Agenda and minutes

            An apology for inability to attend was reported from Councillor Whyte.

            The minutes of the meeting of 21st May were taken as read and signed as correct.  It was reported that those minutes had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 2nd June.

            No declarations of interest were recorded.

The Committee noted a list of applications for licences which had, since its last meeting, been approved under the Council’s Scheme of Delegation.

The Committee noted a list of applications which had been approved under the Council’s Scheme of Delegation during May, 2025.

            The Director of Planning and Building Control presented the details of the application to the Committee.

She outlined that an existing amusement arcade, Players, on the ground floor of 22 Shaftesbury Square, had been operated by the applicant company since 2018.  The amusement permit for it was renewed on 1st June, 2025.

The applicant company now wished to extend the existing amusement arcade into the rear ground floor of the neighbouring unit at 23 Shaftesbury Square, which had been vacant for some years, but had recently been provided with a shop frontage sign for ‘Great Expectations, Regenerating Great Victoria Street’.

As there was no mechanism within the Order to allow for a variation of an existing Amusement Permit to cater for the extension of an existing premises, an application had to be made for the Grant or Provisional Grant of an Amusement Permit for the proposed extended amusement arcade.

            The Members were advised that the applicant had requested to operate the proposed premises 7 days per week, Monday to Sunday, 00:00 to 24:00hrs. The applicant had confirmed that the requested hours were those that the current premises operated.  The application was for a total of 69 gaming machines, giving an increase of 15 machines over the existing arcade; all of which were to pay out a maximum all cash prize of £500 in accordance with the Gaming (Variation of Monetary Limits) Order (NI) 2025 which came into force on 29th January, 2025. Admission to the arcade was restricted to persons aged 18 or over.

            In regards to health and safety, officers from the Service had met with the applicant to discuss the application and status of the premises. The applicant had confirmed that a Building Regulations application would be made to the Service for building work that would be required to create the new arcade layout.  The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service had been consulted and it had confirmed that it had no objections to the application.

The PSNI had been consulted and had confirmed that it had no objections to the application.  No objections had been received as a result of the public notices placed in the three local newspapers.

            The Director outlined that planning permission for a change of use of the ground floor of 23 Shaftesbury Square, to an amusement arcade, was granted on 20th April, 2023.

            The Amusement Permit application involved the extension of the existing amusement arcade into the rear half of the adjoining property, with the front portion being retained as a retail unit.

            The proposal therefore constituted a partial implementation of the related planning permission which allowed for the entire unit to be converted into an amusement arcade, which the Planning Service had confirmed was lawful from a planning perspective.

            In an important Court of Appeal decision in June 1999, it was confirmed that the Council, in determining applications for Amusement Permits, may take into account planning considerations but should be slow to differ from the views of the Planning Authority.  The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4c

The Committee was advised that the Falls Park had a 7-Day Annual Outdoor Entertainments Licence and a 7-Day Annual Indoor Entertainments Licence for a Marquee and both had been used to hold events in the past, primarily for Féile an Phobail.  The Licences were held by the City and Neighbourhood Services Department and were transferred to the organisers for the duration of their event.  The days and standard hours during which entertainment may be provided were Monday to Sunday, from 11.30 am to 11.00 pm.

In addition, the following Special Conditions were attached to both the Marquee and Outdoor Entertainments Licences:

·         Maximum numbers to be agreed at the discretion of the Building Control Service and will vary depending upon individual concert set up proposals;

·         Prior to any event taking place the promoters were required to demonstrate evidence of early consultation and have in place a robust system of dealing with any complaints, to be agreed in advance with the Council.

·         Any requests to provide entertainment later than 11.00 pm must be considered by the Licensing Committee and therefore must be made at least 3 months in advance of the proposed event.

·         Should an application to provide entertainment beyond 11.00 pm be granted and the Council then receive a significant number of complaints regarding noise or the complaint is of such significant impact, authority is granted to the Director of Planning and Building Control, in consultation with the City Solicitor, to reduce the finishing time for any subsequent nights of the event, in which case the promoter would be required to make contingency arrangements.

