Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0      Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

            To provide an update on the Little York St Little Patrick Street Place Making Public Realm Design Work aligned to the Section 76 Developer Contributions secured in the area

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

·        Note the emerging design proposals for a proposed Place Making Public Realm Scheme at Little York Street-Little Patrick Street and the Lancaster St entrance aligned to utilising the Section 76 Developer Contributions secured from the adjoining developments

·        Agree the approach of the design works as outlined within this paper, pending consultation with stakeholders including the local communities, development managers and statutory partners, in relation to the utilisation of the Section 76 Developer Contributions within this area for the Little York Little Patrick / Lancaster St scheme subject to due diligence through the Capital Programme and approval at SP&R

3.0       Main report

            Background

3.1       The CG&R Committee have received a number of reports relating to emerging projects to address the connectivity issues between the city centre and the local and new communities and development opportunities that sit on the northern side of the Dunbar Link. These projects include the Fredrick St Junction, and the North South Spine located at Tomb St.  Officers are currently engaging with Belfast Harbour Commissioners on the North South Spine in order to bring forward a jointly funded proposal to bring this scheme up to RIBA Stage 3.   An all-party delegation met with the Permanent Secretary for DfI and the University of Ulster on the 31st of October in relation to certain schemes coming forward in the University of Ulster area, and to address the time required to bring forward schemes, in particular now that the University Campus has opened and the pedestrian footfall levels have greatly increased within the area. DfI are to present their Autumn Report to this Committee meeting and have been asked to bring further detail on the emerging designs and timeframes for the schemes required to assist in the successful relocation of the University to the new City Centre Campus. Further reports on these schemes will also be brought to future meetings of this Committee.

3.2       The CG&R Committee agreed in September 2019 to the development of a place making public realm catalyst project within the University Quarter of the Greater Clarendon and Sailortown area in order to utilise secured Section 76 Developer Contributions from a number of Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBMSA) Blocks within the Little York Street / Little Patrick Street area. The completed PBMSA developments within this small area are now operational and demand is exceeding supply.  In total, the Little York Street Little Patrick St developments will be home to some 4,000 students within a very hard landscaped area on the fringe of the city centre with little local amenities.  They are also located adjacent to existing communities in the Lancaster St area. A further report to CG&R Committee in October 2019 noted that there is also potential to explore the future vehicular requirements and potential pedestrianisation of Little York Street and Little Patrick Street to bring forward a high quality place-making project that would address road safety issues connected with ‘rat-runs’ through the area and safety issues in general that exist due to the environment surrounding these blocks. 

3.3       The legal agreements which secured these ‘historic’ developer contributions (typically referred to as Section 76 Agreements in planning terms) tightly define how they may be used for public realm improvements. Each Section 76 agreement is accompanied by a plan which defines the geographical area within which the contributions may be spent. The agreements also specify the purpose and timeframe (usually seven years) of expenditure, and that failure to meet these requirements would result in repayment to developers.  The Little York Street Little Patrick St scheme has been developed in order to comply within the conditions as contained with the legal Section 76 agreements.

3.4       Together with the Fredrick St Junction project and the North South Spine these three projects provide an opportunity to deliver on several of the emerging Bolder Vision Key Moves including Reimaging the Inner Ring and ending Car Dominance, Reducing the Severance to Communities and Supporting City Centre Living.

3.5       Main Report

            Greater Clarendon/Sailortown – Great Patrick Street/York Street Junction and Little Patrick Street and Little York Street

            The Little Patrick Street/Little York Street place making project was developed as a result of Council securing developer contributions (typically referred to as Section 76 Agreements in planning terms) for public realm improvements within the University Quarter of the Greater Clarendon and Sailortown area. The contributions relate to purpose-built managed student accommodation buildings developed in the area and will provide an enhanced city centre living experience for existing and future residents within the area. In order to deliver a high-quality project with the developer contributions Officers have appointed a design team to bring the project to detailed design, planning and construction.

3.6       The proposed public realm scheme at Little York Street-Little Patrick Street is situated within an area bound by Great Patrick Street, York Street, Great George’s Street and Nelson Street and dissect four managed student accommodation buildings and is a 2-minute walk to the newly constructed University of Ulster campus.

3.7         With the PBMSA developments creating a home for some 4,000 students the area has become densely populated and these streets are critical public spaces that should serve as extensions of living spaces, enabling and enhancing the interaction of new and existing neighbourhood residents in order to sustain a sense of community.

3.8         Little Patrick Street and Little York Street is often used as a shortcut for traffic accessing the city core and has been identified as a source of late-night noise due to excessive & loud traffic through the streets. The objective of the scheme is to provide a reconfigured street design limiting access through the area to servicing and drop-off/pick provision for the accommodation blocks as well as enhancing place-making and public realm provision to provide a high-quality street within the area. The scheme will also bring forward proposals in conjunction with the local community to address the connection into the local Lancaster St community area to enhance the character of the area and to improve the connection to the emerging Fredrick St Junction.

3.9       The concept design looks to achieve the safe movement of pedestrians and cyclists through the area by adopting a quiet streets approach by pedestrianising Little Patrick Street (West) and Little York Street (South) by implementing a physical restriction/road closure, first by temporary closure then by abandonment and a one-way traffic system proposed for Little York Street (North) and Little Patrick Street (East) which would see vehicular traffic come off the main road network at Great Georges Street and exit at Nelson Street.

3.10      As well as the design addressing safety concerns around traffic movement it also creates an environment for safe passage of pedestrians and cyclists with enhanced public footways, subtle lighting positioned under seated planters which deters anti-social behaviour while also respecting that students live here adjacent to a local community, and the inclusion of rain gardens which adds greening to an urban setting and reduces rainfall runoff and mitigates the impact of pollution.

3.11      The emerging preferred designs are included within appendix 1 (copy available on the Council’s website) of this report and will be utilised to form the basis of consultation with DfI and with the local communities. Design work is ongoing to develop the options to undertake works at the entrance to the Lancaster St area and a co-design process will be undertaken with the local community to develop these proposals. To enable the detailed design work to continue and to inform the consultation with DfI additional surveys, including traffic modelling, topographical surveys and Risk Assessments etc are required and will be carried out in line with the developing design.

3.12      Pending approval from this Committee for the emerging works, and following consultation with the local community, statutory partners and the PBMSA providers, it is intended to develop these designs to RIBA Stage 3 and to bring the scheme forward to Planning in early 2023 followed by procurement and construction with regular reports to be brought to this Committee as the scheme progresses.

3.13      Finance and Resource Implications

            Capital costs for this scheme will be met from existing S76 agreements in line with the conditions of those agreements, and subject to the due diligence of the Capital Programme process and approval from SP&R Committee

            Procured design costs are as previously agreed by the CG&R Committee in October 2019. Additional surveys and design to inform the detailed design works and to satisfy the DfI requirements will be met from previously agreed departmental budgets

3.14      Equality or Good Relations Implications/

            Rural Needs Assessment

            Equality & Good Relations Implications/Rural Needs Assessment will be considered as a part of the design development process.”

The Committee:

·        Noted the emerging design proposals for a proposed Place Making Public Realm Scheme at Little York Street-Little Patrick Street and the Lancaster Steet entrance aligned to utilising the Section 76 Developer Contributions secured from the adjoining developments; and

·        Agreed the approach of the design works as outlined within the report, pending consultation with stakeholders, including the local communities, development managers and statutory partners in relation to the utilisation of the Section 76 Developer Contributions within the area for the Little York Little Patrick / Lancaster Steet scheme. It was also noted that this would be subject to due diligence through the Capital Programme and required approval at the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee.