Agenda and minutes

            Apologies for inability to attend were reported from Alderman Newton and Councillors Corr and McVeigh.

            Councillors Haire, Hargey, Hendron and Reynolds declared an interest in the report on an Enhanced Christmas in Belfast Campaign insofar as they were the Council’s representatives on Visit Belfast.  It was determined however, that interest was not pecuniary and therefore there was not a need for those Members to leave the room whilst the matter was discussed and determined and that they were free to take a full part in the discussion and decision.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1     Relevant Background Information

1.1    At the meeting of 4 November 2013 the Council referred to the following Notice of Motion to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee for further consideration:

         Notice of Motion - Belfast City Centre

         ‘This Council recognises that Members will always seek to represent the areas for which they were elected. However, the City Centre businesses contribute a very large portion of the rate base which, in turn, contributes to the cost of provision of services across the City. The views and plans of the business community for the future of the City are important.

         The Council agrees that the Party Leaders of the Council should provide civic leadership in seeking to provide a united voice, along with City Centre businesses, and, to that end, requests the Party Leaders to meet regularly as a group with representatives of the business community to ensure the future development and prosperity of the entire City of Belfast.

         Furthermore, recognising the importance of the Christmas period to those businesses, the Council agrees that it is vital to attempt to build upon the normal Christmas promotion campaign through helping to animate the city and to promote the many exciting and enjoyable events, activities and offers happening in Belfast in the lead up to the Christmas. Accordingly, the Council requests the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee to give urgent consideration as to the possibility of identifying additional resources which could be allocated to that promotion campaign and, due to the urgency of making quick decisions, agrees, if such resources can be identified, to delegate authority for a decision to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, so that the activities funded by the resources can be put in place before Christmas.’

         At the meeting of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on 8 November 2013, Members agreed to arrange a Special Meeting of the Committee on 15 November to consider the issues raised within the paper presented.  Members also raised a number of issues which have been incorporated into this report.’

2       Key Issues

         Christmas Campaign

2.1    As Members will be aware the Christmas period is absolutely critical to the financial sustainability of the retail and hospitality sectors.  To that end, Belfast City Council provides support annually to Visit Belfast, part of which is to help finance a marketing campaign to encourage people from across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to visit the City and enjoy the City’s retail and hospitality offering.

2.2    As has been their normal practice in recent years, Visit Belfast have prepared a marketing campaign for this year’s Christmas season in consultation with the Chamber of Commerce, CastleCourt, Victoria Square and Translink.  The resources available for the campaign are £210K, including a £85K contribution from the DSD and £20K from the city centre retailers.

         This marketing campaign is additional to BCTC members’ own advertising and PR Campaigns with the two main Shopping Centres alone spending in excess of £330K  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2a