Agenda item

            (Mr. G. Copeland, Events Manager, attended in connection with this item.)

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      In May and August 2008 Belfast City Council’s Development Committee received details of plans for the Cultural Olympiad to be staged leading up to and during the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic games.  As part of the original ethos, Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Movement, mirrored the classical Greeks in maintaining that the purpose of the Olympic Games was to celebrate mind, body and spirit.

      From this a Cultural Olympiad was established to include all cultural events of the Olympic Movement.  This Olympiad is a period when artists from around the world showcase their work in the lead up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.  Up until 1948 medals were awarded for sculpture, music, literature and art.  The modern Cultural Olympiad will focus on the following themes:

-     Bringing together culture and sport

-     Encouraging audiences to take part

-     Animating public spaces – through street theatre, public art, circus skills, live big screen sites

-     Using culture and sport to raise issues of environmental sustainability, health and wellbeing

-     Honouring and sharing the values of the Olympic and Paralympic Games

-     Encouraging collaborations and innovation between communities and cultural sectors

-     Enhancing the learning, skills and personal development of young people by linking with education programmes

      The key to this process has been the development of a series of ‘live sites’ which involve large LED screens being installed within public performance space across the United Kingdom.  Belfast City Council’s Development Committee received formal details on the costs for such a project in December 2008.  This Committee agreed that this information should be referred to Strategic Policy and Resources Committee for formal consideration.

Key Issues

      London 2012 Cultural Olympiad - ‘Live Sites’ Public Screen

      In August the Council received details on the ‘Live Sites’ public screens from LOCOG 2012.  The proposal would see a permanent 25sq m screen, valued by the BBC and LOCOG 2012 at £500,000, positioned in the heart of the city centre.  The initial proposal was for the screen to be located in Donegall Place, but this has been rejected by LOCOG on the basis that the screen would not be in position until after 2012 Olympics have been staged.  Therefore LOCOG, along with DSD, are proposing that the screen be located within the grounds of City Hall – facing into the lawn on Donegall Square East.  The concept would mean that the BBC, LOCOG 2012 and BCC would share broadcasting time on the screen which would operate approximately twelve hours a day, 365 days a year.  The screen could also be utilised for major events including a number of London 2012 events.  The key indicative costs of the proposal that BCC are asked to address are as follows.

-     Planning permission and process as one off payment estimated at £6,000

-     Operating costs (annually) including electricity and maintenance estimated at £20,000

-     Annual programming and project co-ordination costs for the next four years of £50,000 per year

      In total BCC would have an estimated one-off cost of £6,000 and £70,000 costs per year for the next four years.  Should the Council agree to support this initiative BCC officers have agreement in principle from DSD, as part of their ‘Streets Ahead’ programme, to meet the installation costs of approximately £65,000 including the cost of a 1 m x 1 m control room in the basement of City Hall.  For the four year period leading up to the 2012 Olympics the screen would be the property of LOCOG with a guaranteed link to the BBC’s national public screens programme for BCC.  After this period the screen would become the property of BCC with a similar link to the BBC’s public broadcast network.  

      The installation of the screen would not only be subject to Council approval, but also requires an economic appraisal by DSD, planning approval and full legal agreement with all the relevant bodies.

Resource Implications

      Financial

      The Council funding would involve an estimated one-off cost of £6,000 and £70,000 costs per year for the next four years. 

Recommendations

      Members are requested to consider the issue of funding for the project as stated above, and if approved, also give:

-     Approval for the utilisation of the City Hall grounds for the project

-     Approval to access funding from DSD, which is subject to a full economic appraisal

-     Approval to proceed with an application for planning consent to NI Planning Service

      All the above items would be subject to legal agreements between all stakeholders that would be overseen by the Council’s Legal Services Department.

Abbreviations

      BCC                   –          Belfast City Council

      DCAL                 –          Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure

      LOCOG 2012    –          London Organising Committee of the

                                                Olympic Games 2012

      DSD                   –          Department of Social Development”

            The Events Manager recommended, given the discussion which had occurred earlier in the meeting in relation to the Revenue Estimates and the setting of the District Rate, that the Committee agree not to proceed with the project and that the matter be referred back to the Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure requesting that it seek funding from other sources and an alternative venue.

            The Committee adopted the recommendation of the Events Manager.