Agenda and minutes

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

            The minutes of the meeting of 17th January, 2023 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 February, 2024, subject to the omission of those matters in respect of which the Council had delegated its powers to the Committee.

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 January 2024.

The Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Managerpresented the details of the application to the Committee.  He highlighted to the Members that the application was not subject to call-in, as the call-in period would exceed the time limit for determining the application pursuant to Schedule 2, Paragraph 2, of the 2016 Act and, therefore would be in breach of a statutory duty

He explained that the property had had the benefit of an HMO licence issued by the Housing Executive in the name of the applicant which expired on 19th August, 2023.  Due to an administrative oversight, a reminder letter was not sent to the applicant, informing him that the licence was about to expire.  On 24th September, 2023, an HMO licence application was received from the owner of the accommodation.

TheHMO 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 Committee was advised that, as it was a new application, the Council’s Planning Service was consulted. It had confirmed that full planning permission for use as an HMO was granted on 25th February, 2008.

            It was reported that the NIHMO Unit had consulted with the Environmental Protection Unit in relation to 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.   The Environmental Protection Unit confirmed that three noise warning notices had been issued in relation to nighttime noise, dated 30th August 2020, 16th August 2021 and 19th May 2022.  The applicant had confirmed that they had not been convicted of any relevant offences under the 2016 Act.

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 on 2nd 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  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4c

The Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) Manageroutlined the details of the application to the Committee. 

He explained that the property had had the benefit of an HMO licence issued by the Housing Executive in the name of the previous owner, who was a Director of S&B Properties N.I. Ltd., which had expired on 10th June, 2023.  On 2nd October, 2023, the applicant had purchased the property and, in accordance with Section 28 (2) of the Houses in Multiple Occupation Act (NI) 2016, the existing license ceased to have effect on the date ownership transferred.

On 24th April, 2023, an application for a new HMO licence was received from S&B Properties N.I. Ltd., which was subsequently rejected on 5th May, 2023, as the Council could not be satisfied that the occupation of the living accommodation as an HMO would not constitute a breach of planning control.  An application for a temporary exemption notice was issued on 30th August, 2023, and subsequently extended to 1st March, 2024.

The Members were advised that on 14th November, 2023, an HMO licence application was received from the owner of the accommodation. If the new owner had applied for a licence before the change of ownership had taken place, the licence which was already in effect in respect of the HMO would have been treated as being held by the new owner until such times as the application had been determined.

TheHMO 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 Committee was advised that, as it was a new application, the Council’s Planning Service was consulted. It had confirmed that a Certificate of Lawful Existing Use or Development (“CLEUD”) was granted on 10th November, 2023.

It was reported that the NIHMO Unit had consulted with the Environmental Protection Unit in relation to nighttime and daytimenoise; 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.  The owners of S& B Properties N.I. Ltd. had confirmed that they had not been convicted of any relevant offences pursuant to the 2016 Act.

For the purpose of Section 12(2) of the 2016 Act,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4d

The Chairperson welcomed Mr. D. Healy, Divisional Manager at DfI Roads Western Division, to the meeting.

            He advised the Committee that, since the original pavement café legislation had been proposed, the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) had been compiling a document to assist its staff in ensuring consistency across Northern Ireland.

He outlined that initial work on the guidance, up to 2020, had only reached draft stage as there had been a number of issues around consistency as well as getting agreement with Councils and disability groups.

The Committee was advised that the unpublished draft guidance had been used by DfI staff in assessing Pavement Cafes to date.  However, having been prompted by Belfast City Council’s adoption of its permanent Pavement Café Licensing scheme, he had since been tasked, as Chair of the Network Planning Committee, to bring the draft guidance forward. 

Mr. Healy explained that a number of amendments had been made in terms of suitable footway widths.  He outlined that DfI relied upon a number of different guides in terms of what were deemed acceptable footway widths.  He stated that the minimum standard was 2metres but within each guidance document there were instances where that distance could be reduced.  He pointed out that, in the Chartered Institution for Highways and Transportation “Planning for Walking” document, it suggested an absolute minimum of 1.8metres clearance, whereas the Inclusive Mobility document specifically relating to pavement cafes suggested that 1.5metre clear space should be regarded as a minimum acceptable distance.

He explained that the new guidance document from DfI would draw upon the guidance from the various complementary documents and would consider in what circumstances a pavement café could operate with less than 2metres clearance.  He outlined that DfI would seek to produce guidance which was acceptable to Councils and to disability groups.  He explained that the new document would look to assess applications for a pavement café where it had less than 2metres clearance of footway width.

The Members were advised that the updated draft guidance had been issued to Councils and disability groups in early January 2024. A meeting had subsequently been held with those groups on 18th January, 2024, with a number of amendments having been made as a result of the consultation.  A further version of the guidance had been issued to stakeholders on 19th February, 2024 and DfI was currently awaiting feedback.

The Committee was advised that, once the guidance was completed, it would go through the Department’s Equality Screening assessment in advance of its publication.

Mr. Healy confirmed to the Committee that the guidance would be a “live” document and would continue to evolve over time but would hopefully help to ensure consistency across all Council areas.

In response to a Member’s question regarding the most recent version of the guidance, the Building Control Manager advised the Committee that, while officers had only had sight of it two days previously, t they had been working closely with the Department in respect of the guidance and that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5a