ARDS AND NORTH DOWN BOROUGH COUNCIL
7th September 2017 Dear Sir/Madam
You are hereby invited to attend a meeting of the Corporate Services Committee of the Ards and North Down Borough Council which will be held in the Council Chamber, 2 Church Street, Newtownards on Tuesday, 12 September 2017 commencing at 7.00pm.
Tea, coffee and sandwiches will be available from 6.00pm.
Yours faithfully
Stephen Reid Chief Executive Ards and North Down Borough Council
A G E N D A
1. Apologies
2. Declarations of Interest
3. Deputations
3.1 Transport NI (Report attached)
4. Report of Special Policy and Finance Group dated 22 June 2017 (Copy attached)
5. Budgetary Control Report – July 2017 (Report attached)
6. 2016/2017 Performance Improvement Plan Report (Report attached)
7. Service to Mark 65th Anniversary of the Princess Victoria Disaster (Report attached)
8. Rededication of War Memorial, Holywood (Report attached)
9. Rent Review Seawater Intake Pipe Portaferry (Report attached)
10. Performance Reports Q1 2017-18 (Reports attached)
10.1 Administration 10.2 Corporate Communications 10.3 Community Planning 10.4 Human Resources 10.5 Finance 10.6 Performance and Projects
11. General Data Protection Regulations Awareness (Report attached)
12. Quarterly Report on Equality and Good Relations (Section 75 of the N.I Act 1998) – September 2017 (Report attached)
13. Public Rights of Way – Cushies Land and Portavo (Report attached)
14. Local Government Awards Dinner 12th October 2017 (Report attached)
15. Notices of Motion
15.1 Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor Cooper
“That this Council advocates that all veterans of HM Forces, and RUC/PSNI, are given priority in housing and relocating over and above non UK Citizens those arriving from abroad and will write to the appropriate departments to urge their compliance”.
15.2 Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor Cooper
That this council sets up a working group to oversee the harmonisation of all salaries and job responsibilities throughout all departments, (especially in recycling centres), and identifies and rectifies any discrepancy in policy(s) across both legacy councils to bring them into line to ensure effective and smooth operational transition.
15.3 Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor McIlveen and Councillor Armstrong- Cotter
That this Council writes to Transport NI requesting that a controlled crossing is installed on Portaferry Road, Newtownards.
15.4 Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor McIlveen and Councillor Armstrong- Cotter
That officers investigate the feasibility of providing a safe pedestrian walking area with the Talbot Street car park leading from the steps at Londonderry Primary School to the green space where pedestrians cut through to Glenbrook Road.
15.5 Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor Martin
That in 2015-16 over 4,000 babies were delivered in our local maternity unit at the Ulster Hospital (the 2nd highest in Northern Ireland) literally brining new life to the Borough. Council wishes to underscore that Healthcare exists to support and nurture life and not to end it deliberately. In this context, Council warmly welcomes the
2 excellent work which our Doctors and Midwives carry out for the overall health, life and wellbeing of women, unborn children, families and our wider community. It writes to the Chief Executive of the South Eastern Regional Trust to emphasis these sentiments.
15.6 Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor McIlveen, Councillor Armstrong- Cotter and Councillor Kennedy
That this Council proposes reviving the Veterans’ Day event (which was previously hosted by Ards Borough Council) to recognise the invaluable contribution of men and women from this Borough who have served their country at home and abroad and tasks officers to begin conversations with the Royal British Legion, relevant regimental associations and other appropriate bodies with a view to hosting the first event in June 2018.
15.7 Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor Martin and Alderman Irvine
This Council expresses its alarm at the rise of anti-Semitism in recent years across the UK. This includes incidents when criticism of Israel has been expressed using anti-Semitic tropes. Criticism of Israel can, of course be completely legitimate, but not if it employs the imagery of anti-Semitism.
We therefore welcome Her Majesty's Governments announcement in December 2016 that the UK will sign up to the internationally recognised International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) guidelines on anti-Semitism which define anti- Semitism thus:
'Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.'
The guidelines highlight manifestations of anti-Semitism as including:
• Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion. • Making mendacious, dehumanising, demonising, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective, such as the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions. • Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews. • Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust). • Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust. • Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
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• Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g. by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour. • Applying double standards by requiring of it behaviour not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation. • Using the symbols and images associated with classic anti-Semitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterise Israel or Israelis. • Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis. • Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.
We wish to be the first Council in Northern Ireland to also formally adopt the IHRA guidelines on anti-Semitism
ITEMS 16- 17 ***IN CONFIDENCE***
16. Request from Ulster Bank to set up its Mobile Banking Unit on Council land in Kircubbin and Portaferry (Report attached)
17. Career Break Requests (Report attached)
18. Any Other Business
Circulated for Information
(i) 2017/18 Savings Plan Consultation Invitation to Public Meetings
(ii) Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland - 2018 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies Secondary Consultation
MEMBERSHIP OF CORPORATE SERVICES COMMITTEE (14 Members)
Alderman Carson Councillor Chambers Alderman Gibson Councillor Gilmour (Vice-Chairman) Alderman Girvan (Chairman) Councillor Kennedy Alderman Graham Councillor Muir Alderman Keery Councillor McIlveen Councillor Barry Councillor Smart Councillor Brooks Councillor Smith
4
August 2017
SOUTHERN DIVISION
Annual Report 2017 to Ards and North Down Borough Council
MV Strangford II
Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
Contents Page No. Foreword 3
Senior Management Structure 4
Southern Division 5
Dealing with Correspondence 6
Section 1 - Highway Structures 7
1.1 Maintenance and Strengthening of Structures 8
Section 2 - Network Maintenance 10
2.1 Completed Asphalt Resurfacing 2016/2017 14 2.2 Completed Bitumen Macadam Resurfacing 2016/2017 17 2.3 Completed Rural Roads Initiative 2016/2017 18 2.4 Completed Surface Dressing 2016/2017 19 2.5 Completed Footway Reconstruction 2016/2017 20 2.6 Completed Drainage Maintenance 2016/2017 21 2.7 Routine Maintenance 21 2.8 Proposed Asphalt and Bitmac Resurfacing 22 2017/2018 2.9 Proposed Surface Dressing 2017/2018 24 2.10 Proposed Footway Reconstruction 2017/2018 25 2.11 Proposed Drainage Maintenance 2017/18 26 2.12 Winter Service 27
Section 3 - Network Development 28
3.1 Network Development Completed 2016/17 30 3.2 Network Development Proposed 2017/18 41
Section 4 - Network Planning & Street Lighting 48
4.1 Development Control 49 4.2 Private Streets 52 4.3 Strangford Ferry 53 4.4 Street Lighting 54
Page 2
Ards and North Down Borough Council Foreword DfI Roads Report - August 2017
Chairperson and Councillors Ards and North Down Borough Council
I have pleasure in submitting my Annual Report on DfI Roads work in the Ards and North Down Borough Council area.
Southern Division covers the three Council areas shown on page 5 of this report. It is one of four Divisions, each of which manages the road network, commissions new works and is the contact point for road users and public representatives.
This report deals with works completed in the Ards and North Down Borough Council area during the year 2016/2017 and sets out our initial proposals for schemes to be undertaken in the year 2017/2018.
There are pressures on both capital and resource funding going into 2017/18. On the capital side, my staff will continue to develop resurfacing and traffic management schemes to enhance safety, to improve traffic flow and provide measures for pedestrians and cyclists. The Department will also continue to bid for further capital funding for structural maintenance to maintain the integrity of the road network.
On the resource side, we start the year delivering the same level of service that we started with last year. However, if in-year bids are successful, funding will immediately be used to increase the level of service.
As explained in last year’s report we will be continuing to concentrate our efforts on delivering the highest priority work on the ground, within our allocated budgets. To maximise staff time on delivering work and schemes we are continuing with our streamlined processes for assessing requests, to ensure optimal use of our physical and financial resources.
I would also draw your attention to the section on page 6, titled, “Dealing with Correspondence”. This is relevant to the work you all do as Councillors and will help us to free up technical staff to deliver work on the ground.
I hope you find this report informative and I look forward to meeting the Council to discuss its content.
Simon Richardson Divisional Manager
Page 3
Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
Southern Division - Senior Management Structure
Simon Richardson Divisional Manager
DfI Roads wishes to build upon the good working relationships it has with Council Members and Officers. The Senior Management Team is listed below, however day to day matters should be raised with the relevant Senior Engineers whose details are listed at the start of each section.
Liam McEvoy Strategic Road Improvements (SRI) Manager
Major works schemes (>£1.5M)
Arnold Hamilton Network Maintenance Manager
Maintenance of existing road network
James Kelly Network Development Manager
Improvements and minor works
Reynold Nicholson Network Planning Manager
Development Control, Private Streets and Street Lighting
Page 4
Ards and North Down Borough Council Southern Division DfI Roads Report - August 2017
Southern Division is one of four Client Divisions within DfI Roads. It spans the local Council areas of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Newry Mourne and Down and Ards and North Down Council Areas (see map below).
In Southern Division we are responsible for approximately 8000km of public road together with 1300 bridges, 250 sets of traffic lights, 81,000 streetlights and over 4000 illuminated signs and bollards. We carry out functions under the headings:-
Strategic Road Improvements – Road Improvement Schemes greater than £1.5Million on the strategic road network Network Maintenance – Maintenance of existing network Network Development - Improvements to the existing network Network Planning - Regulation of proposed additions to the network by developers
DfI Roads Tel: 0300 200 7892 Southern Division HQ E-mail: [email protected] Marlborough House Out of Hours Tel: 028 3752 9500 Central Way Website: www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk CRAIGAVON Co Armagh
Page 5
Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017 Dealing with Correspondence
As you will be aware DfI lost a significant number of staff through the Voluntary Exit Scheme which was implemented across the whole of the Northern Ireland Civil Service. As a result of this we in Southern Division had to develop new staffing structures across all work areas to try to maintain our level of service.
One area of significant workload is dealing with correspondence. The Department, and in particular DfI Roads, receives a large volume of correspondence from the public and public representatives throughout the year. Indeed, the level of correspondence has been increasing in recent years at a time when staff resources have been reducing.
In a large number of cases the correspondence relates to reports of individual defects on the road, such as potholes, blocked gullies, defective street lights etc. As well as investigating each defect report and completing any necessary work on the ground, our staff have adopted the time consuming practice of drafting a substantive response and then issuing a final response to the correspondent. We no longer have the resources to operate in this way - we need to get the information onto our systems as quickly as possible and free up staff to attend to the necessary work rather than writing letters.
The Department is therefore proposing to deal with correspondence which is only reporting routine defects differently from other general correspondence. So, if a member of the public, or public representative, writes to us, by letter or e-mail, reporting a routine defect we will log this information onto our work systems and an automated response detailing the query reference number will issue to the correspondent, however, a further detailed reply will not issue. Technical staff will then deal with the query received in accordance with our maintenance standards. The reference number will allow the progress of the query to be monitored on-line.
If, however, the initial letter relates to a more general roads issue rather than simply reporting a defect, a substantive reply will issue in the normal way.
In order to reduce the volume of general correspondence reporting routine defects, we are encouraging the reporting of defects through our on-line “Report a Fault” service.
You can report a fault on-line at the NI Direct Website https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/information-and-services/travel-transport-and-roads/problems-roads-and-streets
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
SECTION 1
HIGHWAY STRUCTURES
Highway Structures Manager: Liam McEvoy
Liam is supported by the following staff
Brian McClelland Strategic Road Improvements and Structures Marlborough House Central Way Craigavon BT641AD
Tel: 0300 200 7892 E-mail: [email protected]
Neville Dynes Strategic Road Improvements Marlborough House Central Way Craigavon BT641AD
Tel: 0300 200 7892 E-mail: [email protected]
Aloysius Loughran Strategic Road Improvements & Structures Marlborough House Central Way Craigavon BT641AD
Tel: 0300 200 7892 E-mail: [email protected]
Page 7
Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
1.1 Maintenance and Strengthening of Structures
Highway Structures can include bridges, embankments, retaining walls and sign gantries. All bridges must be capable of carrying 40 tonne vehicles and this requirement has led to the on- going assessment of bridges in the area.
The Structures Section manages the 1,278 bridges and culverts with a span of 1.8m and greater within the Division off which there are 133 of these structures in the Ards & North Down Borough Council Area. Smaller structures are managed by the local TNI Section Offices.
Structures - Strengthening Schemes Completed during 2016/2017
structures strengthened during the period -
Bridge No Name 50671 Ballygowan Road, Comber - Bridge strengthening and parapet construction N/A Glen Road, Comber - embankment stabilization Structures Strengthening work completed within A&ND,BC in 2016/17 = total cost of £47K
Ballygowan Road, Comber
Structures - Strengthening Schemes Proposed within 2017/2018
Bridge No. Name N/A None identified to date
Structures Strengthening schemes planned within A&ND,BC in 2017/18 will be dependant on available budget.
All other bridges are inspected routinely. This generates an ongoing programme of strengthen- ing/repairs to bridges and other structures. Page 8
Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
Structures - Maintenance Schemes Completed during 2016/2017 Bridge No Name 50690 Cannyreagh Road, Donnaghadee - Bridge and surfacing repairs
Structures - Maintenance Schemes Proposed within 2017/2018
No maintenance schemes are currently programmed within the Ards & North Down Borough Council Area due to the unavailability of Structures ‘Maintenance’ funding for the current 2017- 18 financial year. All bridges are inspected routinely. This generates an ongoing programme of maintenance/ repairs to bridges and other structures, as funding becomes available.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
SECTION 2
NETWORK MAINTENANCE
Network Maintenance Manager: Arnold Hamilton
Arnold is supported by:-
Stanley Lamb Section Engineer Ards and North Down Jubilee Road Newtownards BT23 4YH
Tel: 0300 200 7892 Email: [email protected]
Page 10
Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017 Explanation of Maintenance Operations
Resurfacing and Strengthening
Roads generally fail by cracking and rutting. They usually do not fail suddenly, but gradually deteriorate due to the impact of traffic, age and weathering. Wear normally appears as either excessive permanent deformation of the whole or part of the carriageway structure, or is associated with the cracking of the bituminous layers.
