Agenda item

(Councillor Collins attended in connection with this item)

            The Committee was reminded that the Council, in accordance with Standing Orders, had referred the following notice of motion, which had been proposed by Councillor Collins and seconded by Councillor McCabe, to the Committee for consideration:

"This Council recognises the severe shortage in social housing across the City, and the detrimental effect which this is having on many citizens in Belfast. It also notes the important work that Belfast housing rights organisations and campaigners have done to highlight this problem in some of the most socially deprived areas of Belfast, by working with the homeless and people in poor housing to identify solutions to the housing crisis. One such solution is to maximise the use of available land right across the City for new build social housing.

In particular, the Council notes the concentration of housing stress in North Belfast and the ongoing campaign by residents and housing rights activists to ensure that a number of sites in North Belfast reach their full social housing potential. The Council calls for a reconsideration of the zoning of redevelopment sites to reflect the necessity to build social housing in North Belfast, in order to deliver a real reprieve to the acute housing crisis in this part of the City.” 

            The Chairperson advised the Committee that Councillor Collins was in attendance in relation to the motion and he was invited to the table.

            Councillor Collins highlighted that a large number of people were in housing stress in Belfast, particularly in the North and West of the city, with many more suffering than what official waiting list figures showed.  He outlined that there were numerous suitable sites available in which social housing could be built and that action needed to be taken to address the increasing problem.

            The Committee received representation from Mr. S. Brady, Participation and the Practice of Rights (PPR). He explained that PPR worked to build bridges between duty bearers and those whose rights were being denied, and, in this case, was seeking to address the housing crisis in Belfast.  He outlined that there was a clear need for additional social housing in North Belfast and that land was available in the areas with the highest demand.  He requested that elected representatives worked together to alleviate the housing crisis.

            The Chairperson thanked Mr. Brady for his presentation and he retired from the meeting.

            The Development Planning and Policy Manager outlined to the Committee that there were a number of competing demands for a finite resource of development land within the city.  He reminded the Members that the creation of a Local Development Plan (LDP) was ongoing and that a review of existing designations would be carried out as part of that process.  He explained that current legislation did not permit the Council to carry out a comprehensive review of any existing designations in advance of the completion of the LDP and that individual applications would continue to be assessed on their own merits by the Planning Committee.

            After discussion, during which a number of Members acknowledged the difficulties which a large number of people were facing in relation to securing housing, the Committee noted the motion.