Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1    Purpose

1.1To update Committee on the North Foreshore project, the first meeting of the political steering group and to seek approval for subsequent actions.

2    Background

2.1The North Foreshore is a former landfill site owned and operated by BelfastCity Council.  Although the site closed as a landfill in 2007 it does and will remain a major environmental liability due to the nature of the material deposited as landfill.

2.2There are consequently a number of ongoing actions such as the completion of site capping, management of methane gas and leachate, continual monitoring and assessment as the physical nature of the landfill changes over time.

2.3The site also provides opportunities in that it is a large scale open space, well located for commercial purposes and with good transport links.

2.4The Council has attempted to realise some beneficial development on the on a number of occasions including the Giants Park lottery bid and the energy to waste plant but such major development has been hampered by the high cost associated with installing the necessary infrastructure on such difficult made up ground as well as a lack of consensus on what should be developed.

2.5The Council did install electrical supply infrastructure to the site and a number of smaller developments have taken place such as gas to electricity generation which is producing an income for Council; a waste transfer station and negotiations are ongoing on regard to both a mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant and a composting facility.  There is also a Peace 3 bid for a sports Village which is detailed in a separate paper on this agenda.

2.6The committee has agreed to establish a North Foreshore political steering group to drive and direct the development of the overall site via an oversight board of COMT.

3    Key Issues

3.1The political steering Group (SG) held its first meeting on 16 December 2010 to consider a number of issues.

3.2The initial meeting consisted of the chairmen of the four relevant committees i.e. SP&R, P&L, H&ES and Development.

3.3The SG agreed to expand membership to include one additional party group member from the two North Belfast electoral areas.  Committee endorsement of this recommendation as with any SG recommendations is required.

3.4The SG then received a summary of a cross departmental officer workshop which had considered various ideas for the site, their relevance to Belfast and most importantly although most difficult how could any such ideas be delivered.

3.5There are no immediate and obvious answers as to how the crippling infrastructure costs can be overcome but the SG agreed on the following points.

·         The Council alone does not have the financial resources to fully develop the site

·         The Council alone does not have all the necessary expertise

·         Time is a major consideration as it will take decades to fully develop this site and phasing will be important

·         The benefits of any development need to be obvious to the city and local communities

3.6On this basis it was agreed that we should seek out development opportunities that have resources both in terms of finance and expertise and that are compatible with the environmental limitations of the site and of course continue with the agreed waste issues.

3.7Two specific opportunities were identified.  The first was a proposal from Crusaders/Newington and a third party to develop a sports/leisure complex either in conjunction with or instead of the proposed sports village.  The SG was keen that this proposal is explored further.

3.8The second opportunity is in the broad area of the bio-economy which is a growing sector and the site has already attracted interest from sources such as INI and some energy companies for research and development projects and bio fuel possibilities. 

3.9To bring some realism to these latter ideas the SG proposed that a business plan be commissioned either by the Council or in partnership with interested parties to test the viability of going down this route.  Such a business plan was also seen to be useful in attempting to exploit any green funding that may be available from Europe or elsewhere.

3.10     The SG was also satisfied that temporary uses such as events should be considered.

3.11     The SG was also updated on the East London Green Enterprise District and Sustainable Industry Park which had attracted significant European funding.  A site/study visit is suggested to assist the SG understanding of the possibilities and practicalities of developing this site.

4    Resources

4.1There are costs associated with the development of a business plan and a potential site visit which can be accommodated within the agreed revenue budget although we do not as yet have detailed costs.

5    Recommendations

5.1The expansion of the Steering Group to include the chairmen of the four relevant committees and one party group member from each group representing North Belfast.

5.2The officers explore further the proposed Crusaders/Newington Sports complex proposals including seeking expressions of interest if required subject to legal advice.

5.3The officers commission a business plan to test the viability of a bio economy model for a portion of the site.

5.4The Steering Group undertake a site/study visit to the East London Green Enterprise District and Sustainable IndustriesPark.”

            During discussion, a Member made the point that the North Foreshore Steering Group included already two Members who represented the North Belfast area and there was a need for the group to be extended to be more representative of the Council and, indeed, the City.

            After further discussion, the Committee adopted the recommendations and also endorsed temporary uses of the site, subject to the North Foreshore Steering Group being extended to include one further Member from each of the Party Groupings on the Council and, in order for the Group to be more representative of the City, the Party Group Leader be requested to give consideration to nominating Members from all areas of the City rather than from North Belfast only.