Agenda and minutes

            Apologies for inability to attend were reported from Councillors Attwood, M. E. Campbell, Mac Giolla Mhín and McVeigh.

            The minutes of the meeting of 21st November 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 December. 

            No declarations of interest were reported.

            The Committee was advised that the Council, at its meeting on 1st December, had referred the undernoted motion, which had been moved by Councillor E. Groves and seconded by Alderman Kingston, to the Committee for consideration:

      “This Council calls on all Members and officers to sign the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Charter.  This five-point charter recognises the rights and priorities of people living with MND and their carers, sets out what good care looks like for them and is designed to raise awareness and understanding of this devastating disease.

      The Council also requests the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee to give consideration to hosting a civic reception within the City Hall and for the City Hall to be illuminated for that event in appropriate colours to allow campaigners to raise awareness on this important issue.”

            After discussion, the Committee endorsed the motion, agreed to the holding of a small reception and approved the illumination of the City Hall in appropriate colours for the event.

            The Committee was advised that the Council, at its meeting on 1st December, had referred the undernoted motion, which had been moved by Councillor McNamee and seconded by Councillor Keenan, to the Committee for consideration:

      “This Council, cognisant of its responsibility as an equal opportunities employer and civic leader, seeks to establish a BME (Black Minority Ethnic) steering group to encourage and promote ethnic representation within the Council's workforce and seeks to address the issue of under-representation of people from the BME community in political life, supplementing and strengthening the work already undertaken as part of the Workforce Race Action Plan 2012 to 2015.”

            A Member pointed out that, given the implications of establishing such a Working Group would impact upon the new Council, the motion should be considered by the Shadow Strategic Policy and Resources Committee.  In addition, these types of issues were considered by the Council’s Good Relations Partnership and that it should be considered in the context of the overall review of the remit and future role of the Partnership which was currently underway.

            The Committee concurred with this course of action.

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0    Purpose of report

1.1    The Council’s Capital Programme is a rolling programme of investment which either improves existing Council facilities or provides new facilities. This report provides –

·        key highlights since the last Committee report in October

·        specific project updates

·        an update on planned communications and engagement activities for capital projects

1.2    Members are asked to note that a detailed report on the Capital Programme will be brought to Committee in January in conjunction with a finance paper.  It had been intended to take this paper in this month however Members will be aware that they have been updated on a number of occasions in relation to the risks associated with the ERDF projects and a number of crucial decisions are awaited from Invest NI in relation to these projects which will inform the content of this paper. 

2.0    Relevant Background Information

         Capital Programme – Key highlights – June-August 2014

2.1    Significant progress has been made in the delivery of the capital programme since it was agreed by SP&R Committee in February 14. The Property & Projects Department is happy to arrange site visits to any capital project. 

2.2    Key highlights since the last update report in October include - 

·        the new Adventurers Learning Centre at the Zoo and the new pavilion at Suffolk have been completed and handed over

·        tenders have been awarded for the new pavilions at Dixon and Waterworks as part of the £15million pitches strategy with work commencing this month

·        construction works are continuing on the extension to the Waterfront to provide dedicated conference and exhibition facilities,  Phase 2 of the Connswater Community Greenway, the £11.7m Girdwood Hub; the new £1.7m 3G pitch at Cliftonville; Half Moon Lake and Drumglass Park and work will begin early in the New Year to install the 30 docking stations across the city centre for our Public Bike Share Scheme

·        Super-Connected voucher scheme - Over 850 applications have been received for connection Vouchers and over £1m has been allocated in the form of grants. 10 of the 16 demand stimulation (information) events have been run and have been very positively received by attendees.  

·        Super-Connected wi-fi in public buildings. The tender has closed and BT have been selected as the service provider. In total wi-fi will be installed in 119 buildings including the City Hall; Waterfront; Ulster Hall; St. George’s Market; Belfast Castle and Malone house where work has begun while another 113 venues will go live by the end of the March including community centres; leisure centres; sports and bowling pavilions, the Zoo and Smithfield Market.

3.0    KEY ISSUES

3.1    Members have agreed that all capital projects must go through a three Stage process where decisions on which projects progress are taken by SP&R. This provides assurance as to the level of financial control and will allow Members to properly consider the opportunity costs of approving one capital project over another capital project. Importantly it will also enable Members to focus on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2a

            The Committee was advised that there was a requirement for the Election Accounts for the running of the Local Government Elections in May, 2014 to be notified to the Council.  The total cost of the Elections was £618,114 as compared with the cost of £343,578 for the Local Elections in 2011, an increase of £274,536.  That increase was due principally to the fact that in 2011 the costs were split three ways – for a European Parliamentary Election, a Local Election and a Referendum on the voting system for Parliamentary Elections, with the Electoral Office being responsible for two of the three – whereas in 2014 the costs were for a Joint Election with the Council being responsible for half the costs.  In addition, the Local Elections in May, 2014 were to the new Belfast District Council which had a significantly larger population.  There was also ten District Electoral Areas in 2014 compared to nine in 2011 and that necessitated the holding of an additional count.  A full statement of expenditure in respect of the Elections is set out below:

            The Committee noted the information which had been provided and commended the Democratic Services Manager and his staff on their running of the Elections.