            The Director highlighted that, as it was a request for the Council’s permission to extend the hours under an existing Licence Condition, there was no requirement for public advertisement.

The event organiser had indicated that outdoor music events were scheduled for two sets of three consecutive nights, Friday 1st, Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd August, and on Friday 8th, Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th August, 2025.  The request was to provide entertainment beyond 11.00 pm on those six nights. 

The Members were advised that 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.  The decision had been motivated by a desire to limit disruption to the community in close proximity to the Falls Park. 

The Members were reminded that, in 2024, the Committee had agreed to grant the organisers permission to operate on seven nights of the event beyond the standard hours of 11.00 pm, to 1.00 am, and on all those nights, entertainment did continue beyond 11pm.

            The Director outlined that the PSNI had been contacted by the Service in relation to the event, however, a response had not yet been received.   She explained that, should the Committee be minded approve the extended hours requested, it should be subject to a satisfactory response from the PSNI on the matter.

            The Members were advised that officers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4d

The Director provided the details of the application to the Committee.  The applicant had applied to provide entertainment in the form of live music, within an outdoor area.  The site was adjacent to the former 1st Shankill NI Supporters Club, part of which had been demolished, creating additional outside space.  Planning permission had recently been granted for the refurbishment of the remaining building and a two-storey side and rear extension to provide an upgraded bar, function room and restaurant (LA04/2022/1450/F).  Therefore, it was envisaged that use of the site for outdoor entertainment would be for a limited timeframe.

The Committee was advised that the applicant intended to provide local, all age/family one day events, probably on a Saturday, running from approximately 13:00 – 23:00.  The day and hours proposed to allow entertainment to be provided were the standard outdoor entertainment hours of:

·         Monday to Sunday: 12:00 pm to 11.00pm

Public notice of the application had been placed in the newspaper and no written representations were lodged as a result of the advertisement.

The PSNI had been consulted and had confirmed that it had no objection to the application. 

The NIFRS had been consulted but had not yet submitted a response.  The Director confirmed that, if the Committee did approve the application, it would be subject to a satisfactory response from the NIFRS.

The Committee was advised that the proposed event space had been assessed and inspected by the Service and that it was considered suitable for the event type proposed.  An Event Management Plan for the proposed events had been requested and would be evaluated by officers.

            The applicant had provided the Service with a noise impact assessment report from an acoustic consultant for the outdoor area which had been evaluated by the Environmental Protection Unit (EPU).  As a result, there was a requirement that the applicant would provide advanced notification to residents in the vicinity of the site when entertainment was to be provided. Such neighbourhood notification was a usual requirement for outdoor music events.  A Neighbourhood Notification letter had been developed by the applicant and agreement had been reached on the properties to receive the notification. 

            The Chairperson welcomed the applicant, Mr. W. McAdam and his representative Mr. J. McGuigan, to the meeting.  Together they outlined that they had engaged with the PSNI, NIFRS and local representatives about the use of the outdoor site, initially to remove some of the crowds from the street on the days of band parades.  However, they explained that they had also spoken with some charities and bands about using the space and that they wanted it to be used for family and all-age events.  They highlighted that they wanted the space to be used by R-CITY, a cross-community initiative working with teenagers living in the Ardoyne, Shankill and Clonard areas.

            A number of Members stated that it was good to see some initiative having been shown by the owners, in terms of animating that part of the city.

            Moved by Alderman McCullough,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4e

            The information associated with the following item was 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 meeting during discussion of the following item as, due to the nature of the item, there would be a disclosure of exempt information as described in Section 42(4) and Schedule 6 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.

            Members were also reminded that the content of ‘restricted’ reports and any discussion which took place during closed session must be treated as ‘confidential information’ and that no such information should be disclosed to the public as per Paragraph 4.15 of the Code of Conduct.  

            The Committee noted an update in respect of the Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Register.

            The Committee agreed to invite the Mears Group to attend a future meeting.