Roads are normally designed for an operational life of 20 years. During this period and beyond, there is a need for the highway authority to intervene at times to either treat or replace the top layer of bituminous material known as the "surface course" or to provide additional depth to preserve the underlying structure of the road and extend its life.
Resurfacing is the application of a layer of this mixed material of 40mm minimum thickness. It strengthens the road, seals it against the ingress of water, and improves skidding resistance and riding quality.
Surface course Bitumen Macadam (Bitmac) has an expected life of 7-12 years which can be extended by subsequent surface dressing. Bitmac is a more flexible material than Asphalt and more suitable for the deformation and movement associated with weaker underlying ground conditions.
Asphalt resurfacing is more appropriate to heavily trafficked roads and junctions having a robust road base. It is more expensive and has a longer expected life of 15-20 years.
Resurfacing of existing roads can usually be carried out on top of the existing surface (overlay) but where drainage or kerb levels or bridge heights are restricted the existing surface may need to be removed before the resurfacing takes place.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
Explanation of Maintenance Operations (continued)
Surface Dressing This process involves spraying a bitumen emulsion binder onto the existing road surface, followed by a layer of stone chippings, which is then rolled. This seals the road preventing ingress of water thus extending the life expectancy of the road and also helps to improve the skid resistance on the surface.
Micro Surfacing This material is a cold applied bituminous material with a relatively fast setting time. It can be laid in two courses up to a total thickness of 20mm to allow limited surface re-shaping. Its main benefits, are that it can be laid quickly with minimal preparatory work thereby reducing traffic disruption. It is suit- able for busy urban roads and the new surface can be trafficked within 15 to 20 minutes.
Refurbishment This is the laying of bituminous materials on roads as one layer over shorter lengths to provide an im- proved surface.
Drainage Works The quick and effective drainage of surface water from the carriageway contributes significantly to the safety of the road. Improvement works carried out include the upgrading of the existing drainage facilities to ensure effective dispersal of surface water and prevent as far as possible the occurrence of standing water or flooding of the road. In many cases the provision of new drainage facilities have to be undertaken including the installation of road gullies, pipes and manholes leading to a suitable discharge point.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
Explanation of Maintenance Operations (continued)
Grass Cutting
Grass cutting is carried out for road safety reasons rather than for amenity purposes. Previous grass cutting policy allowed for routine cutting of 1 swathe width (approximately 1.2m) twice a year in rural areas and five times a year in urban areas,
However, this year due to financial constraints the policy was amended and only one cut will be carried out across rural and urban areas, with the exception of sightlines which were re-cut as required.
Gully Emptying
In previous years drainage gullies in urban areas were cleaned twice per year and in rural areas once per year. Open outlets were also cleaned once per year. However, this year due to finan- cial constraints routine gully cleaning will only be carried out once in all areas.
Emergency Out of Office Hours Assistance
We have a call centre to deal with calls outside normal office hours.
DfI Roads personnel can be called upon to deal with emergencies such as flooding , obstructions such as fallen trees, and when requested by Emergency Services, in clearing up after road traffic collisions.
Routine roads related matters are not dealt with by this service and should be raised with DfI Roads offices during normal working hours. The Emergency Out Of Hours telephone number is 028 3752 9500
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
2.1 Completed Asphalt Resurfacing 2016/2017
Asphalt resurfacing is more appropriate to heavily trafficked roads and junctions. It can have a life expectancy of up to 20 years. During the past year we have carried out a range of complemen- tary improvements to kerbing, drainage, and the like on asphalt schemes to enhance the value and quality of the work.
Across the Council area a total of approximately 113,000 sq metres of asphalt was laid during the 2016-17 financial year, including the following schemes:-
Route No Road Name / Location Area(m2) 5770 A0022 Belfast Road, Comber – Including Sidefilling
1900 A0021 Rathgael Road, Roundabout, Bangor
11430 A0021 Ballygowan Road, Comber
2288 A0021 Bridge Street, Comber
12152 A0002 Cloughey Road, Portaferry
2024 A0002 Shore Street, Donaghadee
7000 B0170 Ballymiscaw Road, Holywood
6300 B0020 Ballyrobert Road, Bangor
2323 B0198 High Street, Holywood
10860 C0255 Abbey Road, Millisle
10740 C0252 Upper Gransha Road, Newtownards. (Three Schemes)
600 C0255 Main Road, Carrowdore
7620 C0272 Carrickmannon Road, Ballygowan
3557 C0263 Whinney Hill, Holywood (RRI)
588 C0251 Crawfordsburn Road, Bangor (RRI)
444 C0263 Holywood Road, Craigantlet (RRI)
198 C0262 Ballymoney Road, Craigantlet (RRI)
3206 C0256 Dunover Road, Ballywalter (RRI)
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
2.1 Completed Asphalt Resurfacing 2016/2017 (cont)
Route No Road Name / Location Area(m2) U0321 Main Street, Killinchy 2310
U9550 Ardview Park, Killinchy 990
U9750 Bailie Park / Bailie Terrace / Bailie Gardens, Donaghadee 2530
U0240 Greengraves Road, Newtownards 5305
U9207 The Parade, Donaghadee 4429
U8001 Morston Park, Bangor 3523
U0817/8 Ward Avenue, Bangor 5152
Shore Road, Donaghadee
Main Street, Killinchy
Cloughey Road, Portaferry
Ballygowan Road, Comber
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
2.1 Completed Asphalt Resurfacing 2016/2017 (cont)
Ballyrobert Road, Crawfordsburn
Belfast Road, Comber
High Street, Holywood
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
2.2 Completed Bitumen Macadam Resurfacing 2016/2017 This is a more flexible material than asphalt and is used on less busy rural roads. It is more suit- able for the deformation and movement, which can be expected due to weaker underlying ground conditions. As with asphalt resurfacing, we carried out a range of other improvements to add value to the work.
Route No Road Name / Location Area(m2)
B0172 Moss Road, Millisle (RRI) 523
C0260 Newcastle Road, Portaferry (RRI) 330
C0273 Thorneyhill Road, Killinchy (RRI) 3947
U0307 Ballygalget Road, Portaferry 2860
U0125 Cunningburn Road, Newtownards 9890
U0140 Manse Road, Rubane 11315
U0140 McKenna Road, Rubane 563
U0135 Dam Road, Donaghadee 8410
U0135 Bailie Road, Donaghadee 7224
U9209 Hunters Lane, Donaghadee 360
U9209 Town Hall Lane, Donaghadee 420
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017 2.3 Completed Rural Roads Initiative 2016 – 2017
Over recent years funding pressures have required the Department to significantly reduce its road maintenance activities. Resources, by necessity, were concentrated on more heavily trafficked urban and rural roads. That meant that more roads did not receive the same level of maintenance that they would have been given in previous years. In June last year the Depart- ment announced a Rural Road Initiative to invest £10m in the rural road network. The objective of the initiative was to target short sections of the lower trafficked rural road network in greatest need of repair - sections that would otherwise not have attracted maintenance funding.
Section Engineers developed a programme of highest priority locations and deployed contractors to carry out the work. The list below details the locations in Ards and North Down Borough Coun- cil area which benefitted from this initiative:
NEWTOWNARDS – Tullynagardy Road, Loughries Road, Mountain Road.
PORTAFERRY – Ballygarvigan Road, Barhall Road, Ballyrusley Road, Lough Cowey Road, Mountain Road, Marlfield Road, Loughshore Road, Dunevely Road, Quinton Bay Road, Millan Bay Road.
CLOUGHEY – Ballygelagh Road, Tullycross Road, Blackstaff Road, Drumarden Road.
BALLYHALBERT – Back Road
BALLYWALTER – Ganaway Road, Greystones Road, Bairdstown Road, Killyvolgan Road.
MILLISLE – Windmill Road, Drumfad Road.
GREYABBEY – Ballydoonan Road, Spring Lane.
KIRCUBBIN – Upper Ballygelagh Road.
BALLYGOWAN – Springmount Road.
COMBER – Ballyglighorn Road, Ballynichol Road.
KILLINCHY – Upper Ballymorran Road, Mill Road, Thorneyhill Road.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017 2.4 Completed Surface Dressing 2016/2017
Surface Dressing is a surface treatment used to seal roads to prevent the ingress of water and restore the surface texture of the carriageway.
Across the area approximately 62,000 sq metres of surface dressing was laid during the 2016-17 financial year. Roads treated were:-
Route No Road Name / Location Area(m2) U0243 Killynether Road, Comber 10210
U0243 Scrabo Road, Comber (part) 1260
U0245 Ballyalton Road, Comber 5600
U0247 Unicarval Road, Comber 4760
U0245 Ballyhenry Road, Comber 9086
U0277 Darragh Road, Comber (part) 2100
U0231 Coach Road, Comber 6354
U0217 Ballyreagh Road, Newtownards 5556
U0144 Ballyhemlin Road, Kircubbin 8764
U0119 Cardy Road, Greyabbey 8568
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
2.5 Completed Footway Reconstruction 2016/2017
Route No Road Name / Location U8001 Morston Park, Bangor
U8001 Morston Avenue, Bangor
U8001 Rosemary Drive, Bangor
U9300 Lawson Park, Portavogie
U9300 Lawson Avenue, Portavogie
U9300 Lawson Gardens, Portavogie
U9300 Springfield Gardens, Portavogie
A0022 Belfast Road, Comber
U0231 Coach Road, Comber
U0140 Manse Road, Rubane
U9750 Bailie Park / Bailie Terrace / Bailie Gardens, Donaghadee
U8111 Craigantlet Cottages, Ballymiscaw Road
B0020 Ballyrobert Road, Crawfordsburn
U0817/8 Ward Avenue, Bangor
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
2.6 Completed Drainage Maintenance 2016/2017 Drainage maintenance works have been carried out on various roads throughout the year. The drainage system has been improved by roadside piping, gully installation and culvert replacement and has continued throughout the year as deemed necessary and as funding permitted.
Route No Road Name / Location Route No Road Name / Location
U8108 My Lady’s Mile, Holywood U8031 Brandon Grove, Bangor
U8015 Princetown Road, Bangor U8002 Oakwood Avenue, Bangor
U8001 Hazelbrook Avenue, Bangor U0102 Ballymenoch Road, Holywood
A0022 Killinchy Road, Comber U0321 Ardview Road, Killinchy
U0207 Tullynagee Road, Comber C0367 Moss Road, Ballygowan
U9108 Lower Crescent, Comber A0020 Rowreagh Road, Kircubbin
U0310 Blackstaff Road, Kircubbin C0252 Ballyblack Road, Newtownards
C0254 Grangee Road, Carrowdore B0021 High Bangor Road, Donaghadee
U9201 Sunnydale Avenue, Donaghadee U9850 Harbour Road, Ballyhalbert
U0307 Ballygalget Road, Portaferry C0252 Upper Gransha Road, Newtow- nards U0240 Greengraves Road, Newtownards A0020 Cloughey Road, portaferry
U0125 Cunningburn Road, Newtownards A0022 Belfast Road, Comber
U0321 Main Street, Killinchy C0255 Abbey Road, Millisle
U0140 Manse Road, Rubane U0135 Dam Road, Donaghadee
A0021 Bridge Street, Comber C0272 Carrickmannon Road, Bally- gowan U9209 Hunters Lane, Donaghadee U9209 Town Hall Lane, Donaghadee
2.7 Routine Maintenance Works 2015/2016 GENERAL
Normal maintenance activities such as patching, grass cutting, weed spraying, gully emptying and winter maintenance have been carried out as appropriate during the year.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017 2.8 Proposed Asphalt and Bitumen Macadam (Bitmac) Resurfacing 2017/2018
It is proposed to strengthen the road foundation where necessary and improve the surface with asphalt on selected lengths of the roads listed below:- ASPHALT Route No Road Name / Location Area(m2)
C0260 Shore Road, Portaferry 4240
U0302 Shore Road, Portaferry 1920
A0023 Belfast Road, Ballygowan 5040
A0023 Moneyrea Road, Ballygowan 480
U0134 Balloo Road, Bangor 5600
C0368 Rathgael Road, Bangor 8200
U8004 Manse Road, Bangor 975
U8016 Primrose Street, Bangor 625
U8016 Primrose Avenue, Bangor 500
U8034 Lisnabreen Crescent/Lisadell Place, Bangor 445
U8034 Skipperstone Road/Clanmorris Avenue, Bangor 950
U8037 Beaumount Court, Bangor 430
U8100 Richdale Drive, Holywood 300
U8107 Edinburgh Avenue, Holywood 465
U8002 Oakwood Avenue, Bangor 1000
U8001 Hazelbrook Avenue, Bangor 750
U8016 Central Avenue, Bangor 1300
U8016 Southwell Road, Bangor 185
U8106 Park Avenue, Holywood 380
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017 Proposed Asphalt and Bitumen Macadam (Bitmac) Resurfacing 2017/2018 (cont)
BITUMEN MACADAM Route No Road Name / Location Area(m2) U8004 Railwayview Street, Bangor 1000
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
2.9 Surface Dressing Proposed 2017/2018 Roads which were regulated and resurfaced over the past few years required sealing. Surface Dressing of the following roads is planned for completion during the summer months of 2017:- Route No Road Name / Location Area(m2) C0266 Ballyrainey Road, Newtownards 15864
U0244 Ringcreevy Road, Comber 3895
U0244 Islandhill Road, Comber 3150
U2246 Longlands Road, Comber 3240
U0013 Tubber Road, Kircubbin 7456
U0144 Roddans Road, Ballywalter 3801
U0145 Balligan Road, Ballywalter 4914
U0310 Quarter Road, Cloughey 8378
U0310 Links Road, Cloughey 2184
U0307 Ballygalget Road, Portaferry 9910
U0309 Tullymally Road, Portaferry 8120
U0307 Craigaroddan Road, Portaferry 2625
C0260 Newcastle Road, Portaferry 14688
U0005 Kearney Road, Portaferry 2310
U0303 Kearney Road, Portaferry 3597
C0260 Ardminnan Road – Manse Road 13715
U0309 Ardminnan Road, Cloughey (Omit Asphalt Section) 6053
U0308 Drumarden Road, Cloughey 9700
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
2.10 Proposed Footway Reconstruction 2017/2018
Route No Road Name / Location U8023 Brooklyn Park, Bangor
U8004 Railwayview Street, Bangor
U8016 Primrose Street, Bangor
U8016 Primrose Avenue, Bangor
U8100 Richdale Drive, Holywood
U8107 Edinburgh Avenue, Holywood
C0260 Shore Road, Portaferry
U8014 Killaire Avenue, Bangor
U8014 Lowry Hill, Bangor
U8023 Brooklyn Park, Bangor
U8002 Oakwood Avenue, Bangor
U8001 Hazelbrook Avenue, Bangor
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
2.11 Proposed Drainage Maintenance 2017/2018
Route No Road Name / Location U8028 Deanfield, Bangor
U8017 Victoria Road, Holywood
C0303 Demesne Road, Holywood
A0023 Belfast Road, Ballygowan
U0247 Unicarval Road, Comber
U9010 Hickory Avenue, Newtownards
U9018 Lenamore park, Newtownards
U9010 Mountain Park, Newtownards
U9010 Whiteways, Newtownards
U9000 Sunderland Park, Newtownards
U0210 The Burn Road, Ballygowan
C0267 Ballydrain Road, Comber
U9105 Dalton Park, Comber
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
2.12 Network Maintenance - Winter Service 2016/2017
The aim of winter service is to help, as far as possible, main road traffic to move safely and freely in wintry conditions by spreading salt at the most effective times. It is vital that we cover as much traffic as possible for the available budget and criteria have been devised to identify the roads that would provide the best cost benefits.
