city’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations in 2020.  In addition, there is also a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of Main Issues

1.1       At the Strategic Policy and Resources meeting in December 2018, the Committee agreed to allocate one-off funding of £320,000 as additional support to events and festivals in financial year 2019/20 pending agreement on the 10-year Cultural Programme which will be presented to Committee later this year. This was on the understanding that the City Growth and Regeneration Committee would decide on the exact allocations.  At the January 2019 meeting of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee, Members agreed to defer consideration of a report setting out recommendations for an interim position for Events and Festivals in 2019/20. It was agreed that the report would be taken back to Committee in February following Party briefings. These have now taken place.

1.2       The purpose of this report is to provide an update to Members on the implementation of recommendations for the development of Events and Festivals in the context of developing a long-term cultural programme (with some additional information provided) and to agree an interim position for 2019/20.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       It is recommended that the Committee:

(i)          consider whether it wishes to allocate £225,000 of this funding as outlined in 3.16.

(ii)        consider whether £95,000 of this funding is allocated for growth festivals, as outlined in 3.20, and that Council officers will develop and deliver a programme to support growth festivals in 19/20 subject to Committee approving the breakdown of funding allocations.

3.0       Main Report

3.1       Background

At a meeting of City Growth and Regeneration Committee in December 2018, it was agreed that further consideration should be given to an interim position for events and festivals. This interim position would be for one year only until a new cultural strategy would be agreed and implemented from April 2020 onwards that would include new funding processes.  Members should note that events, festivals, culture and arts are funded in a number of ways as follows:

-       Annual Events Programme – this is funded from the annual events budget and includes Council-organised events and a number of contracted events and funding contributions.  A separate report is being presented on the 2019/20 programme.

-       Core Multi-Annual Funding – a 4-year programme for supporting a wide range of culture and art organisations.  The current programme runs from 2017-2020.

-       Community Festivals Fund – a small-scale competitive programme which runs annually.

-       Small Grants Programme for heritage and arts.

In addition there are some requests which are made on an annual basis such as Friendship Four and basketball.  These are brought to Committee separately.

3.2       It was agreed that a report would be taken to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee to consider allocating one-off funding to events and festivals in financial year 2019/20. Subsequently, at the December meeting of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, Members agreed to allocate a budget of £320,000 for this purpose. This was to be allocated from the specified reserve for the development of a long-term cultural programme.

3.3       The background  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

The Committee was reminded that, at its meetings on 5th December and 9th January, it had been provided with updates on the work which was being undertaken currently by the Economic Development Unit around the development of a Belfast – Dublin Economic Corridor.

The Director of Development reported that reference had, at those meetings, been made to plans for a proposed conference on 28th February, which would seek to highlight co-operation opportunities along the economic corridor and the Council had been working with the other seven partners to develop the concept further. It had commissioned the Ulster University Economic Policy Centre and Dublin City University to collectively conduct further research around the economic opportunities along the corridor. In order to shape the conference and adopt an agreed approach, a steering group of senior officials from the participating councils had been established. He explained that, at a meeting of the steering group in January, four councils had raised concerns in relation to the timing of the conference, in light of Brexit and the perceived difficulty of engaging local stakeholders, competition with other events taking place in February and March and the need to secure buy in from Central Government. He stressed that all of the councils remained fully committed to the partnership and had agreed to discuss a future date for the conference.

He confirmed that the aforementioned research was due to be completed by 28th February and that it was proposed that the Ulster University Economic Policy Centre would, at a future meeting, present the Committee with its findings and outline the opportunities for collaboration with the other councils along the corridor. One of the aspirations of that collaboration would involve the creation of a Statement of Intent between the eight participating councils committing them to explore future opportunities to work together on, for example, infrastructure, investment and employment. He pointed out that the Statement of Intent would be based around the research outcomes and that it would, when finalised, be submitted to the Committee for approval.

The Committee noted the information which had been provided and agreed to receive at a future meeting a presentation from the Ulster University Economic Policy Centre out the outcome of its research.

The Director of Economic Development submitted for the Committee’s consideration the following report:

“1.0       Purpose of Report or Summary of Main Issues

1.1               The purpose of the report is to:

·             update the Committee on the procurement process underway by Heathrow Airport  to create a number of logistics “hubs” as part of their expansion plans; and

·             note that the Council has submitted a proposal to have one of the hubs located on the North Foreshore site. 