            The Committee was advised that the undernoted requests for the use of the City Hall and the provision of hospitality had been received:

            The Committee was reminded that, in 2011, it had agreed to tender for the provision of a webcasting service to allow for the live webcasting of meetings of the Council.  The Council had received only one expression of interest, from Public-I, for the provision of this service.  The contract was agreed for the provision of up to 60 hours of broadcasting per year at a monthly cost of £1,500.

            The Democratic Services Manager reported that the contract with Public-I had been signed in September, 2011 for a two year period with the possibility of a one year extension.  The option for the extension had been activated in September, 2013 and it had ran out in 2014.

            He explained that Members would be aware of the current discussions which were ongoing with the Shadow Strategic Policy and Resources Committee about the venue for future meetings of Committees from April next year and whether or not the proceedings of such Committees should be recorded by way of an audio recording or the webcasting option.  A further report in that regard would be considered by that Committee in due course. 

            Given the uncertainty about exactly how many meetings would be required to be webcast in the future, he recommended that the existing contract with Public-I be extended on a monthly basis up until April, 2015 to allow for the decision to be taken.  At that point a new tendering exercise would be undertaken to source a provider for the webcasting service.

            The Committee adopted that recommendation.

            The Committee noted the contents of the minutes of the Budget and Transformation Panel of 10th December.

            The Director of Property and Projects submitted for the Committee’s consideration the undernoted report:

“1     Relevant Background Information

1.1    At its meeting on 21 October 2014 the Development Committee agreed to recommend to Strategic Policy and Resources Committee that:

         (i)  North Queen Street Community Centre:

         A new licence agreement for facilities at Centre is granted to Holy Family and Golden Gloves Amateur Boxing Club.

         (ii)  Glen Road :

         A new lease for additional premises on the Glen Road is granted to An Munia Tober.

         (iii)  Ballymacarrett Recreation Centre:

         A new lease for Ballymacarret Recreation Centre is granted to Connswater Community and Leisure Services.

         (iv)  Denmark Street Community Centre:

         The rent payable for use of the Centre by Denmark Street Residents Association is reviewed under the terms of their Lease.

1.3    (v)  Land to the rear of 26-32 and 36-40 Ladybrook Park

         At its meeting on 12 September 1991 the former Parks Committee agreed to the disposal of land to the rear of houses at 8-40 Ladybrook Park, to the adjoining householders. Subsequent to the Committee approval a number of disposals took place, however the Council continue to hold title to the areas of land to the rear of 26-32 and 36-40 Ladybrook Park.

1.4    The subject land does not form part of any other land in Council ownership and is effectively inaccessible other than by the occupants of the houses on Ladybrook Park.  In addition the householders may seek to claim to have been in possession of the land for sufficient time to establish possessory title. Despite this the Council has received an enquiry from the owners of 38 Ladybrook Park seeking to formally acquire the portion to the rear of their property from the Council. The area in question is outlined red on the location map attached as appendix 1.

1.5    (vi)  Disposal of Land at Orangefield Playing Fields

         At its meeting on 11 December 2014 the Parks and Leisure Committee received a report regarding the disposal of 54 square metres of land at Orangefield Playing Fields Director of Property and Projects will provide an update to Committee on the decision of the Parks and Leisure Committee.

1.6    The relevant land is not currently used for parks purposes and no other service use has been identified following circulation of details to other Departments.

1.7    (vii)  Licence Agreement – Bicycle Stands at Lagan Valley Regional Park

         At its meeting on 11 December 2014 the Parks and Leisure Committee received a report on the proposed installation of bicycle stands at three Parks and Leisure sites within the Lagan Valley Regional Park. 

1.8    At its meeting on 20 August 2013 the Development Committee approved a BCC contribution to the installation of bicycle stands and signage, to be installed, at those sites within LVRP which fall within the Belfast Local Government Area.  The installations reported to the Parks and Leisure Committee form part of the works to which this funding is being applied.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5a

            The Committee was reminded that the Council, as part of the City Investment Strategy, had agreed to coordinate the acquisition of lands to enable the Connswater Community Greenway Programme to proceed.

            It was reported that Phase I of the Greenway had been completed and Farrans had been appointed to construct the final phase, with work commencing on site mid?January, 2015.  Farrans had a requirement to erect a site compound close to the Holywood Arches and Council officers had identified an area as being suitable and available for use by that company for the duration of the contract.

            In addition, the Council would require an easement from the Crown Estate to allow the construction of a boardwalk as part of the Connswater Community Greenway over the Connswater River at the Connswater Retail Park.  As part of the scheme, the Council had proposed to take a lease from the Crown Estate for an area of land which would be created on completion of the East Belfast Flood Alleviation at the Newtownards Road bridge.