Within Southern Division, a fleet of 40 gritting vehicles and over 140 personnel were available to salt approximately 2200 km of main roads. We aim to complete a salting action in just over 3 hours, which is an immense logistical exercise. There were 71 salting actions this year, at a cost of just under £25,000 per action; the first action being late November 2016 and the last in late April 2017. Approximately 10,500 tonnes of salt was used. These figures do not include work carried out on the M1 and the A1 which are maintained by DBFO companies.
Because of the high costs involved, it is essential that our engineers take informed decisions and they are assisted in this task by Met Office staff and the very latest technology. There are currently 21 DfI Roads maintained weather stations across Northern Ireland with an additional 4 stations maintained by the DBFO companies, and with further data provided from 10 sites in Southern Ireland.
Information on our salting activities continues to be relayed electronically to the broadcast media to ensure that the latest news on road conditions is available to motorists across Northern Ireland. Additional information, including our winter service leaflet, can be found on our website along with advice on driving in poor weather conditions.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017 SECTION 3
NETWORK DEVELOPMENT
Network Development Manager: James Kelly
The Network Development Section deals with all matters pertaining to;
Minor Works and Micro Schemes Traffic Management Collision Remedial Traffic Calming Pedestrian Measures Safer Routes to School Bus Priority Measures Cycling Measures Road and Lane Closures Legislation
James is supported by:-
Heather Bradley Senior Network Development Engineer Rathkeltair House Market Street DOWNPATRICK BT30 6AJ
Tel: 0300 200 7892 Email: [email protected]
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
LOCAL TRANSPORT AND SAFETY MEASURES
The Regional Transportation Strategy (RTS) identified the importance of Local Transport and Safety Measures (LTSM) and highlighted some of the principal initiatives to be addressed, including: local improvements in towns across Northern Ireland to assist pedestrians and cyclists; local highway infrastructure measures to improve safety, such as collision remedial schemes and traffic calming schemes; and Network Development schemes (minor works).
LTSM expenditure tends to be widely spread and most communities benefit, as an individual scheme is relatively low cost in comparison to the cost of projects on the Strategic Works programme. They are usually very visible measures and provide good value for money in terms of a safer road transport system, which benefits society, the economy, the environment; and actively contributes to everyone’s quality of life.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017 3.1 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES COMPLETED 2016/17
COLLISION REMEDIAL
DfI Roads is concerned about all road traffic collisions and gives a high priority to collision pre- vention. Collisions can be caused by a wide range of contributory factors, not all of which can be influenced or controlled by the introduction of engineering measures.
The Department receives details of all road traffic collisions resulting in personal injury from the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The programme for Collision Remedial measures is compiled following a review of this collision data.
A21 NEWTOWNARDS ROAD, COMBER on approach to Roundabout
A review of collision data provided by PSNI has identified rear end shunts as a common factor on collisions at this location. The provision of high friction surfacing is the preferred treatment for such incidents to raise driver awareness and improve safety on the approach to the roundabout. High friction surfacing was provided on the approach to the roundabout in 2016
Before the scheme High Friction Surfacing provided
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
3.1 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES COMPLETED 2016/17
PEDESTRIAN MEASURES A new PUFFIN crossing was provided at the following location
Belfast Road, Holywood at Sullivan Upper School
The existing pedestrian crossings at the following locations were upgraded to new PUFFIN crossings; Belfast Road, Ballygowan Newtownards Road, Comber at Health Centre
Francis Street at Mary Street, Ards - in conjunction with Public Realm works
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017 3.1 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES COMPLETED 2016/17
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
BALLYCROCHAN ROAD, BANGOR — PEDESTRIAN REFUGE ISLAND
A pedestrian refuge island was provided on Ballycrochan Road near the Deansfield junction in Spring 2017. This island will assist pedestrians to cross the road and also aid traffic calming. A second island close to Knightsbridge was not provided due to objections.
A2 at BALLOO ROAD and A2 at BALLOO AVENUE , BANGOR— SIGNAL UPGRADES
Traffic Signals were upgraded to include a MOVA traffic system to optimise traffic movements at these two junctions. MOVA is a microprocessor optimised vehicle actuation developed to over- come some of the problems associated with traditional vehicle actuated traffic signal control.
When the network is congested MOVA operates in capacity maximising mode. This assesses which approaches are overloaded and how efficiently the green time is being used and seeks to determine a set of signal timings which will maximise the throughput of the junction under the cur- rent conditions.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017 3.1 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES COMPLETED 2016/17
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
HAMILTON ROAD / PARK DRIVE, BANGOR—SIGNAL UPGRADE Traffic Signals were upgraded to include PUFFIN crossings at this busy junction.
THE SQUARE, COMBER - SIGNAL UPGRADE
Traffic Signals at The Square Comber have been reconfigured. The new sequence has been in- troduced in order to address road safety concerns at the High St / Killinchy St junction following a significant number of collisions involving personal injury in recent years. The removal of potential turning vehicle conflicts is expected to reduce the number of collisions involving personal injury at this junction. While much safer, the new sequence has unavoidably led to increased journey times particularly during peak periods.
Work is ongoing to reduce journey times with a proposal to introduce of loading restrictions on Bridge Street, where cars parked on the double yellow lines are impeding through traffic. These measures are currently being processed through legislation.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017 3.1 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES COMPLETED 2016/17
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
CLOUGHEY - CHANGES TO SPEED LIMIT AND CENTRAL ISLAND
The existing 30mph speed limit through Cloughey has been extended to include Kirkistown Pri- mary School. New speed limit signs have been erected and a series of central traffic islands and gateway features have been provided to reinforce the reduced speed limit through the village.
The existing speed limit between Cloughey and Portavogie has been increased from 30mph to 40mph, a more realistic speed limit for the nature of the road.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017 3.1 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES COMPLETED 2016/17
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT - TRAFFIC ORDERS
Following a speed limit review of the following areas, in line with current policy, and confirmation by the PSNI that they are content with the proposals, speed limits have been provided at the fol- lowing settlements and locations.
A2 Groomsport By Pass – 50mph speed limit Cloughey Hamlet - 30mph extension and provision of central Island with enhanced en- trance features Cloughey to Portavogie – 40mph speed limit Loughreys – amendment to existing 30mph speed limit on all approaches to village.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
3.1 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES COMPLETED 2016/17
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT - ROAD MARKINGS
Killaughey Road, Donaghadee at Ballyvester Primary School – yellow zig – zag, 15m corner restriction markings. Masonic Avenue, Millisle – white box marking. Court Street, Newtownards at house 31 – T Bar road marking. Crawfordsburn Road, Newtownards – centre line and 3no SLOW markings. Gransha Road, Bangor - 30mph roundels and red surfacing at 30mph signs Rathgael Road, Bangor - 30mph roundels and red surfacing at 30mph signs Church Road, Holywood - 30mph roundels and red surfacing at 30mph signs Moss Road, Ballygowan— 1no 1.6m SLOW marking near Quarry entrance. Ballyblack / Bowtown Road, Loughries— 4no 1.6m SLOW marking Hunters Lane, Donaghadee — T Bar road marking at house 26. Strand Avenue, Millisle, - T Bar road marking at house 10. Glen Road,Comber— 3no 1.6m SLOW markings Ballydrain Road,Lisbane — 3no 1.6m SLOW markings Movilla Road,Newtownards—5no 1.6m SLOW road markings Hillsborough Road,Comber— 2no 1.6m SLOW road markings. Church Street,Newtownards - T Bar marking at entrance to Credit Union. The Parade,Donaghadee - T Bar marking at Playpark entrance. A2 Belfast Rd, Holywood (near Ballygilbert Church @ house 380) - white box entrance marking. Ballycrochan Road, Bangor (near house no. 230) - 1 N0. ‘SLOW’ marking
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
3.1 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES COMPLETED 2016/17
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT - TRAFFIC SIGNS
Movilla Road, Newtownards – 2no junction warning signs, yellow backing. Windmill Road, Donaghadee at Killaughey Road junction – stop sign. Glen Road, Comber – replacement of 30mph gateway signage. Saintfield Road, Balloo – 2no chevron signs. Glastry Road, Ballyhalbert – 2no bend warning signs plus 2no chevron signs. Birr House Equestrian Centre, Craigantlet - tourist signage (4no.) Gransha Road, Bangor – single chevrons on high visibility borders (2no.) Helens Bay - pedestrian warning signs and ‘No Footway’ plates Main Road,Ballyhalbert—installed 2no school signs on yellow backing. Killinchy Street Comber - 1no school sign on yellow backing A20 Portaferry Road - junction left warning sign at Finlays Road junction B178 Hillsborough Road Comber - 2no double bend warning signs on yellow backing plus 4no chevron signs on yellow backing. Robert Street, Newtownards - Elderly people sign A21 Newtownards to Comber Dual Carriageway - 2no crossroads warning sign on grey backing The Brae,Ballygowan - 2no school warning signs on yellow backing Glen Road,Comber - upgrade to directional signage at Ballystockard Road junction. A2 Cloughey Road,Portavogie – 2no Horse warning signs. A2 at Ballyhalbert,adjacent to Back Road – 2no Horse warning signs. Tullynakill Road, Lisbane – 2no Horse warning signs. Whinney Hill, Craigantlet - Horse warning signs – (2no.) Drumhirk Road,Comber – 2no Horse warning signs. Movilla Road,Newtownards—2no School Patrol signs at Abbey Primary School.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
3.1 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES COMPLETED 2016/17
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT - TRAFFIC SIGNS (CONT.)
A2 Main Street,Millisle - replacement of 4no missing / damaged waiting restriction signs Quarter Hamlet, Cloughey - upgrade of 6no existing 30mph signs. Belfast Road, Newtownards - replacement of 4no missing 40mph repeater signs. Gransha Road,Bangor - new 30mph / derestricted signage on yellow backing. Gransha Road at Six Road Ends - 2no bend warning signs plus 1no chevron sign. Movilla Road,Newtownards - 2no patrol signs on yellow backing. Station Road, Carnalea, Bangor- T bar marking at house Nos. 66 and 68 All necessary time plates to enable town parking enforcement following the recently completed Bangor Public Realm Scheme
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
3.1 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES COMPLETED 2016/17
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT - ACCESSIBLE PARKING BAYS
ACCESSIBLE PARKING BAYS PROVIDED
23 Cherryvalley Crescent, Comber 1 Ruby Street, Bangor 73 - 77 High Street, Holywood 23 Kilbeg Walk Newtownards
Please Note: - Proposals are subject to public, local authority and PSNI consultations and with- out objection, enables the respective legislation to be invoked, revoked or amended.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
3.1 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES COMPLETED 2016/17
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT - SAFER ROUTES TO SCHOOLS
Flashing school signs as part of the Department’s Safer Routes To School programme were provided at the following location. Model Primary School, Scrabo Road, Newtownards – Provision of flashing school signs on approach to school.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
3.2 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES PROPOSED 2017/18
MINOR WORKS
A20, DEER PARK ROAD / LOUGHDOO ROAD, ARDKEEN – Junction Improvement
This scheme aims to improve safety and traffic progression by providing improved visibility at the Deer Park Road / Loughdoo Road junction. The delivery of the scheme is subject to the availability of finance and successful land acquisition.
Photographs showing existing junction If additional funds become available the following scheme will be progressed subject to agree- ment with landowners.
A48, NEWTOWNARDS ROAD at Cotton, DONAGHADEE – Infill Footway
This scheme aims to improve accessibility and safety for pedestrians by constructing 2 sections of infill footway along the A48 Cotton Road between Bailie Terrace and Avonmore Court. The work will also improve visibility for drivers exiting Bailie Terrace onto the A48.
