Agenda item

            (Mr. J. McGrillen, Director of Development, attended in connection with this item.)

 

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

 

“Purpose of the report

 

      To seek approval for the local area based initiatives identified by Members for £100k of underspend from the 2010/11 budgets.

 

Background

 

      As Members will recall, a report was considered and agreed at the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee meeting of 19th November 2010 regarding the utilisation of £100,000 of the 2010/11 underspend for the delivery of area-based initiatives. It was agreed that the monies would be distributed equally on a North, South, East, West basis within the current year. No decisions were made with regard to the boundary design for the North/South/East/West areas. The approach to this was Member led with Officers in support.

 

      It is anticipated that this pilot approach will be used to inform proposals to invest £1 million in new and innovative approaches to integrated service delivery at a neighbourhood level in 2011/12 which was approved at the January 2011 meeting of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee as part of the revenue estimate setting process. It is recognised that this investment in 2011/12 is still under consideration due to the late change in estimated rates income notified by the Land and Property Services and the implications for the 2011/12 rates setting process (separate agenda item).

 

Key issues

 

      In order to drive the process forward, the following guiding principles were approved by the Committee for this pilot approach for the North/South/East/West spend:-

 

·         Alignment with the Council’s current corporate priorities;

·         Alignment to the priorities and requirements of local people;

·         The process should be assured as fair and equitable;

·         Initiatives should allow the budget to be spent by end of Mar 2011;

·         Expenditure must be within the Council’s legal powers and subject to any criteria and financial procedures as determined by SP&R;

·         Regular reports on progress to the SP&R Committee;

·         All learning from the pilot to inform future development of integrated service delivery at a local level.

·         Projects would be approved by the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee.

 

      A series of meetings have since taken place in January with Members on a North, South, East, West basis in order identify a range of projects within those areas that could be delivered within the timeframe and that would provide the greatest impact at a neighbourhood level. For the purposes of the exercise, the Shankill was included within the north of the city and Members were invited to workshops on this basis.

 

      Elected representatives from the Shankill area made it known to Officers that they were not happy with this approach and requested to have their own meetings and to submit their own projects for consideration. They have requested that funding should be apportioned from the North and West areas to accommodate these proposals. To this end, a number of proposals have also been tabled separately for the Shankill at the request of Members from that area which are in addition to those identified on a North/South/East/West basis

 

Proposals

 

      A number of potential projects have been identified and agreed by Members within their area based groups. These projects are detailed in full in Appendix 1 for the Committee’s consideration and endorsement.  As some of the projects may not entirely fall within the range of the Council’s existing statutory functions, the Town Solicitor has suggested that an appropriate resolution be made by the Council under Section 115 of the Local Government Act (NI) 1972.  The Town Solicitor has also suggested that appropriate forms of legal agreement be completed in those cases where the proposed items of expenditure involve making payments to outside groups.

 

Feedback from the process

 

      As Members will recall, it was agreed that all learning from this process would be used to inform how the council’s shapes its approach to integrated service delivery at a neighbourhood level. A further report on this learning and recommended next steps will be brought to the Committee in due course but some initial feedback from the process is highlighted below:

 

·         The tight timescales and relatively small financial allocation made it difficult to make strategic decisions on funding allocations.

·         There is a need to establish ground rules from the outset in terms of the role and function of the area working groups, deadlines for tabling proposals and a process for prioritising proposals.

 

·         There is a need to gain consensus on the key principles and priorities for each area from the outset. This will help determine what types of proposals can be considered.

·         Clarity around the use of funding and additionality is essential to ensure maximum impact is achieved.

·         The geographical boundaries will need to be determined and agreed in advance of future work of this nature.

·         Consideration needs to be given as to how the resources are allocated to those areas.

·         Expectations need to be managed when working up proposals if external organisations are to be involved.

 

Resource implications

 

      £100,000 approved from the 2010/11 underspend.

 

Recommendations

 

      It is recommended that the Committee:

 

1)      note the contents of the report.

2)      Approve the projects contained within Appendix 1 on a North/South/East/West basis and the associated funding requests.

3)      Agree the preferred option for South Belfast.

4)      Consider the proposals tabled for the Shankill area and suggest how Officers should proceed.

5)      Adopt the foregoing recommendations of the Town Solicitor in relation to the completion of any requisite legal agreements.