            The Committee approved the use of an area of land by Farrans to erect a site compound for a licence fee of £60 per annum; and agreed to acquire an easement from the Crown Estate for a 150 year lease for the land to be created at the Newtownards Road bridge at a cost of £1,750 plus reasonable legal and surveyors’ fees, with such costs to be reimbursed by the Rivers Agency. 

            The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 22nd August, 2014, it had approved a number of recommendations which would enable a further Development Brief to be prepared for the Council’s remaining land at Maysfield that would also include a portion of the land currently owned by the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company.

            The Director of Property and Projects reported that a Development Brief had been advertised on 14th October, 2014 seeking responses to be made by the deadline of 21st November.  Members had noted at a previous meeting on 17th October that agreement had been reached in principle with the Transport Holding Company for inclusion of a portion of their adjoining car park, subject to detailed terms being agreed and also that a further report be submitted to the Committee on any submissions received for consideration and approval.

            The Director reported that, by the closing date, a total of four submissions had been received.  An evaluation had been undertaken by a Panel from the Council’s Estate Management Unit/Legal Services and included the appointed disposal agent.  The submissions’ proposals varied from speculative/mixed-use schemes to owner/occupation office and all had met or exceeded the Land and Property Services Agency land evaluation for the site.  After initial evaluation, further written clarification had been sought on each submission to ensure the fullest opportunity was afforded to address any issues identified by the Panel and which required further exploration.

            Following the assessment, it was recommended that the Committee award the Brief to All-State NI as their submission best met the criteria set out in the Development Brief.  That would be subject to their bid being consistent with the land tenure presented in the Brief or as required by the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company without any adverse financial impact to the Council.  However, if All-State NI could not resolve the tenure issue within one week from the date of the next full Council meeting then the Committee was recommended to accept the submission ranked second from McAleer and Rushe.  That was also subject to detailed terms to be agreed by the Estates Manager and Legal Services.

            Moved by Councillor Hargey,

            Seconded by Councillor Kennedy,

      That the Committee agrees to adopt the recommendation in relation to the award of the Brief.

            On a vote by show of hands twelve Members voted for the proposal and one against and it was declared carried.

            The Committee approved and adopted the minutes of the Diversity Working Group of 5th December and adopted the recommendations in relation to the following:

            Memorabilia in the City Hall

            The decision of the Group to recommend that the Committee agrees the following:

(1)     that the Celtic Myths and Legends window be relocated from its current position to the East end of the front corridor, ground floor, City Hall and that the Ulster Defence Regiment stained glass window be replaced in the space vacated by the Celtic Myths and Legends window;

(2)     to adopt a Refreshment Strategy for a number of the exhibition spaces;

(3)     to include both options for the “30 Years”, that is, Option 1 – the City Speaks and Option 2 – the City Commemorates, with the consultants to look at both options on a lesser scale in the narrative and that the content be reviewed by Academics; and

(4)     to defer consideration of the proposals for the layout of the memorabilia in the rotunda to enable political discussions to take place.

            Decade of Centenaries Programme for 2016

            The decision of the Group to recommend the following to the Committee:

1.   To note the information in the above report in relation to the preparation for the decade of Centenaries

2.   To agree there will be one Council commissioned exhibition to cover the period of 1916 incorporating a number of themes as well as the key events.

3.   To approve that an event be held on the theme of commemoration, reaffirming the principles approved by the Council in relation to the Decade of Centenaries and ethical remembering up to a cost of £1,000 depending on sufficient funding being made available by OFMDM by the end of March.

4.   To note that the estimated cost of commissioning one exhibition, civic events and activities will cost in the region of £174,000 and to consider asking the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee to fund the programme to a similar level as the previous strand at a cost of £129,000 with authority given to officers to seek external funding and a report brought back to the Committee in due course.

            The Committee approved and adopted the minutes of the Good Relations Partnership of 8th December and adopted the decisions in relation to the following:

            Interface Regeneration Art Scheme – Duncairn Gardens

            The decision of the Partnership to recommend to the Committee that it approves funding of up to £10,000, 75% of which could be recouped from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, for two artworks at Lepper Street and Syringa Street.

            Proposed Artwork Project – East Belfast

            The approval of funding of £5,000 towards the provision of two or three artworks in East Belfast, subject to additional funding being made available by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister through its District Councils’ Good Relations Programme.

            Holocaust Memorial Day

            The decision to recommend to the Committee that it approves the hosting of a Holocaust Memorial Event in the City Hall on 20th January, 2015 at a cost of no more than £1,000, 75% of which would be recouped from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.

            The Committee agreed to defer consideration of the above-mentioned event to enable further information to be obtained.

            The Director of Finance and Resources submitted for the Committee’s consideration a report in relation to revised smoking policy to take into account the use of electronic cigarettes.

            Moved by Alderman Robinson,

            Seconded by Councillor Hargey,

      That the Committee agrees to defer consideration of the matter to enable further information to be obtained.

            On a vote by show of hands, ten Members voted for the proposal and three against and it was declared carried.

            It was reported that, in accordance with Standing Order 55 and the authority delegated to him, the Director of Finance and Resources had authorised the appointment of a number of individuals who were related to existing officers of the Council.