Document Pack Committee and Members’ Services Section Rd 3 Floor, Adelaide Exchange 24-26 Adelaide Street Belfast BT2 8GD
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Document Pack Committee and Members’ Services Section rd 3 Floor, Adelaide Exchange 24-26 Adelaide Street Belfast BT2 8GD 26 th February, 2009 MEETING OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES COMMITTEE Dear Councillor, The above-named Committee will meet in the Council Chamber, 3rd Floor, Adelaide Exchange on Wednesday, 4th March, 2009 at 4.30 pm, for the transaction of the business noted below. You are requested to attend. Yours faithfully PETER McNANEY Chief Executive AGENDA: 1. Routine Matters (a) Apologies (b) Minutes Minutes of the meeting of 4 th February 2. Directorate (a) Media Coverage (Pages 1 - 4) 3. Building Control (a) Energy Performance Certificate Enforcement (Pages 5 - 8) (b) Building Control Convention 2009 (Pages 9 - 10) (c) Applications for the Erection of Dual-Language Street Signs (Pages 11 - 12) (d) Naming of Street (Pages 13 - 14) - 2 - 4. Environmental Health (a) Appointment to Local Government Emergency Management Group's Radiation Monitoring Co-ordinating Committee (Pages 15 - 18) (b) Employment of Hate Crime Officer (Pages 19 - 116) (c) Tackling Health Inequalities Conference (Pages 117 - 122) (d) Response Plan for Suicide Clusters (Pages 123 - 132) 5. Waste Management (a) Tender for the Collection and Recycling of Mixed Timber from Recycling Centres (Pages 133 - 134) (b) Acceptance of Clays and Soils at the Former Dargan Road Landfill Site (Pages 135 - 138) (c) Chartered Institution of Wastes Management Conference (Pages 139 - 144) Page 1 Agenda Item 2a Belfast City Council Report to: Health and Environmental Services Committee Subject: Media Coverage Date: 4th March, 2009 Reporting Officer: Mr William Francey, Director of Health & Environmental Services, ext 3260 Contact Officer: Ms Joanne Lowry, Media Relations Officer, ext 6270 Relevant Background Information Members agreed that a quarterly report on media coverage would be brought to committee to keep members up to date on current issues. Key Issues A report on media coverage for the period December 2008 – February 2009 has been appended to this report. Recommendation Members are asked to note the report. Document Attached Report on media coverage for the period December,2008 – February, 2009. Page 2 BLANK PAGE Page 3 Council-generated media coverage Eleven press releases have been issued since December, highlighting several Department initiatives. Our Get Home Safe Christmas campaign attracted a lot of media attention and a very successful launch was held in the Northern Whig. We continue to highlight our partnership working with the PSNI and other agencies on the Get Home Safe campaign throughout the year, and more PR is planned around the St Patrick’s Day celebrations, particularly aimed at students in the Holyland area. The Holyland wardens scheme and the roaming wardens continue to have a very positive profile in the media and many of the local papers have covered the community ‘exit’ events, providing feedback from residents. Our fortnightly ‘Safer Belfast’ campaign still runs in the four editions of the Community Telegraph and provides an opportunity to profile some of the work carried out by our community safety team and Community Safety Partnership to tackle anti-social behaviour. This year’s Young People Awards have been launched and an awards ceremony will be held at the Waterfront Hall in March, with PR planned around the event. We generated some media coverage of the ‘Dragons Den’ competition for schools which is part of the council’s ‘Litter - get a grip!’ anti-litter campaign. More coverage of the campaign is planned in the coming weeks with primary schools having just signed up to the Lord Mayor’s Big Cleanup Challenge which will be happening across Belfast. Our recycling campaign continues to generate a lot of media interest with the Christmas ‘treecycling’ campaign being well covered. We did some very positive PR around the success of our food waste collection trial and the boost to recycling rates, as well as the introduction of new recycling facilities at Glentoran FC and Queen’s Elms. We have also been working proactively with local community newspapers to identify any problems with changes to bin collections etc, where the food waste trial has been rolled out, and are working to identify opportunities for articles. A cookery workshop aimed at Chinese chefs to promote healthier options for takeaways was recently held at Belfast Metropolitan College and generated some press interest, with more coverage expected. The masterclass was organised by the council and was hosted by celebrity chef Nancy Lam. The suspension of the entertainments licence at Whites Tavern was covered widely by the media. An agreed statement was issued following the Licensing Committee decision. There was a lot of media coverage of the death of Ashley Cunningham at our landfill site. An agreed statement was issued to the Press following the outcome of the court case. Statistics There were 79 press enquiries between December 08 and February 