Agenda item

(The Committee agreed to consider these two items simultaneously.)

(Mr. S. Dolan, Senior Development Manager, City Regeneration and Development Unit, attended in connection with these items.)

The Committee was reminded that, at its meetings on 16th November and 14th December, it had considered a request from DfI Roads Service for the removal or relocation of two Temporary Pavement Cafés situated in the middle of Fountain Street, close to its junction with Castle Street, being operated as part of the City Picnic and Voodoo businesses. The request had been made with the aim of facilitating the safe movement of vehicular traffic in the street, following its reopening after the Primark fire. The Committee had agreed to defer the request to enable further information to be obtained from the Department for Infrastructure on its plans for the development of the City centre, for Council officers to determine Translink’s intentions for the area and for new applications to relocate to adjacent locations to be determined.

The Building Control Manager reported that a pavement café licence had since been granted under delegated authority to the owner of City Picnic for the remaining closed portion between the junction of Fountain Street and Castle Junction and to the owner of Voodoo for another location in Fountain Street, beside Norwich Union House. No objections had been received from DfI Roads or the Police Service of Northern Ireland or through the public notice process for either application and the licences had been issued. 

He went on to point out that matters relating to transport planning and policy in the City were dealt with by the Council’s City Regeneration Team, via the City Growth and Regeneration Committee. He explained that the Department for Infrastructure was currently developing the Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan, in line with the Northern Ireland Executive’s commitments under the Climate Action Plan. The initial stage would focus upon the City centre and strategic public transportation connections and involve a modelling exercise to identify options for shaping the Department’s future plans for the City centre in terms of transportation requirements. It would, in due course, present its findings to the City Growth and Regeneration Committee.

He added that Translink was also due to attend a future meeting of the aforementioned Committee to outline its transportation plans for the City.  However, this would also be dependent on the outworking’s of the Transport Plan modelling exercise and subsequent recommendations. It would, he suggested, be beneficial for the Members of the Licensing Committee to attend the meeting of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee at which the Department for Infrastructure and Translink would be making their presentations.

The Building Control Manager concluded by recommending that the Committee consider the request from DfI Roads Service to revoke the Temporary Pavement Café Licences in Fountain Street which had been granted originally to City Picnic and Voodoo. Should the Committee accede to that request, the Council would be required to inform each licensee of the grounds for revoking their licence and provide them with at least twenty-one days from the date of notification in which to make representation. There was also scope within the legislation for the Council to revoke a licence without providing notification. The Committee could, based upon the representations made by DfI Roads Service, consider if it was in the public interest to do so without giving twenty-one days’ notice.

It was reported that Mr. A. McAnerney, the owner of City Picnic, was again in attendance and the Committee agreed that it would be beneficial to seek his views on the Department’s request to revoke his original pavement café licence and on his current location.  

Mr. McAnerney stated that it was his understanding that Castle Street would re-open to through traffic in the medium term and that he had received no assurances to the contrary. He pointed out that City Picnic and Voodoo had worked together to create a unique pavement café offering at their original locations in Fountain Street and confirmed that, given the uncertainty around the future of Castle Street, he remained opposed to the revocation of that licence.  

Mr. D. McFarlane, who was attending on behalf of the Department for Infrastructure, referred to a number of initiatives being undertaken currently to enhance the City centre, including A Bolder Vision, Belfast Streets Ahead and the 5Cs Public Realm Project. He referred also to the overriding Belfast Metropolitan Transportation Plan which, in order to achieve its objectives, could see a radical change in coming years to roads/streets in the City centre in order to make cycling, walking and public transport more accessible. He added that the plans for Castle Street and Castle Place were as yet unclear in the context of the overall Transportation Plan.

The Senior Development Manager reiterated the points which had been made by the Building Control Manager and Mr. McFarlane around the various initiatives being undertaken to enhance the City centre. He confirmed that Council officers would be meeting with their counterparts in other agencies as that work developed and that Members would be informed of any relevant presentations to made by the Department for Infrastructure and Translink to the City Growth and Regeneration Committee.   

In response to issues which had been raised by a number of Members around any measures which could be put in place to ensure the safety of pedestrians in Fountain Street, Mr. McFarlane confirmed this could only be achieved by closing it to all traffic, which would create significant difficulties for those trying to service local businesses. He added that the street had been designed to facilitate the circular movement of traffic, thereby eliminating the need to undertake turning manoeuvres and to be pedestrianised during those set times when deliveries were not being made.

The Chairperson thanked Mr. McAnerney and Mr. McFarlane for their contribution.

After discussion, the Committee agreed to again defer consideration of the request from the Department for Infrastructure to revoke the original Temporary Pavement Cafés for City Picnic and Voodoo to enable the incoming Committee to undertake a site visit to the Castle Street/Fountain Street area to familiarise itself with all of the relevant issues. It agreed also that the owners of those businesses and representatives of the Department for Infrastructure be invited to attend.