Photographs showing existing layout between Bailie Terrace and Avonmore Court
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
3.2 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES PROPOSED 2017/18
COLLISION REMEDIAL
A review of collision data provided by PSNI has identified rear end shunts as a common factor on collisions at these locations. The provision of high friction surfacing is the preferred treat- ment for such incidents to raise driver awareness and improve safety on the approach to the roundabout.
A20 PORTAFERRY ROAD / FINLAYS ROAD, ARDS High friction surfacing to be provided on A20 Portaferry Road on northbound lane on approach to Finlays Road.
A21 COMBER ROAD / CAMBOURNE ROAD, ARDS High fiction surfacing to be provided on A21 Comber Road towards Newtownards on approach to junction with Cambourne Road.
CARRICKMANNON ROAD / STATION ROAD / KILCARN ROAD, ARDS High friction surfacing to be provided on Station Road and Kilcarn Road on approach to junction with Carrickmannon Road.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
3.2 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES PROPOSED 2017/18
TRAFFIC CALMING
PARK DRIVE, BANGOR – Provision of Road Humps
A series of road humps has been identified for provision along Park Drive, in the interests of road safety. Traffic Calming measures are provided to improve driver behaviour and control traffic speeds. They are normally only considered for residential areas where the main objective is to reduce average vehicle speeds to approximately 20mph.
Consultation on Traffic Calming Proposals
Traffic Calming proposals, which include the introduction of vertical measures, such as road humps, are subject to successful completion of the necessary legislative process. As part of this process, a notice of intention is published in local papers, which offers the opportunity for the general public to submit their views on the proposals. Objections, when received, must be fully considered and addressed before any scheme can be taken forward for implementation
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
3.2 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES PROPOSED 2017/18
PEDESTRIAN MEASURES
On completion of the works associated with the Habintag Housing site on Bridge Street Link a new Puffin Crossing will be provided at the following location:-
CASTLE STREET, COMBER at Post Office Dropped kerbs and tactile paving have already been provided as part of the recent Public Realm works
Due to a reduced LTSM budget the number of schemes identified for delivery in 2017/18 has been reduced. However, should additional funds become available the following scheme will be progressed.
A2 MILLISLE ROAD @ EGDEWATER, DONAGHADEE – Footway Extension
Provision of a section of footway and repositioning of the existing bus stop for Donaghadee bound passengers to prevent the need to walk along a short section of the A2
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
3.2 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES PROPOSED 2017/18
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT - TRAFFIC ORDERS
Following a speed limit review of the following areas, in line with current policy, and confirma- tion by the PSNI that they are content with the proposals, a speed limit has been processed through legislation at the following location.
A21 Bangor Road, Newtownards – extension to existing 40mph speed limit—To be provided in conjunction with the proposed housing development.
LEGISLATION
Please Note: - Legislative issues are subject to successful completion of the necessary proc- esses. A notice of intention of proposals is published in local papers, which offers the opportu- nity for the general public to submit their views on the proposals. Objections, when received, must be fully considered and addressed before any scheme can be taken forward for imple- mentation.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
3.2 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES PROPOSED 2017/18
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT - ROAD MARKINGS John Street,Newtownards - edge of carriageway markings Mark Street,Newtownards - T Bar marking at entrance to house No. 28a. High Street,Ballyhalbert - T Bar marking at house no 60. Belfast Road,Newtownards - 3no SLOW road markings. Bridge Street Link,Comber - 5no On Street Parking Bay markings in existing bay. Ballyvester Road,Donaghadee - 2no SLOW markings. Pound Street, Newtownards at house 41 – T Bar road marking. Glastry Road, Kircubbin— 150m of centreline, 2no1.6m SLOW road markings and one give way marking. Movilla Road,Newtownards—2no Patrol road markings and red surfacing at Abbey Pri- mary School.
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT - TRAFFIC SIGNS
Belfast Road,Newtownards - double bend warning sign on yellow backing. Ballygowan Road at Tullyhubbert crossroads – 2no staggered junction warning signs, yellow backing. Woburn Road, Millisle – 2no Horse warning signs. Ballyblack Road East / Movilla Road junction— 900 giveway sign on yellow backing
We hope to continue our programme of replacing internally illuminated bollards with reflective bollards, thus helping to reduce energy costs
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
3.2 NETWORK DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES PROPOSED 2017/18
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT - ACCESSIBLE PARKING BAYS
ACCESSIBLE PARKING BAYS PROPOSED
27 Bow Street, Donaghadee 24 Elm Drive, Newtownards 17 John Street Lane, Newtownards 102 Downshire Road, Holywood 31 Blenheim Drive, Newtownards 15 Bruce Avenue, Comber 84 High Street, Portaferry
ACCESSIBLE PARKING BAYS TO BE REMOVED
6 Victoria Drive, Bangor 55 Movilla Street, Newtownards 12 Anne Street, Portaferry 10 Donaghadee Road, Newtownards
Accessible Parking bay applications will be assessed before the completion of the necessary legislative process. Successful applications are required to be notified in local newspapers offering the opportunity for the general public to submit their views.
Any objections must be fully considered before the application can progress to the legislative stage
Because of the processes involved, approved applications are required to be grouped and processed in batches on two or maybe three occasions during the year.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
SECTION 4 NETWORK PLANNING & STREETLIGHTING
Network Planning Manager: Reynold Nicholson Reynold is supported in Ards and North Down by the following staff :-
Rowan Laughlin
Senior Engineer Development Control Rathkeltair House Downpatrick
Telephone: 0300 200 7892 Email: [email protected]
Thomas Kelly Senior Engineer Private Streets Marlborough House Craigavon
Telephone: 0300 200 7892 Email: [email protected]
Jack Robinson Senior Engineer Street Lighting Depot Carn Industrial Estate Portadown
Telephone: 0300 200 7892 Email: [email protected]
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017 4.1 Development Control
Planning Applications
In carrying out their planning functions Councils have a duty to consult a range of statutory bodies. DfI Roads on behalf of the Department for Infrastructure has entered into an agreement with each Council to provide views and advice on roads and transportation re-
lated issues.
DfI Roads in its consideration of planning applications, takes into account aspects of de- velopment which could prejudice traffic progression and safety in terms of junction capac- ity, access arrangements, parking standards and provision, road width, radii, gradients, drainage and sight lines. A detailed Transport Assessment may be required for larger de- velopments where potential traffic impact may extend to road junctions some distance from the development site and where infrastructure improvements are deemed necessary as mitigation.
In the case of housing developments, the Private Streets (NI) Order 1980 is applied if a planning application includes streets which are to become public and maintainable by the Department. Development Control/Private Streets Section determines the area to be adopted, arranges for the calculation of the bond amount, supervises construction of the streets and, following satisfactory completion by the developer, completes the process for adoption into the public road network. Should the developer not complete the streets, DfI Roads can take appropriate enforcement action under the Private Streets Order to ensure satisfactory completion of works funded by the bond.
Other associated Development Control work includes participating in pre-application, plan- ning meetings, presentation of evidence at Planning Appeals and the approval of accesses onto the public road under Article 80 of the Roads (NI) Order 1993. The Section also deals with responses to property certificate enquiries.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
During the reporting period from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017 within the Ards and North Down Borough Council Area, the Development Control Team dealt with:
Planning Applications 697 Pre-Planning Enquiries 28 Planning Applications involving Private Streets Order 25 Planning Appeals 1
Examples of major applications being dealt with include:
Housing development on zoned land on Movilla Road, Newtownards Housing development on zoned lands between Bangor Road and Donaghadee Road, Newtownards Housing development on zoned lands between Cannyreagh Road and Newtownards Road, Donaghadee Housing development on zoned land at Rathgael Road, Bangor Social Housing developments in Holywood Social Housing Faulkner Road Bangor Housing developments North Road Newtownards Housing development Ardnavally Comber Housing development Whiterock Housing development Newtownards Road Comber Riverhill housing Bangor Road Newtownards
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
Article 80
Article 80 applies to new vehicular accesses on to unclassified roads or agricultural accesses on to classified and unclassified roads. It covers proposals such as new driveway entrances and dropped kerbs and is used where planning permission is not required.
During the reporting period DfI Roads dealt with 55 Article 80 applications.
Adoptions
During the reporting period DfI Roads has adopted a total of 2,292m of carriageway and 356m of footway into the publicly maintained network. These stretches fall within the following developments and excludes adoptions associated with enforcements.
Sanctuary Cove, Kircubbin East Street, Newtownards Tern Park, Portaferry Road, Newtownards The Straits, Lisbane Riverhill, Newtownards Portview Heights, Portavogie Cotswold Gardens, Bangor Green Road, Conlig Beechvale Avenue, Bangor Rathmore Road, Bangor West Link, Abbey Ring, Holywood Clifton Manor, Bangor
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017 4.2 Private Streets
Enforcement
Private Streets Section endeavours to work with developers to ensure that streets are brought up to an adoptable standard without delay. If the developer does not complete the street works or ceases trading and house building and occupancy is sufficiently advanced, then DfI Roads will take enforcement action and appoint its own contractor, recovering the costs of works from the road bond under Article 13 and 15 of the Private Streets (NI) Order 1980. The Section also takes action against developers who fail in their responsibility to take out a bond.
During the reporting period DfI Roads completed and adopted street works within the following developments through such enforcement under the provisions of the Private Streets (NI) Order 1980:
Lakeview, Newtownards Ardnavalley Park, Newtownards Orchard Drive, Killinchy Cranfield Grange, Kircubbin Castlemeadows Cloughey Drumfad Bay, Millisle
It is anticipated that in the next 12 months enforcement action will be initiated in respect of:
Orchard Drive Whiterocks The Stables Carrowdore Warren Villas, Donaghadee Ballybarnes Meadow, Newtownards Lakeview Manor, Newtownards
Property Certificates
Private Streets Section coordinates the DfI Roads response to Property Certificate Enquiries. A total of 8984 Property Certificate Enquiries were processed during the reporting period in Southern Division
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
4.3 Strangford Ferry
General Level of Service In general the ferry service has operated smoothly during the year 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017. Of a total of 22,176 scheduled sailings, 95 were cancelled because of weather and tide conditions. A further 34 sailings were cancelled due to mechanical breakdowns. This represents an overall reliability of 99.42%.
New Ferry Project The new ferry, MV Strangford II went into service on 2 February 2017. The MV Portaferry II was then taken out of service for its annual refit and returned for the Easter weekend. It is intended to rotate the two ferries in service on a fortnightly basis.
General Information The disposal of the MV Strangford and MV Rachlyn (passenger only vessel) is being managed by the MoD Disposal Services Authority (DSA) who are in communication with bidders for both vessels. It is anticipated that the increased volume of ferry traffic experienced following the reopening of Exploris in 2016 will continue through Spring and Summer 2017. Investigations into extending working hours to enable the provision of an additional early morning sailing from Portaferry are ongoing.
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Ards and North Down Borough Council 4.4 Street Lighting DfI Roads Report - August 2017
The total number of lights in Southern Division is approximately 82,000 of which approximately 26,000 (26%) are within the Ards and North Down Borough Council area.
Street Lighting Maintenance
Since April 2015, DfI Roads only repairs those defective street lights reported by the public or their representatives. In order to facilitate this process, reports of defective lights can now be made directly on line via the NIDirect website at the web address: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/report-street-light-fault Reports made via this web page automatically generate a works order to the appropriate contractor to have the defect repaired. Reports can also be made by telephone at 0300 200 7899. Priority is given to emergency defects i.e. those defects posing a direct structural or electrical hazard, then to groups of lights out, groups of lights burning continuously and finally to individual lights out.
Minor Works/Upgrading Schemes
Work has been completed or is nearing completion on the following schemes
Location Town/Townland No of Lights Beverley Heights Newtownards 30 Albany area Bangor 32
Albany Road Bangor 19
Deanfield Bangor 20 Jubilee Road Newtownards 32 Ballycrochan Road Bangor 42
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Ards and North Down Borough Council DfI Roads Report - August 2017
Street Lighting Maintenance
Budget constraints have meant that the Department has faced periods of significant street light- ing resource pressures over the last two years. While budget pressures still exist this year, our initial allocation for street lighting maintenance allows us to continue using our external contrac- tors to carry out street lighting repairs at this time. However, the continuation of this service for the full year will depend on the outcome of monitoring rounds
Since April 2015, TransportNI only repairs those defective street lights reported by citizens or their representatives. In order to facilitate this process, reports of defective lights can now be made directly on line via the NIDirect website at the web address:
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/report-street-light-fault. Reports made via this web page automatically generate a works order to the appropriate contractor to have the defect repaired.
Reports can also be made by telephone at 0300 200 7899 .
Priority is given to emergency defects ie those defects posing a direct structural or electrical haz- ard, then to groups of lights out, groups of lights burning continuously and finally to individual lights out.
Proposed Upgrading Schemes 2017/18
Location Town/Townland Type of Scheme
Shore Road Portaferry Relighting
Robinson Road Bangor Relighting
A2 from Ballyrobert Road— Bangor Relighting Springhill Intersection
Springhill Intersection Bangor Relighting
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Unclassified
ITEM 5
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Report Classification Unclassified
Council/Committee Corporate Services
Date of Meeting 12 September 2017
Responsible Director Interim Director of Finance and Performance
Responsible Head of Head of Finance Service
Date of Report 05 September 2017
File Reference FIN45
Legislation Section 5 Local Government Finance Act (NI) 2011
Section 75 Compliant Yes ☐ No ☐ Not Applicable ☒
Subject Budgetary Control Report – July 2017
Attachments -
This Budgetary Control Report covers the 4-month period 1 April to 31 July 2017 and the Revenue Budgetary Control Report by Directorate is set out on page 7. The Net Cost of Services is showing an under spend of £342,728 (5.7%) (box C). In addition, £198,557 (box D) of adverse variances on Capital Financing and District Rates results in the Council having a full surplus at the end of July of £985,546 (box A) compared with a budgeted surplus for the same period of £841,375 (box B) resulting in a favourable variance on expected surplus of £144,171 (box E).