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to note:

(i)       that the Council’s North Foreshore site is one of 65 shortlisted as a potential location for a “logistics hub” to be established by Heathrow as part of their expansion plans;

(ii)      the scale of the development and the potential supply chain opportunities for local companies created as a result of the expansion of Heathrow Airport; and

(iii)    the timeframe for future decisions on this project. 

3.0       Main Report

3.1       In 2018, the UK government approved a third runway at Heathrow.  The expansion of Heathrow will be one of the largest infrastructure projects in the UK.  In order to accommodate the third runway, it will be necessary to re-position and build over part of the M25 motorway adjacent to the airport, re-position some of the local access roads, divert local rivers, provide space for houses, offices, car parking and freight services and replace a number of existing airport facilities.       

3.2       The airport expansion will increase capacity from 86 million to 130 million passengers per year.  It is estimated that the development will create about 60,000 new jobs and generate around £70bn in total economic benefit by the 2050s.  The scale of the construction project itself is unprecedented: the value of the works will be in excess of £15billion and there is a commitment by Heathrow to ensure that 60% of the procurement spend (£9billion) is spent outside of London. 

3.3       In recognition of the scale of investment and the potential for all parts of the UK to benefit from supply chain and skills development opportunities, Heathrow sought expressions of interest for up to four Logistics Hub locations.  The proposal was that these could be used as off-site centres for construction and manufacturing in order to help the airport to deliver its expansion plan, within an agreed timeframe and with minimal on-site disruption.

3.4       From an initial 121 applications, 65 potential sites were shortlisted.  Six of the sites are located in Northern Ireland.  In June 2018, senior representatives from Heathrow’s Procurement Team met with representatives from all sites as well as with some of the potential first and second tier suppliers for the expansion works.  While limited detail has been given on the final number of sites that may be needed, there have been indications that there may be up to four sites selected across the UK. 

3.5       In December 2018, the next stage of the procurement process was initiated, as Heathrow issued a PQQ to the 65 bidders.  The closing date  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

(Mrs. L. Caldwell, Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications, attended in connection with this item.)

The Committee considered the following report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report/Summary of Main Issues

1.1       To update mem on arterial route signage across the city and request consideration to replace this in line with new city brand.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is recommended to agree to update the signage along arterial routes before the end of this financial year, on the basis of Option 2 of the three options considered within this report.

3.0       Main Report

3.1       The Marketing and Communications team has been working hard over the past year to promote the new city brand to stakeholders and embed it into council public facing channels, including city dressing.

3.2       The branding of the city’s arterial and street signage has been identified as a key priority within the overall Brand Implementation Plan. Signage is crucial in building brand equity and awareness in relation to the city’s identity among the public and private sector, citizens and target audiences (visitors, investors) etc.

3.3       Creating a consistent presentation of the city brand requires co-operation with key stakeholders and now that the Marketing and Brand Manager is in post, there will be a focus on brand implementation. However, it is important that the Council is seen to be taking an active lead where possible. Priority should be given to the re-branding of such visible and impactful signage as it will not only drive awareness of the new brand with stakeholders such as city partners, but it will encourage them to embrace and implement the brand.

3.4       We are also addressing other signage throughout the city (including lamppost banners). Here we have been working with Place and Economy to identify council-owed sites and have designed new Belfast branded artwork for these areas, due to be installed (via Place and Economy budget) week commencing 18th February with a completion date of no later than the end of March. We’re also encouraging stakeholders to use the Belfast brand on the DfI-owned city centre lamppost sites.

Why we need to update the signage?

·        Updating the signage is a great opportunity to highlight the new brand (drives visible awareness and confidence) and is a key part of the wider brand implementation plan.

·        Stakeholders have queried why the old branding is still on display across the city so we need to address these concerns as a matter of urgency. 

·        The arterial routes are in prime spots with high visibility so need to take priority.

·        Signage displaying the old brand counteracts the positive work we are doing around the new brand.

What do we need to update?

3.5       From previous correspondence with signage contractors, we’ve identified six sign types:

1.     Large motorway sign (M1 and M5)

2.     Medium twin leg frame

3.     Small twin leg frame

4.     Large F post sign

5.     Medium F post sign

6.     Small F post sign

3.6       We’ve been advised that there are 17 of these signs  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

            The Committee agreed to move its next monthly meeting from Wednesday 13th till Wednesday, 6th March to prevent it from coinciding with MIPIM 2019, which the Chairperson, the Deputy Chairperson and a number of senior officers had obtained approval previously to attend.