09 directly related to the work of the Department. This accounted for around a fifth (22%) of the total number of enquiries (360) dealt with by the Media Relations office for the same period. Other coverage There has been some coverage of plans for the runway extension at Belfast City Airport and the council’s call for a public local inquiry. Page 4 Our consultation on the North Foreshore regarding Arc 21 proposals for an EfW facility has generated some media coverage already and more is expected over coming weeks with the public consultation now underway. Dog fouling has been highlighted in some of the local newspapers and we are working with reporters to highlight messages of responsible dog ownership. We are also planning some positive publicity around the council’s purchase of four FIDO machines to tackle the problem of dog litter in the city – this has already received some very positive coverage. Cllr Lavery worked with our Building Control Service to highlight problems with loft conversions carried out by rogue builders in the North Belfast News. There was quite a bit of coverage about an underage disco held at the Odyssey which is being investigated by our Environmental Health and Building Control teams. There have been some reports in the media about safety at sports grounds and we have responded appropriately to the media regarding council’s role in health and safety. Page 5 Agenda Item 3a Belfast City Council Report to: Health and Environmental Services Committee Subject: Proposed One Year Pilot Scheme - Energy Performance Certificate Enforcement Date: 4th March, 2009 Reporting Officer: Mr. Trevor Martin, Head of Building Control, ext 2450 Contact Officer: Mr. Donal Rogan, Building Control Manager, ext 2460 Relevant Background Information Members will recall that at its meeting of 4 June 2008 the Committee recommended in principle that the Council becomes the enforcing body for the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008: Energy Performance Certification Scheme. The Committee also agreed that the Building Control Service work with the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP) in agreeing the framework for how this scheme would be administered. This recommendation was subsequently ratified by full Council. The DFP in conjunction with Building Control Officers from across Northern Ireland, including Belfast, has drawn up and agreed a draft memorandum of understanding in relation to how these regulations should be enforced. Key Issues It has been agreed with the DFP that there will be no cost burden for the Councils in taking on this enforcement role. The degree of funding which will be allocated by the DFP is yet to be finalised but indications are that the allocation of funding would enable the employment of three/four building control surveyors to work with government, businesses and the general public in assisting them to comply with the legislation. Furthermore there will be a budget established for promotional and educational activity. Additionally the DFP in the memorandum of understanding has committed to indemnify the council in whose area the enforcement activity takes place against any associated legal costs. Following discussions with the representative forums for Building Control across Northern Ireland it was agreed there are many unknowns as to the possible implications of this legislation. For example, parts of the legislation were phased in prior to the current economic climate. The construction industry and property market Page 6 have changed significantly since it was first proposed that the enforcement of these regulations be delegated to Councils. Consequently it has been agreed with DFP representatives that enforcement powers be transferred initially on a one year pilot scheme. This is designed to ensure the implications of enforcing these regulations are fully understood by all before entering into a permanent agreement. Having considered several options it was also agreed the most efficient way to manage this project would be to appoint one Council as the employing authority for all of Northern Ireland. Members may recall that this is a similar approach to that which was adopted when Tobacco Regulations were initially introduced. On that occasion Omagh District Council was to be the employing authority. The purpose of this report is to seek permission from the Committee to enable the Building Control Service on behalf of the Council to express an interest to be the employing authority for the one year pilot study scheme in relation to the EPC regulations. This role would be predicated upon agreement with the other councils and DFP in relation to the draft enforcement protocol. Given its size and the density of its built environment the greater Belfast region will require the most intense concentration of effort to promote and ensure compliance with the legislative requirements set out in these regulations. Therefore it is logical that Belfast City Council be considered as the employing authority for Northern Ireland. A further report will be submitted to Committee seeking approval of any draft agreement between the councils and the DFP.