Explanation of Variance
A Budgetary Control Report by Income and Expenditure by Directorate is shown on page 8 which analyses the overall favourable variance (£144,171 – box E on page 7) by expenditure (£375,291 favourable – box F) and income (£231,119 adverse – box G).
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Unclassified Community & Wellbeing
Expenditure - £238.1k (6.0%) better than budget to date. This favourable variance is mainly made up of the following: - 1. Community & Wellbeing HQ - £8.8k adverse. Consultancy costs £9.8k adverse (V4 consultancy in connection with the potential outsourcing of the remainder of Leisure Services. This was not budgeted for). 2. Environmental Health - £5.7k adverse. a. Payroll £6.5k adverse mainly due to final payments made to an employee who retired at the end of April. 3. Community & Culture - £75.0k favourable. a. Payroll £43.0k favourable mainly due to underspends in Community Development (£14.4k), Good Relations (£13.6k) and Peace IV (£9.4k). Vacant posts in these services are to be filled as the year progresses. b. Community Partnership is £10k under budget but this is offset by a similar adverse variance on income – see 6a below. c. Community Activity and Summer programmes are £13.2k under budget to date. 4. Leisure & Amenities - £177.7k favourable. a. Payroll £91.8k favourable which is mainly due to underspends in Parks and Cemeteries (£79.7k), Leisure Administration (£9.2k) and Countryside Management (£5.5k). Vacant posts in these services are in the process of being filled. b. Everybody Active programme is £14.9k under budget to date but this offset by a similar adverse variance on income – see 7c below. A series of small variances account for underspends as follows:- c. Ards LC (£17.6k), Comber LC (£1.7k) and Portaferry SC (£2.5k) running costs are £21.8k under budget to date. d. Community Halls/Centres running costs are £13.0k under budget to date. e. Parks and Cemeteries running costs are £11.8k favourable to date.
Income - £58.8k (4.8%) worse than budget to date. This adverse variance is mainly made up of the following: - 5. Environmental Health - £8.7k adverse. a. Affordable Warmth grant is £20.0k less than budgeted. Associated expenditure is being reduced in line with the grant reduction. There are indications that the grant allocation may increase later this year. b. Home Safety grant is £4.0k better than budget to date. c. Food Safety grant is £6.7k better than budget to date.
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Unclassified 6. Community and Culture - £9.7k adverse. a. Community Partnership is £10k adverse but this is offset by a similar favourable variance on expenditure – see 3b above. 7. Leisure & Amenities - £40.5k adverse. a. Ards LC £29.1k adverse (momentum fitness £22.4k); Comber LC £28.1k adverse (momentum fitness £11.7k, sports hall £3.5k, tennis and outdoor pitch £8.2k), Portaferry Sports Centre £4.3k favourable and Londonderry Park £4.0k favourable. Plans are being formulated to try to boost fitness income at Ards and Comber. b. Community Halls income is £6.2k favourable to date. c. Everybody Active programme grant income is £10.4k adverse to date but this offset by a similar favourable variance on expenditure – see 4b above. d. Cemeteries income is £11.9k better than budget to date. Environment
Expenditure - £196.4k (2.7%) worse than budget to date. This adverse variance is mainly made up of the following: - 8. Waste and Cleansing Services - £198.5k adverse. a. A combined summary of the main waste stream variances is set out in the table below.
£’000 Commentary Landfill 259.2 2.7k tonnes more than budget Brown/Green bin 94.8 1.7k tonnes less than budget waste Blue bin waste 52.5 1.5k tonnes less than budget
HRC waste 32.1 Higher tonnage than budget Total 144.0
Overall, the main waste stream budgets are showing an adverse variance of £144.0k. It is hoped the adverse landfill variance will reduce as the glass collection service is now operational and there has been increased promotion of blue bin usage over the Summer. Both initiatives should result in less waste going to landfill. b. Payroll is £63.6k favourable to date due to a number of vacant posts. These will be filled as the year progresses.
c. Waste Collection route optimisation consultancy costs are £77.1k adverse to date. £59.5k of these costs will be capitalised (this will be actioned in August) which will reduce the revenue cost to £17.6k. This
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Unclassified amount is to be financed from the Council’s Earmarked Fund as £30k was transferred into it for this project in 2016/17.
d. Equipment repairs in the Waste Recycling Centres are £14.4k adverse to date.
Income - £14.7k (1.0%) better than budget to date. This favourable variance comprises: 9. Waste & Cleansing Services - £11.8k favourable. This is mainly due to trade waste income (£16.2k) being better than budget to date. 10. Assets and Property Services - £8.0k adverse. Wind turbine income (£8.9k) is behind target to date. 11. Building Control income £10.7k better than budget to date 12. Car Park income is £12.0k adverse to date. 13. Dog Control income is £7.7k better than budget to date. Regeneration, Development & Planning
Expenditure - £164.1k (8.0%) better than budget to date. This favourable variance is mainly made up of the following: - 14. RDP HQ - £13.9k favourable as a result of a vacant post. 15. Regeneration - £42.4k favourable. This favourable variance is explained by- a. Payroll £35.2k favourable due to vacancies in Urban Development (£8.5k), Rural Development (£11.7k) and Craft Development (£11.7k). These will be filled as the year progresses. 16. Planning - £40.0k favourable. a. Payroll £42.4k favourable due to vacancies. The 2017/18 budget included an allowance for 9 new posts. These are in the process of being filled but this is taking longer than anticipated. 17. Tourism - £61.5k favourable. This favourable variance is explained by: - a. Payroll £61.4k favourable. A number of vacant posts in Events and Tourism Development are in the process of being filled. Income - £1.2k (0.2%) worse than budget to date. This adverse variance comprises: 18. Planning income - £6.7k adverse a. Planning application income is £7.1k worse than budget to date. 19. Economic Development - £5.9k favourable. a. Signal Centre income is £3.4k better than budget to date. Finance & Performance
Expenditure - £95.2k (7.4%) better than budget to date.
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Unclassified 20. Payroll costs are £63.3k lower than budget to date. NILGOSC additional capital contributions are £20.9k less than budget. Corporate Management is £18.0k better than budget (2 posts budgeted not filled yet) and Finance is £18.8k under budget to date due to a vacant post. 21. Capital Projects £29.5k better than budget to date mainly due to consultancy costs which have not been incurred yet (£27.6k). Organisational Development & Administration
Expenditure - £68.7k (4.9%) better than budget to date. This favourable variance is mainly made up of the following: -
22. HR & OD - £14.3k favourable. This is mainly due to payroll being £14.5k favourable. A vacancy within Employee Relations was filled in late May. 23. Administration & Customer Services - £54.5k favourable. Payroll £28.7k favourable due to vacancies which are to be filled as the year progresses. Bangor Town Hall (£3.8k) and Church Street (£5.8k) running costs are better than budget to date. and Insurance is £8.0k favourable to date. Income - £7.0k (6.3%) better than budget to date. This favourable variance is made up of the following: - a. Land & Property - £7.3k better than budget to date. Non Service Income and Expenditure
Expenditure - £5.8k (0.3%) worse than budget to date.
Income - £192.7k (1.2%) worse than budget to date.
24. The Council has been advised by LPS that, based on Quarter 1 information, the 2017/18 rates outturn may result in a clawback of £144,000. Although the Domestic sector is performing well (£116.9k ahead of budget) the Non- Domestic sector is £261.1 behind target. In addition, the Council has been advised that its De-Rating Grant finalisation may, also, be a clawback of £49.5k for 2017/18. Further updates will be received by Council in October.
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Unclassified
Page 6 of 9
Unclassified BUDGETARY CONTROL REPORT By Directorate and Service
Period 4 - July 2017
Note Year to Date Year to Date Variance Annual Variance Actual Budget Budget £ £ £ £ %
Community & Wellbeing
100 Community & Wellbeing HQ 56,527 47,700 8,827 200,300 18.5 110 Environmental Health 493,202 478,800 14,402 1,486,500 3.0 120 Community and Culture 539,730 605,000 (65,270) 1,759,100 10.8 130 Leisure and Amenities 1,488,052 1,625,300 (137,248) 5,035,300 8.4
Totals 2,577,511 2,756,800 (179,289) 8,481,200 6.5
Environment
200 Environment HQ 46,323 50,700 (4,377) 150,700 8.6 210 Waste and Cleansing Services 4,156,599 3,969,900 186,699 11,815,300 4.7 220 Assets and Property Services 1,686,975 1,675,000 11,975 5,470,300 0.7 230 Building Control, Licensing & Neighbour 36,665 49,200 (12,535) 25,400 25.5
Totals 5,926,562 5,744,800 181,762 17,461,700 3.2
Regen, Development & Planning
300 Regen, Dev & Planning HQ 33,623 47,500 (13,877) 213,300 29.2 310 Regeneration 215,607 255,400 (39,793) 1,023,200 15.6 320 Econ Dev & Tourism 310,100 322,300 (12,200) 1,155,600 3.8 330 Planning 151,502 184,900 (33,398) 777,700 18.1 340 Tourism 586,867 650,500 (63,633) 1,788,100 9.8
Totals 1,297,699 1,460,600 (162,901) 4,957,900 11.2
Finance & Performance
400 Finance & Performance HQ 34,566 36,400 (1,834) 109,400 5.0 410 Internal Audit 25,525 25,525 - 72,000 - 420 Finance 493,626 550,300 (56,674) 1,714,300 10.3 430 Performance & Projects 631,554 668,300 (36,746) 1,885,800 5.5
Totals 1,185,270 1,280,525 (95,255) 3,781,500 7.4
Org Development & Administration
500 OD & Admin HQ 41,631 41,600 31 124,500 0.1 510 HR & OD 236,902 251,600 (14,698) 805,600 5.8 520 Administration & Customer Svcs 947,478 1,008,500 (61,022) 3,131,000 6.1
Totals 1,226,011 1,301,700 (75,689) 4,061,100 5.8
Chief Executive
600 Chief Executive 77,594 77,600 (6) 234,000 0.0 610 Community Planning 54,898 59,700 (4,802) 181,600 8.0 620 Corporate Communications 126,452 133,000 (6,548) 409,400 4.9
Totals 258,943 270,300 (11,357) 825,000 4.2
NET COST OF SERVICES 12,471,997 12,814,725 C (342,728) 39,568,400 2.7
Non Service Income and Expenditure
910 Capital Financing 2,208,798 2,208,800 (2) 27,500 0.0 920 Bank Interest (17,368) (20,100) 2,732 (60,900) (13.6) 930 Year End Transactions 27,519 26,400 1,119 7,226,300 4.2 940 District Rates & Grants (15,676,492) (15,871,200) 194,708 (46,761,300) (1.2)
Totals (13,457,543) (13,656,100) D 198,557 (39,568,400) (1.5)
Grand Totals A (985,546) B (841,375) E (144,171) - (17.1) Page 7 of 9
Unclassified BUDGETARY CONTROL REPORT By Income and Expenditure
Period 4 - July 2017
Expenditure Income Note Actual Budget Variance Actual Budget Variance £ £ £
Community & Wellbeing
100 Community & Wellbeing HQ 56,527 47,700 8,827 - - - 110 Environmental Health 658,429 652,700 5,729 (165,227) (173,900) 8,673 120 Community and Culture 737,446 812,400 (74,954) (197,717) (207,400) 9,683 130 Leisure and Amenities 2,301,977 2,479,700 (177,723) (813,925) (854,400) 40,475
Totals 3,754,380 3,992,500 (238,120) (1,176,869) (1,235,700) 58,831
Environment
200 Environment HQ 46,323 50,700 (4,377) - - - 210 Waste and Cleansing Services 4,767,751 4,569,300 198,451 (611,153) (599,400) (11,753) 220 Assets and Property Services 1,735,730 1,731,800 3,930 (48,755) (56,800) 8,045 230 Building Control, Licensing & Neighbour 829,042 830,600 (1,558) (792,377) (781,400) (10,977) ------Totals 7,378,847 7,182,400 196,447 (1,452,285) (1,437,600) (14,685)
Regen, Development & Planning
300 Regen, Dev & Planning HQ 33,623 47,500 (13,877) - - - 310 Regeneration 271,600 314,000 (42,400) (55,993) (58,600) 2,607 320 Econ Dev 434,747 441,062 (6,315) (124,646) (118,762) (5,885) 330 Planning 509,545 549,600 (40,055) (358,042) (364,700) 6,658 340 Tourism 626,848 688,300 (61,452) (39,982) (37,800) (2,182)
Totals 1,876,363 2,040,462 (164,099) (578,664) (579,862) 1,198
Finance & Performance
400 Finance & Performance HQ 34,566 36,400 (1,834) - - - 410 Internal Audit 25,525 25,525 - - - - 420 Finance 493,626 550,300 (56,674) 0 - 0 430 Performance & Projects 631,554 668,300 (36,746) - - -
Totals 1,185,270 1,280,525 (95,255) 0 - 0
Org Development & Administration
500 OD & Admin HQ 41,631 41,600 31 - - - 510 HR & OD 237,296 251,600 (14,304) (394) - (394) 520 Administration & Customer Svcs 1,063,934 1,118,400 (54,466) (116,456) (109,900) (6,556)
Totals 1,342,861 1,411,600 (68,739) (116,850) (109,900) (6,950)
Chief Executive
600 Chief Executive 77,594 77,600 (6) - - - 610 Community Planning 54,898 59,700 (4,802) - - - 620 Corporate Communications 126,452 133,000 (6,548) - - -
Totals 258,943 270,300 (11,357) - - -
NET COST OF SERVICES 15,796,664 16,177,787 (381,123) (3,324,667) (3,363,062) 38,394
Non Service Income and Expenditure
910 Capital Financing 2,208,798 2,208,800 (2) - - - 920 Bank Interest - - - (17,368) (20,100) 2,732 930 Year End Transactions 32,234 26,400 5,834 (4,715) - (4,715) 940 District Rates & Grants - - - (15,676,492) (15,871,200) 194,708
Totals 2,241,032 2,235,200 5,832 (15,698,575) (15,891,300) 192,725
Grand Totals 18,037,696 18,412,987 F (375,291) (19,023,242) (19,254,362) G 231,119 Page 8 of 9
Unclassified RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Committee notes this report.