6)      Adopt the recommendation of the Town Solicitor in relation to those elements of expenditure which require to be approved under Section 115 of the 1972 Act, the Council being satisfied that the expenditure is in the interests of the Council and the relevant districts of the Council, and will bring direct benefit thereto.

 

Equality Implications

 

      This project is essentially a pilot study to inform proposals for integrated service delivery in the future, given the timescales it has not been possible to conduct an EQIA on the proposed expenditure. The proposals, however, are wide ranging and cover all areas of the city. They have been politically agreed by Members at the local level and would not appear to impact on any Section 75 groups. Any future development of the Integrated Service delivery process will be subject to an EQIA.

 

Key to abbreviations

 

      N/S/E/W – North, South, East, West

 

Documents Attached

 

      Appendix 1: Area proposals

 

Appendix 1

 

North Belfast Proposals

 

Proposal	Cost
Friends of the Waterworks   Purchase of a marquee (size 80-100ft = 30m long and 8m wide) with poles, covering and flooring.	£1,500
Families Waterworks Fishing and Outdoors Club   Installation of a platform which will also double up as a launching area for the Wheelie Boat. Installation of 4 Gabions layered with plastic, decking panels, secure handrail and gravel pathway.	£2,000
A landscaping scheme small planting on the grassy verge outside the shop fronts and opposite the Wolfhill Centre on the Ligoniel Road.   Local community and schools will be involved in the general clean?up which could be facilitated by the Community Awareness Team in Cleansing.	£3,205.46
Support for a multi-cultural cross-community event for older people on St Kevin’s Hall, North Queen Street in March 2011.   An initiative of the Inner North Neighbourhood Renewal Partnership - working through a joint partnership between LCAP and New Lodge CEP (covering areas including Mount Vernon, Whitewell, New Lodge and Carrickhill).	£1,000

 

Benview Pensioners Club Royal Wedding Celebration event   Incorporating a celebration event into their monthly tea dance to mark the Royal Wedding	£500
Installation of two additional Alleygates   - Thorndale Ave/Duncairn Ave and Dunore Court - Alexandra Park Avenue	£14,000
Lighthouse project   Provision of six Art Therapy classes for 70 people who have lost a family member through suicide.	£420
Suicide prevention programme – PIPS ‘Mind your mate’ Proposal to deliver training to 120 young people in North Belfast PIPS Mind Your Mate has been developed specifically to train young people how to identify a friend who is at risk of suicide, how to talk safely and effectively to them and how to link them to the help they need.  Young people saving other young people from suicide.	£3,000
Total	£25,625.46

 

South Belfast Proposals

 

      South Belfast Councillors agreed that the funding would be allocated to the development of a retail-led marketing campaign for South Belfast. There are two options that could be considered with regard to this.

 

Proposal 1	Cost
The first proposal is a campaign that would focus on already established neighbourhood shopping areas including - Lisburn Rd, Sandy Row, Botanic Avenue, Ormeau Road, Stranmillis Road, Queen’s Quarter and Donegall Pass. This programme will capitalise on the distinctive character and offerings of bespoke districts. It will be delivered in conjunction with BVCB.	£25,000

 

Proposal 2	Cost
The second proposal that has been brought forward is to allocate £12,500 to the Lisburn Road Retailers’ Association for retail marketing support on the basis that match funding is provided from the Association. The remainder of the monies would be allocated to support other shopping areas as detailed above.	£25,000

 

East Belfast Proposals

 

Proposal	Cost
EBCDA – TemplemoreAvenueSchool development   Proposal to travel to the US for meetings with potential investors to secure donations of £100,000 or more towards the development of the Network Centre on the site.	£7,500
Social Economy Care project   A Partnership has been established with Short Strand Community Centre, Oasis, Orchardville, East Belfast Partnership and EBCDA to establish a social economy project which would create employment opportunities for long term unemployed people through the provision of health and social care services such as domiciliary care etc.  The project requires support for start up preparations.	£5,500
Alleygating   Provision of funding for the installation of alleygates in the Pottinger and Victoria areas. Exact locations will be agreed with East Belfast members.	£12,000
Total	£25,000

 

West Belfast Proposals

 

Proposal	Cost
West Belfast Partnership Board   Support requested to help facilitate the delivery of 2 conferences, one to be held in West Belfast and one in Shankill.  The conferences will focus on the West Belfast and Great Shankill Task Force and the projects associated with them.	£3,000