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Unclassified
ITEM 6
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Report Classification Unclassified
Council/Committee Corporate
Date of Meeting 12 September 2017
Responsible Director Director of Finance and Performance
Responsible Head of Head of Performance and Projects Service
Date of Report 05 September 2017
File Reference 260501 - Performance Management
Legislation Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014
Section 75 Compliant Yes ☒ No ☐ Other ☐ If other, please add comment below:
Subject Performance Report 2016/17
Attachments Performance Report 2016/17
The Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 put in place a new framework to support the continuous improvement in the delivery of Council services in the context of strategic objectives and issues that are important to those who receive the services.
To fulfil this requirement Council approved the Performance Management Policy and Handbook in October 2015. The Performance Management Handbook outlines the approach to Performance Planning and Management process as:
• Community Plan – published every 10-15 years • Corporate Plan – published every 4 years (2015-2019 plan in operation) • Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) – published annually (2017/18 plan published 15 June 2017) • Service Plan – developed annually (approved April 2017)
Section 92 of the Act places a requirement on councils to asses and report on their performance against the previous year and from 2017 onwards to compare its
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Unclassified performance, so far as is practicable, with the performance of other councils in the exercise of the same or similar functions. The comparison and assessment report is to be published before 30 September immediately following the financial year to which it relates1.
The Performance Report is to evidence that the Council is fulfilling its statutory duty for the 2016/17 financial year and is a review of our performance using evidence that demonstrates the delivery of our agreed Improvement Objectives and the impact our activities have made.
Council set itself challenging targets in the 2016/2017 Performance Improvement Plan and measurement of the outcomes that result from our services has been difficult but we continue to develop more effective performance measures to demonstrate if people are better off because of the services we provide.
The attached draft Performance Report for the year 1 April 2016 – 31 March 2017 reports on performance against the Performance Improvement Plan 2016/17, Statutory Indicators and highlights many of the Council’s achievements during the 2016/17 period.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that this report is adopted.
1 Performance Improvement Guidance Version 2 (post consultation) Page 2 of 2
Unclassified
ITEM 7
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Report Classification Unclassified
Council/Committee Corporate Services Committee
Date of Meeting 12 September 2017
Responsible Director Director of Organisational Development and Administration
Responsible Head of Head of Administration Service
Date of Report 01 September 2017
File Reference ADM 35
Legislation
Section 75 Compliant Yes ☒ No ☐ Other ☐ If other, please add comment below:
Subject Service to Mark 65th Anniversary of the Princess Victoria Disaster
Attachments
The Donaghadee Heritage Preservation Company (DHPC) is planning to hold a church service on Sunday, 28 January 2018 at 3.30pm in Donaghadee Parish Church to mark the 65th anniversary of the Princess Victoria Disaster. Members will be aware that the Sir Samuel Kelly Lifeboat, which is to become part of the North Down Museum (based at Donaghadee Marina), played a key role in the rescue mission.
It is proposed that the service will last approximately 45 minutes and be conducted by Rev. Ian Gamble. The Mayor has been invited to lay a floral wreath, along with the Lord Lieutenant, a survivor of the disaster and a representative of the RNLI. Donaghadee Ladies Community Choir and the Sea Scouts will also play a role in the service. Those in attendance will be invited to the Church Hall for refreshments after the service.
In conjunction with this commemoration, the DHPC is also putting together an Exhibition with the assistance of the North Down Museum Manager.
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Unclassified
The DHPA has asked for assistance in publicising the service and associated events through council’s social media channels, by adding a link to our website or by any other appropriate means. It has also asked if the Council would be willing to support the group financially perhaps via a donation to assist with the printing of invitations, Orders of Service or catering.
The DHPC proposes to invite a number of additional special guests including Councillors from the DEA, the local MP, MLAs, survivors of the disaster and their relatives and representatives from the RNLI.
It may be worth noting that the legacy Ards Borough Council covered the costs of the hire of a Marquee and other sundry items for the 60th Anniversary.
Members are reminded that the DHPC is in the process of raising £1.6m through grant aid and public subscription for the development of a visitor centre focused on the Sir Samuel Kelly Lifeboat.
The Council’s Finance Section has confirmed that the Council has the legal authority to make a donation.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Council supports the Company in its endeavours to remember this occasion and:-
a. makes a donation of up to £250 to cover costs as described above and makes payment on obtaining suitable receipts b. publicises the church service through its social media channels and any other appropriate means.
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Unclassified
ITEM 8
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Report Classification Unclassified
Council/Committee Corporate Services Committee
Date of Meeting 12 September 2017
Responsible Director Director of Organisational Development and Administration
Responsible Head of Head of Administration Service
Date of Report 30 August 2017
File Reference ADM 36
Legislation
Section 75 Compliant Yes ☒ No ☐ Other ☐ If other, please add comment below:
Subject Rededication of War Memorial, Holywood
Attachments
Members will be aware that the War Memorial, Holywood, had to be temporarily moved to permit Public Realm Works to be completed. The War Memorial is due to be returned to its original position in September 2017.
It is traditional in such circumstances to hold a re-dedication service and the Council has received an enquiry as to whether it plans to do so.
It is therefore proposed that a re-dedication service be held on Sunday, 12th November 2017 immediately prior to the normal Service of Remembrance. It is envisaged that the Mayor (or Deputy Mayor or Senior Alderman) will be in attendance along with any other elected members who wish to attend. Members will be robed, as is the case at Remembrance Services across the Borough.
The Vicar of St Philip and St James Parish Church, Revd Gareth Harron, who normally officiates at the Remembrance Sunday Service in Holywood has been consulted and is content with the proposal.
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Unclassified
Currently there is no Royal British Legion representation in Holywood and Remembrance Services held in the town have, for some years, been organised by individuals, through goodwill and in their own time, representing armed forces veterans.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Council approves the arrangements as outlined to facilitate a service to re-dedicate the War Memorial at Redburn Square, Holywood, on Sunday, 12 November 2017, immediately prior to the normal Remembrance Sunday Service and provides refreshments afterwards at Queen’s Leisure Complex, Holywood.
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Unclassified
ITEM 9
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Report Classification Unclassified
Council/Committee Corporate Services
Date of Meeting 12 September 2017
Responsible Director Director of Organisational Development and Administration
Responsible Head of Head of Administration Service
Date of Report 31 August 2017
File Reference OS 2108 Part 5
Legislation
Section 75 Compliant Yes ☒ No ☐ Not Applicable ☐
Subject Rent Review Seawater Intake Pipe Portaferry
Attachments
The Council has received a rent review from Fraser McConnell on behalf of Crown Estates in relation to the Seawater Intake Pipe at Strangford Lough, Portaferry. Under the terms of the Lease, the Council has been paying a rent of £700 per annum. Fraser McConnell has proposed a rental increase of £125 per annum, increasing the rent to £825 per annum effective from 1st November 2015.
LPS, acting as honest broker, has reviewed the proposed rent increase and believes it is fair and reasonable.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Council agrees to the rent increase effective from 1st November 2015.
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Unclassified
ITEM 10.1
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Report Classification Unclassified
Council/Committee Corporate Services Committee
Date of Meeting 12 September 2017
Responsible Director Director of Organisational Development and Administration
Responsible Head of Head of Administration Service
Date of Report 1 September 2017
File Reference ADM 19
Legislation
Section 75 Compliant Yes X No ☐ Other ☐ If other, please add comment below:
Subject Performance Report Q1 2017-18 – Administration
Attachments Performance Indicators
Context Members will be aware that Council is required, under the Local Government Act 2014, to have in place arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the exercise of its functions. To fulfil this requirement Council approved the Performance Management Policy and Handbook in October 2015. The Performance Management Handbook outlines the approach to Performance Planning and Management process as:
• Community Plan – published every 10-15 years • Corporate Plan – published every 4 years (2015-2019 plan in operation) • Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) – published annually (2017/18 plan published 15 June 2017) • Service Plan – developed annually (approved April 2017)
The Corporate Plan 2015-19 sets out 17 objectives for the plan period based on themes of People, Place, Prosperity and Performance. The Council’s 16 Service Plans outline how each respective Service will contribute to the achievement of the
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Unclassified
Corporate objectives including, but not limited to, any relevant actions identified in the PIP.
Reporting approach
The Service Plans will be reported to relevant Committees on a quarterly basis as undernoted:
Reference Period Reporting Month Quarter 1 (Q1) April – June September Q2 July – September December Q3 October – December March Q4 January - March June
The report for the first Quarter of 2017/18 is attached.
Key points to note:
• Most of the objectives contained in the report have a target date for completion beyond Q1 and therefore do not feature in the Performance Indicators attached. They include: o Creating a self help culture around emergency planning to build resilience o Delivering the Equality and Disability Action Plans o Maintaining ISO 14001 accreditation o Testing the Emergency/Business Continuity Planning arrangements o Training 75% of the workforce in Positive Behaviours to deliver an excellent Customer Experience o Achievement of Level One North West Charter for Elected Member Development Accreditation
Emerging issues:
• In 2015-16, the Council received 374 requests for information under the FOI/EIR and DPA. In 2016-17, this number rose to 432. From April-August 2017 (five month period), the Council has received 276 requests for information. The nature of the requests is becoming ever more complex and the demand for review of disclosure decisions more frequent. This has placed significant pressure on the Compliance Section’s limited Information Management resource. The Council has met its legislative response time in only 90% of cases for the 1st quarter of 2017.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Council notes this report.
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Unclassified
Quarterly Performance Report - Administration
Generated on: 01 September 2017
Last Update Q1 2017/18
Performance PI Short Name Performance Data Performance Data Data Traffic Current Value Current Target Light Icon
% spend against budget 96.37% 95%
% staff attendance 88.52% 95%
% Compliance 90% 100%
% internal audit reports satisfactory or above 100% 100%
% agenda circulated within 5 day notice periods 100% 100%
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Unclassified
ITEM 10.2
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Report Classification Unclassified
Council/Committee Corporate Services
Date of Meeting 12 September 2017
Responsible Director Chief Executive
Responsible Head of Corporate Communications Officer Service
Date of Report 24 August 2017
File Reference PRCC1701
Legislation
Section 75 Compliant Yes ☐ No ☐ Other ☐ If other, please add comment below:
Subject Performance Report Q1 2017-18 Corporate Communications
Attachments
Context
Members will be aware that Council is required, under the Local Government Act 2014, to have in place arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the exercise of its functions. To fulfil this requirement Council approved the Performance Management Policy and Handbook in October 2015. The Performance Management Handbook outlines the approach to Performance Planning and Management process as:
• Community Plan – published every 10-15 years • Corporate Plan – published every 4 years (2015-2019 plan in operation) • Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) – published annually (2017/18 plan published 15 June 2017) • Service Plan – developed annually (approved April 2017)
The Corporate Plan 2015-19 sets out 17 objectives for the plan period based on themes of People, Place, Prosperity and Performance. The Council’s 16 Service
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Unclassified
Plans outline how each respective Service will contribute to the achievement of the Corporate objectives including, but not limited to, any relevant actions identified in the PIP.
Reporting approach
The Service Plans will be reported to relevant Committees on a quarterly basis as undernoted:
Reference Period Reporting Month Quarter 1 (Q1) April – June September Q2 July – September December Q3 October – December March Q4 January - March June
The report for the first Quarter of 2017/18 is attached.
Key points to note:
• Workshops on communication protocols and engagement opportunities were not progressed as planned in the first quarter due to competing corporate priorities. Rescheduled for Q3. • Key achievements:
• Significant increase in regional coverage for Council activities and services via online and daily news channels. • Delivery of the integrated communications support for Armed Forces Day – MAVE (press coverage) of £190K; strong social media engagement with increase in followers by 5%; event technical support across the weekend. • Successful communication planning and delivery in support of new waste campaigns around blue bin recycling and introduction of glass collections.
Emerging issues:
• New internal communications initiatives are in progress – development and launch of new intranet, new induction programme, IIP Survey. • Internal audit of social media scheduled for November 2017. • Work to be undertaken to refresh and update the Council image library.
Action to be taken:
• Workshop programme on communications protocols and engagement opportunities to be rolled out September to December; this will help to address ongoing challenge of meeting media deadlines.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Council notes this report.
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Unclassified
Quarterly Performance Report - Corporate Communications
Generated on: 24 August 2017
Last Update Q1 2017/18
Performance PI Short Name Performance Data Performance Data Data Traffic Current Value Current Target Light Icon
% service areas actively engaged in PR planning 60 55
% service area aware of communication protocols and engagement opportunities 0% 12%
% spend against budget 96.18% 100%
% of staff receiving regular information bulletins 81.25% 80%
% staff attendance 98.03% 95%
% media enquiries answered within required deadline 87% 90%
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Unclassified
ITEM 10.3
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Report Classification Unclassified
Council/Committee Corporate Services
Date of Meeting 12 September 2017
Responsible Director Chief Executive
Responsible Head of Community Planning Manager Service
Date of Report 7 August 2017
File Reference CPL 005
Legislation The Local Government Act 2014
Section 75 Compliant Yes ☐ No ☐ Not Applicable ☒
Subject Performance Reports Q1 2017-18 – Community Planning
Attachments KPI Report Q4 2016-17
Context
Members will be aware that Council is required, under the Local Government Act 2014, to have in place arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the exercise of its functions. To fulfil this requirement Council approved the Performance Management Policy and Handbook in October 2015. The Performance Management Handbook outlines the approach to Performance Planning and Management process as:
• Community Plan – published every 10-15 years • Corporate Plan – published every 4 years (2015-2019 plan in operation) • Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) – published annually (2017/18 plan published 15 June 2017) • Service Plan – developed annually (approved April 2017)
The Corporate Plan 2015-19 sets out 17 objectives for the plan period. The Performance Improvement Plan focusses on eleven objectives for 2017/18 which are grouped under the Corporate Plan themes of People, Place, Prosperity and Performance. The Council’s 16 Service Plans outline how each respective Service
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Unclassified would contribute to the achievement of the Corporate objectives, with focus on the PIP improvement objectives.
Reporting approach
The Service Plans will be reported to relevant Committees on a quarterly basis as undernoted:
Reference Period Reporting Month Quarter 1 (Q1) April – June September Q2 July – September December Q3 October – December March Q4 January - March June
The report for the first Quarter of 2017/18 is attached.
Key points to note:
• A Community Planning Newsletter was issued in July rather than in June. This was to enable the service to interview community representatives, who spoke at the launch of the Big Plan, and include this information in the newsletter. We still plan on delivering four newsletters to our stakeholders over the course of the year.
Key achievements:
• The Big Plan was launched on 5 April and a workshop held for Thematic Wellbeing Group (TWG) members to start identifying the content for the delivery plans. TWG membership is made up of strategic partners and council officers. It is envisaged that actions and corresponding performance measures will be agreed by a meeting of the Strategic Community Planning Partnership in December 2017. • In response to the aspirations of the Big Plan, Ards and North Down’s Strategic Community Planning Partnership invited two more organisations to join. The National Trust and Translink attended their first Partnership meeting in June and will also be expected to attend TWG meetings. Membership of the Strategic Partnership consists of 13 Statutory Partners, seven Government Departments and four support partners. At the meeting in June Ed McClean (Public Health Agency) was elected Chairperson and Kim Scott (Education Authority) was elected Vice-Chairperson. • Work is ongoing to identify appropriate delivery vehicles to implement the aspirations of the Big Plan. The Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership (CYPSP) has agreed that their action plan is an appropriate mechanism to delivery outcomes for children and young people. For this reason, the CYPSP will be recognised as the lead organisation in relation to issues relating to Children and Young People. • At one of its earliest meetings, the Strategic Community Planning Partnership agreed that Ards and North Down should aspire to be an Age-Friendly Borough’. Public Health Agency has provided just over £30,000 between Ards
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and North Down and Lisburn and Castlereagh to appoint an Age-Friendly Co- ordinator’. Their role will be to work with our Community Planning Partners, and internally within the Council, to ensure that all public spaces and services take account of the needs of all our residents. The co-ordinator will also engage with our older residents and ensure they feel included and respected. • The Community Planning Manager, together with her counterparts in Antrim and Newtownabbey, Lisburn and Castlereagh and Mid Ulster, was invited to give a presentation to the away board for the Housing Executive. A discussion took place around priorities and how the community plans align with the Programme for Government.
Emerging issues:
• The creation of the Big Plan involved a lot of hard work and input from an extensive stakeholder group consisting of community, voluntary and business sectors. It is essential that the organisations and businesses with a stake in this area continue, not just to be ‘involved’ in community planning, but work in partnership with the public sector to influence and deliver the design and implementation of more effective public services. We are empowering the sector to co-design what their further role in the delivery and monitoring of the community plan should be. An independent facilitator has been engaged to work with the sector to come up with a suitable stakeholder model that will hopefully be adopted by the Strategic Partnership at its meeting in December 2017. • The Community Plan is based on an outcomes model. Training has been arranged for community planning partners and council officers on this methodology. • Discussion with the Department for Communities are ongoing with regard the performance reporting requirements of the Community Plan.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that this report be noted.
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Unclassified
Quarterly Performance Report - Community Planning
Generated on: 07 August 2017
Last Update Q1 2017/18
Performance PI Short Name Performance Data Performance Data Data Traffic Current Value Current Target Light Icon
Development of a reporting mechanism to tell people about the Community Plan (Newsletters) 0 1
% spend against budget 96.5% 100%
% staff attendance 100% 95%
Cannot group these rows by Last Update
Performance PI Short Name Performance Data Performance Data Data Traffic Current Value Current Target Light Icon
No of individuals and communities who provide feedback during phase 2 of the Plan
Three action plans agreed by the Strategic Community Planning Partnership
Agreed engagement protocol
Development of a reporting mechanism to report against the indicators
% feedback from events and engagement activities
% internal audit reports satisfactory or above
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Performance PI Short Name Performance Data Performance Data Data Traffic Current Value Current Target Light Icon
No. of meetings of Strategic Partnership
No of groups established to deliver actions
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ITEM 10.4
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Report Classification Unclassified
Council/Committee Corporate
Date of Meeting 12 September 2017
Responsible Director Director of OD and Administration
Responsible Head of Head of HR and OD Service
Date of Report 5 September 2017
File Reference
Legislation
Section 75 Compliant Yes x☐ No ☐ Other ☐ If other, please add comment below:
Subject Performance Reporting Q1 2017/18 HR & OD
Attachments
Context
Members will be aware that Council is required, under the Local Government Act 2014, to have in place arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the exercise of its functions. To fulfil this requirement Council approved the Performance Management Policy and Handbook in October 2015. The Performance Management Handbook outlines the approach to Performance Planning and Management process as:
• Community Plan – published every 10-15 years • Corporate Plan – published every 4 years (2015-2019 plan in operation) • Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) – published annually (2017/18 plan published 15 June 2017) • Service Plan – developed annually (approved April 2017)
The Corporate Plan 2015-19 sets out 17 objectives for the plan period based on themes of People, Place, Prosperity and Performance. The Council’s 16 Service Plans outline how each respective Service will contribute to the achievement of the
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Corporate objectives including, but not limited to, any relevant actions identified in the PIP.
Reporting approach
The Service Plans will be reported to relevant Committees on a quarterly basis as undernoted:
Reference Period Reporting Month Quarter 1 (Q1) April – June September Q2 July – September December Q3 October – December March Q4 January - March June
The report for the first Quarter of 2017/18 is attached.
Key points to note:
• Within the HR and OD Service Plan there are a total of 10 Key Performance Indicators, 7 of which are measured each quarter and the remaining 3 are measured annually. • The attached report shows that in this quarter, the section has fully met 3 of the 7 KPIs. The 3 KPIs met are: the percentage of HR policies developed, negotiated and implemented, the sections’ attendance figures and the percentage of staff attending staff attendance policy training. • One KPI is borderline which is the percentage spend against budget and this is due to a slight underspend. • The remaining 3 KPIs have not been met. I would comment on each as follows:
1. % structures fully developed and populated. Where structures have not been populated, this is largely linked to TUPE issues, new policies still under negotiation with the unions and unresolved transformations of service. Cleansing and Planning services are large areas which still need to be populated. Every effort is being made to remove barriers to progress the development of these areas 2. % of structures not being populated in 3 main target areas (Cleansing, Planning and Finance). The Finance structure has been completed and work is ongoing with regard to Planning. Now that the additional hours’ policy has been agreed, work will progress in the Cleansing section. 3. % of staff receiving Pride in Performance Conversations. This has got off to a slow start, however, significant improvement should be seen in this area in the next quarter.
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Key achievements:
• 90% of all staff have now received training in all the key HR policies (including the staff attendance policy). This is a huge achievement and in the first quarter has risen to 90% from a figure of 56% in quarter 4 of last year. • The HR sections absence is less than 5% in the first quarter
Emerging issues:
• The percentage of Pride in Performance Conversations completed in the first quarter is low and this area needs to be targeted by all Directors and Heads of Service if the Council is to continue with its commitment to invest in its workforce. • The section needs to work toward removing remaining barriers to filling Council structures. Considerable interaction with the Trade Unions will be important to progress these issues
Action to be taken:
• The section will remain focussed on developing and populating Council structures. • The section will work alongside the Administrative and Communications sections to develop and implement an overarching OD Strategy for the entire organisation. The HR section will continue to encourage all those with management responsibility to complete their Pride in Performance conversations with their reportees as it is important that this review takes place so that individual training and development needs can be addressed. Also this conversation helps to create a positive environment for all who work for the Council and ensures that all staff are committed to the core values of the Council. The HR team will also work towards the preparation of an Induction Policy and an Employee Relations Strategy, both these documents will be important pieces of work which will feed into the overall Council OD strategy.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Council notes this report.
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Unclassified
Quarterly Performance Report - Human Resources and Organisational Development
Generated on: 05 September 2017
Last Update Q1 2017/18
Performance PI Short Name Performance Data Performance Data Data Traffic Current Value Current Target Light Icon
% spend against budget 90.02% 100%
% structures fully developed and populated 60% 100%
% HR policies developed, negotiated and implemented 80% 80%
% staff attendance 94.44% 95%
% staff attending Absence Policy Training 90% 80%
% of staff receiving Pride in Performance conversations 2.7% 20%
% filling of structures of these 3 main areas completed 15% 25%
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ITEM 10.5
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Report Classification Unclassified
Council/Committee Corporate Services
Date of Meeting 12 September 2017
Responsible Director Interim Director of Finance and Performance
Responsible Head of Head of Finance Service
Date of Report 8 September 2017
File Reference FIN76
Legislation Local Government Act 2014
Section 75 Compliant Yes ☐ No ☐ Other ☐ If other, please add comment below:
Subject Performance Report – Q1 2017-18 Finance
Attachments
Context
Members will be aware that Council is required, under the Local Government Act 2014, to have in place arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the exercise of its functions. To fulfil this requirement Council approved the Performance Management Policy and Handbook in October 2015. The Performance Management Handbook outlines the approach to Performance Planning and Management process as:
• Community Plan – published every 10-15 years • Corporate Plan – published every 4 years (2015-2019 plan in operation) • Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) – published annually (2017/18 plan published 15 June 2017) • Service Plan – developed annually (approved April 2017)
The Corporate Plan 2015-19 sets out 17 objectives for the plan period based on themes of People, Place, Prosperity and Performance. The Council’s 16 Service
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Plans outline how each respective Service will contribute to the achievement of the Corporate objectives including, but not limited to, any relevant actions identified in the PIP.
Reporting approach
The Service Plans will be reported to relevant Committees on a quarterly basis as undernoted:
Reference Period Reporting Month Quarter 1 (Q1) April – June September Q2 July – September December Q3 October – December March Q4 January - March June
The report for the first Quarter of 2017/18 is attached.
Key points to note:
• Expenditure levels are lower than budget because NILGOSC additional capital contributions are £20.9k less than expected, Corporate Management is £18.0k better than budget (2 posts budgeted not filled yet) and Finance is £18.8k under budget to date due to a vacant post. • 82% of creditors paid within 30 days is slightly down on the comparable number for quarter 4 (84%) and has suffered due to staff absence. • Debtor payments received within 30 days was substantially below target due to trade waste invoices being raised earlier than usual, resulting in the direct debit run being processed outside the 30-day payment terms. Had they been raised at the usual time the KPI would have been reported as 86.4%. Staff are now aware of this issue and will process future direct debit runs within the 30- day timeframe. • Following on from the Quarter 4 report for 2016/17 staff attendance continued to be an issue during the first quarter due to long term absence three members of staff, although an improvement is expected in quarter 2. • The target of issuing budget reports within 10 working days was missed due to resources being focussed on the preparation of the year-end financial statements.
Key achievements:
• Over a third of Employee Payments documents are issued electronically.
Action to be taken:
• Further training of staff will occur during the forthcoming estimates process. • Implementation of a system to electronically deliver sales invoices is likely occur at the beginning of quarter 3.
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• After a pause of a number of months, the project to implement a modern, efficient Purchase-2-Pay system has started again and will progress over the autumn with the finalisation of the business case.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Council notes this report.
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Quarterly Performance Report - Finance
Generated on: 07 September 2017
Last Update Q1 2017/18
Performance PI Short Name Performance Data Performance Data Data Traffic Current Value Current Target Light Icon
% spend against budget 89.7% 100%
% creditors paid within 30 calendar days 82% 90%
% Debtors payments received within 30 days 27.2% 90%
% staff attendance 82% 95%
No. of Finance Policies and Procedures implemented 3 3
No. of staff trained in operation of financial system 63 80
No. of working days to issue monthly budget reports to SUMs (May-Feb) 19 10
No of working days to complete control account reconciliations N/A 15
% employee payment documents delivered electronically 37% 25%
% sales invoices delivered electronically 0% 5%
Last Update 2017/18
Performance PI Short Name Performance Data Performance Data Data Traffic Current Value Current Target Light Icon
% staff satisfaction N/A 75%
% customer satisfaction N/A 80%
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Cannot group these rows by Last Update
Performance PI Short Name Performance Data Performance Data Data Traffic Current Value Current Target Light Icon
% employees paid through integrating HR, Time and Attendance, Payroll and Expenses system
% of purchases completed through electronic P-2-P system
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ITEM 10.6
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Report Classification Unclassified
Council/Committee Corporate Services Committee
Date of Meeting 12 September 2017
Responsible Director Director of Finance and Performance
Responsible Head of Head of Performance and Projects Service
Date of Report 25 August 2017
File Reference
Legislation Local Government Act 2014
Section 75 Compliant Yes ☒ No ☐ Not Applicable ☐
Subject Performance Report Q1 2017/18 - Performance and Projects Service
Attachments Quarterly Performance Report – Q1
Context
Members will be aware that Council is required, under the Local Government Act 2014, to have in place arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the exercise of its functions. To fulfil this requirement Council approved the Performance Management Policy and Handbook in October 2015. The Performance Management Handbook outlines the approach to Performance Planning and Management process as:
• Community Plan – published every 10-15 years • Corporate Plan – published every 4 years (2015-2019 plan in operation) • Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) – published annually (2017/18 plan published 15 June 2017) • Service Plan – developed annually (approved April 2017)
The Corporate Plan 2015-19 sets out 17 objectives for the plan period based on themes of People, Place, Prosperity and Performance. The Council’s 16 Service Plans outline how each respective Service will contribute to the achievement of the
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Corporate objectives including, but not limited to, any relevant actions identified in the PIP.