 

Tar Anall Older Person’s Project & Intergenerational Project   Funding will be used for a 6 week ceramic course and an intergenerational project involving a series of intergenerational workshops culminating in an event to coincide with St. Patrick’s Day	£2,000
First Steps Playgroup   Funding will be used to purchase new equipment which will be age appropriate and will support the different stages of learning and development	£1,000
Kids Together - Out of School Project   Support for an Out of School project which will run from 7thFebruary – 12th March 2011. The programme of activities will include; Drama workshops – 6 sessions; Music & Movement workshops – 6 sessions and Purchase of equipment.	£1,680
Half Moon Lake   Funding will be used to carryout further works to the lake that will contribute to the regeneration of the facility and help achieve the long term goal of opening the facility and getting local people and schools using the site for educational, recreational and environmental purposes. Works that will be funded include environmental and historical artwork and signage.	£2,320
Upper Andersonstown Community Forum   Funding will be used for a series of facilitated planning session with the Forum and its affiliated groups that will result in the development of a 3 year strategic plan.	£4,500
Clonard Residents’ Association   Funding will be used to draft architect plans for the development of a community centre on land set aside at the Site A facility on Springfield Avenue. The plans will be used to support efforts to secure funding for a capital build project	£2,000

 

Blackie River Group   Support for the development of and Older People’s project by engaging them in healthy living activities	£1,200
St James’ Forum – Kidspace project Development of a small green space known locally as the ‘Kidspace’. Funding will be used to remove trees, carry out soft landscaping including the planting of beds for growing vegetables.	£1,200
Relatives for Justice – Therapy Room   Funding will be used to purchase equipment for the Therapy Room including the purchase of sinks and therapy tables	£1,200
Black Mountain Shared Spaces project   Funding will be used to facilitate a series of action planning days as part of a feasibility study.	£3,000
Newhill Youth and Community Centre   Funding proposed for two projects – Equipment support for First Steps Childcare which operates out of the centre and the delivery of inter-generational project for the 50+ group and the youth group.	£1,900
Total	£25,000

 

Shankill Proposals

 

Proposal	Cost
Greater Shankill Partnership   Funding support to deliver a conference that will consider the Greater Shankill Task Force Report, Neighbourhood Renewal Action Plan, Strategic Regeneration Framework and agree a set of development priorities for the area. This conference will run in parallel to the West Belfast Task Force conference and both areas will come together following this to agree a way forward.	£3,000
North & West Belfast Parades Forum   Funding support required to deliver two training courses on Community Safety Stewarding/Parade marshalling, purchase of materials such as high visibility jackets etc and delivery of three public consultation events	£3,910

 

Provision of hanging baskets on the Shankill Road   Funding requested to provide hanging baskets for an area of the Shankill Road (to be determined). Approximate number of baskets for consideration – 16.	£2,000
Provision of bunting, memorabilia and event support to celebrate the Royal Wedding for local groups	£2,000
Development of a booklet profiling the Lower Shankill and Glencairn	£1,000
Total	£11,910”

 

            After discussion, the Committee agreed to approve proposal 1 in relation to South Belfast, that is, to provide £25,000 for already established shopping areas across the district.

 

            After further discussion, it was

            Moved by Councillor McCarthy,

            Seconded by Councillor N. Kelly,

 

      That the Committee agrees to approve the projects contained within the proposals for North, East and West Belfast and that the amount of funding to be made available to undertake the Local Area Based Initiatives be increased to £115,036 in order to:

 

(a)     cover the potential overspend of £625.46 for the North Belfast projects;

 

(b)     enable the Waterbabies Scheme at Short Strand, in the sum of £2,500, to be included within the East Belfast proposals; and

 

(c)     enable the schemes proposed for the Shankill area to be funded.

 

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

 

            The Committee agreed further:

           

(i)      that appropriate forms of legal agreement be completed in those cases where the proposed items of expenditure involved making payments to outside groups; and

 

(ii)     to approve, where necessary, those items of expenditure under Section 115 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972, it being the opinion of the Committee that the expenditure would be in the interest of, and would bring direct benefit to, the District and the inhabitants of the District, with the Committee being satisfied that the direct benefit so accruing would be commensurate with the payments to be made.