Reporting approach
The Service Plans will be reported to relevant Committees on a quarterly basis as undernoted:
Reference Period Reporting Month Quarter 1 (Q1) April – June September Q2 July – September December Q3 October – December March Q4 January - March June
The report for the first Quarter of 2017/18 is attached.
Key points to note:
• This reports on progress against the Service Plan KPIs. It should be noted that some KPIs are reported on a half-yearly or annual basis and may therefore not be reported against in every quarter. All KPIs will be reported against during the course of the reporting year.
Key achievements:
• Delivery within financial budget • Achieving above target and above average attendance (average 93.6% across Services) • Successfully defending the Council against a potential challenge during this period (relating to playpark refurbishment award) – remaining on target to have no successful procurement challenges • Supporting a range of tender exercises during this period to deliver better outcomes and achieve efficiencies • Promoting the Council to potential suppliers through attendance at a regional trade event • Achieving full system uptime during this period • Resolving business technology service calls on target • Protecting the Council against global ransomware attacks including updating software, hardware and security contracts • Progressing on-site projects to include the replacement Ards Leisure Centre, Redburn Square public realm, Portaferry Markethouse (subsequently completed in Q2) during this period as well as advancing a range of other concept/in development projects on the capital portfolio (see regular CPPB report for further detail) • Finalisation and publication of the Council’s Performance Improvement Plan within statutory timeframe
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• Progressing performance improvement projects on: o potential regional benchmarking (as required under the Local Government Act 2014) o satisfaction surveys o integrated software to replace legacy time & attendance, expenses, payroll and HR systems o reprographics solutions to replace old printing and photocopying hardware and achieve efficiencies in the process o development of a new intranet (since launched in Q2)
Emerging issues:
• Cost per head of population higher than target due to profiling of expenditure i.e. greater expenditure in Q1 through contract renewal etc. Expected to achieve target over course of the year. • Under target performance in % time invested in staff. This KPI includes briefings, team meetings, performance conversations, training, development and contribution to corporate initiatives outside of usual day to day work. In this Service, investment in staff is key to keep up to date knowledge and skills on technology, procurement law and practice, performance techniques and project delivery skills – as well as having high awareness of current and proposed activities across the Council. However, the related KPI is new this year and, on reflection, the target appears high. It is proposed that the target is amended to a more realistic level (see below).
Action to be taken:
• It is proposed that the target for “% time invested in team briefing, training, development and performance conversations” is amended from 10% to 5%.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Council approves the above actions and notes the remainder of this report.
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Quarterly Performance Report - Performance and Projects
Generated on: 25 August 2017
Last Update Q1 2017/18
Performance PI Short Name Performance Data Performance Data Data Traffic Current Value Current Target Light Icon
% spend against budget 97.08% 100%
£ cost per head of population £3.34 £3.25
% staff attendance 95.29% 95%
% time invested in team briefing, training, development and performance conversations 3.75% 10%
No. of successful procurement challenges 0 0
% service calls satisfactorily addressed within timescales 95% 95%
% systems and network uptime 100% 98%
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ITEM 11
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Report Classification Unclassified
Council/Committee Corporate Services
Date of Meeting Click here to enter a date.
Responsible Director Director of Organisational Development and Administration
Responsible Head of Head of Administration Service
Date of Report 29 August 2017
File Reference IM 8
Legislation General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Section 75 Compliant Yes ☒ No ☐ Other ☐ If other, please add comment below:
Subject General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Awareness
Attachments
On the 28th May 2018 the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will replace the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) as the primary legislative framework regulating the processing of personal information across the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) generally.
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has confirmed that the UK’s exit from the EU will not affect the implementation of the GDPR in 2018 and, in addition, the Information Commissioner’s Office has indicated that it expects the government to adopt in full, or part, the provisions of the GDPR following the UK’s exit from the EU in 2019.
While the provisions of the GDPR represent a comprehensive reshape of the landscape of data protection law, and will expand the scope of the obligations and responsibilities placed upon the Council when processing personal information, it is not a complete departure from the existing concepts and principles to which the Council currently adheres.
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The following is a brief summary of the primary differences between the DPA and GDPR which may have operational and resource impacts on the Council:
- Data Protection Officer (DPO): Section 4 of the GDPR requires the Council to appoint, or collectively appoint with other local authorities, a DPO. A DPO will monitor organisational compliance with the GDPR, provide advice and assistance and should report directly to the highest management level of the Council.
- Commercial agreements and contracts – The GDPR will impact the nature of the Council’s relationship with its suppliers: o Data processors (DP) (a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or any other body which processes personal data on behalf of the Council) will now have direct data protection obligations for the protection of personal information (this is a positive step for organisations as the DPA placed the onus for data protection entirely on the Data Controller). o The GDPR expands the territorial scope of data protection law to now apply to DPs which are based outside the EU. The Council does not currently have any suppliers based outside the EU, however, this may change in the future.
- Penalties - The maximum monetary penalty for non-compliance which may be applied by the national oversight body will increase from £500,000 under the DPA to the greater of €20 million or 4% of annual worldwide turnover.
- Rights of data subject – Rights of data subjects have been expanded. The current right to access personal information held by the Council remains in place but is complemented by the right to erasure (or be forgotten) in certain circumstances, right to restrict processing of information and the right of data portability giving data subjects the right to transfer personal data between controllers.
- All data processing activities require a lawful basis. The purposes and basis for processing in the GDPR are similar to those in the DPA, however, the enhanced individual rights above will require a review of Council operations to ensure that the purpose for each processing activity is clearly established. This basis must be detailed in clear and concise privacy statements and communicated to affected parties.
- Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA) will replace Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA) currently conducted under the DPA and expand the use of that mechanism. DPIAs will be required to be conducted, for example, when the Council is planning a new project, participating in a data-sharing initiative or when using data for new, unexpected or more intrusive purposes.
It is proposed to begin, in the first instance, to conduct DPIAs during the policy screening process.
Council officers have received, and will continue to attend, training on the GDPR and take all relevant steps to begin preparation for its introduction.
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Briefings will be scheduled in the near future for CLT and HOST and training for staff arranged in due course.
NILGA has scheduled a compliance awareness session on the EU General Data Protection Regulation on Thursday 21st September 2017 in the Town Hall, Bangor. Invitations to this session have been sent by the Organisational Development Section. Further information can be sought from Samantha Rea (Organisational Development Manager). All members are encouraged to attend.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Council notes this report and the date of the Awareness Raising Session.
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ITEM 12
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Report Classification Unclassified
Council/Committee Corporate Services Committee
Date of Meeting 08 September 2015
Responsible Director Director of Organisational Development and Administration
Responsible Head of Head of Administration Service
Date of Report 23 August 2017
File Reference EQ 33
Legislation Section 75 The Northern Ireland Act 1998; Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and Disability Discrimination (NI) Order 2006
Section 75 Compliant Yes ☒ No ☐ Other ☐ If other, please add comment below:
Subject Quarterly Report on Equality and Good Relations (Section 75 of The N.I. Act 1998) – June - August 2017
Attachments N/A
Within the Council’s Equality Scheme, a progress report must be submitted on a quarterly basis to the Council’s Corporate Services Committee. This is to ensure that the Council’s obligations to meet its equality and good relations duties and responsibilities, as identified in Section 75 of The Northern Ireland Act 1998, are continuously monitored.
During the period of this report a complaint was received from a resident in relation to a café where street furniture was blocking their access. This has been investigated by the Licensing and Regulations Section. A complaint was also received about access to the public toilet facilities at Mill Street, Newtownards. These premises have been visited by the Asset and Property Section and access is being improved to enable those with a disability to access the facilities.
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A social media campaign was launched by a resident of the Borough requesting the Council to provide a fully inclusive play facility for children with a disability. The playground at the new leisure centre in Newtownards has been planned to facilitate this type of play and the response to the correspondence included the range of council sections that have responsibility for planning, provision and compliance with relevant legislation.
This report lists the actions of Council officers to meet the statutory duties since 1st June 2017 and also details the council’s pro-active response to complaints and comments received.
‘Removing Barriers to make Services Inclusive’ Event The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) and Assistant Compliance Officer attended an event in Belfast City Council that highlighted the importance of ensuring all services, information and facilities are accessible for any individual with a disability. Following the event it was agreed to develop a template for use across all the council’s services as an aide memoire for officers. This will be delivered working in partnership with the Performance Improvement Section to ensure the template incorporates the needs of all sections and training is delivered to raise awareness. The prompts will ensure consistency across all the council sections and mainstream reasonable adjustments.
Summer Leisure Holiday Scheme The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) delivered training to employees working on Holiday schemes on 14th and 30th June in Ards Leisure Centre on their responsibilities in relation to Section 75, disability awareness and safeguarding. The interactive sessions were well received by all present. Training of a similar format had been delivered for the Easter activity scheme leaders.
Meeting with ECNI re Licensing of Pavement Cafes The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) and Licensing and Regulatory Services Manager met with the ECNI on 21st July 2017. The meeting was requested to seek clarity on which body/bodies are responsible for screening the Pavement Licensing Regulations and associated guidance documents, as a number of councils have been criticised for their screening of local arrangements. The local guidance implementation is based on guidance given to all councils, which was written and consulted upon by Department for Social Development (NI), Department for Transport (NI) and Department for Communities. The responsibility to screen is the responsibility of the public authority drafting any policy as identified in each body’s Equality Scheme. The meeting was positive and the officers were reminded that the council has a responsibility to adhere to the processes identified in its Equality Scheme. This will mean the guidelines agreed by the council require to be screened and issued through the consultation process, challenged by the internal screening group and by the external consultation panel on equality and good relations and mitigation of any identified or adverse potential adverse impact being addressed before the final guidance is issued. The screening has been completed in draft and will be discussed at the next scheduled meetings of each internal and external consultation panel and will then be
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Unclassified issued for consultation in October 2017 in the next quarterly screening consultation following amendments agreed at each workshop. The ECNI officers have agreed to attend the Local Government Statutory Network for Section 75 and the Licensing and Regulation Forum for council officers to discuss concerns and best practice processes to be followed. The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) and Licensing and Regulatory Services Manager also met with Guide Dogs for the Blind representatives as they wished to highlight concerns expressed to them by those they represent.
Virtual Reality Training The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) attended training delivered by SBNI for safeguarding trainers. The session was on the need for trainers, parents and all those who work with children and young people to be aware of the dangers they may encounter when on-line and particularly when in the areas of virtual reality. The issues raised at the training were shared with all officers at the Safeguarding Steering Group.
Learning Disabilities Event The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) attended the launch of the autism learning package for employers. This initiative was led by Orchardville which supports individuals with learning disabilities as well as businesses offering individuals work experience or employment. The Head of Community Service at Orchardville is a member of the ANDBC Disability Forum.
Disability Forum The next meeting of the Disability Forum will be on Wednesday 4th October 2017. The speaker will be Christine English, Development Manager, Autism NI who will be explaining the principles of being an autism friendly area and how this can be achieved. Discussion will also take place around the links this accreditation has with both age friendly and dementia friendly places accreditation. Also invited to attend is the Technical Manager, ANDBC Property Maintenance Section, who will be consulting on the new signage for public toilets. Two of the Forum members will be giving brief updates on recent work of their organisations in relation to improving awareness and services to those individuals that have a learning disability and their families. The following meeting has been arranged for Wednesday 6th December 2017 at which the Leisure Manager will present the proposals for the new play area at the new leisure centre in Newtownards. This is an excellent forum for receiving practical feedback on this potential large 'destination' park, designed with the intention to be as inclusive as possible, whilst providing balanced and challenging play.
Autism Friendly and Dementia Friendly Town Initiative The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) and Performance Improvement Section have commenced work to achieve accreditation in areas of the Borough and to identify how council services can be better delivered. The Dementia Friendly initiative will also be included in the work to develop the Council area as Age Friendly.
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Community Planning Through this forum a number of partnership working arrangements have been secured between voluntary, statutory and statutory partners. These have embedded the needs of those with a disability, living or working in the Borough to have a positive experience. A number of initiatives link closely to ensure all statutory bodies meet the obligations of their equality scheme and disability action plans in a practical and meaningful manner. An easy read version of the plan is online and demonstrates the Council’s commitment to engage effectively to deliver practical actions.
DisabledGo An article on the accessibility information on the Council’s website was promoted in in Ability NI magazine, August 2017. This was to raise awareness of the Council’s commitment to ensuring that those with a disability and their carers have access to as broad a range of relevant and up to date information as possible to make informed choices before arriving at a venue. The first Work Experience Event for individuals interested in carrying out accessibility audits will be held on Thursday 28th September 2017. The workshop will provide attendees with an opportunity to learn about the role of an auditor before visiting a range of premises to carry out an audit. The opportunity for work placements with the audit team has been widely promoted through the media and colleges in the Borough and had a very positive take up. Those undertaking audits will receive a gift voucher and once they are considered competent will have the opportunity to carry out audits on behalf of DisabledGo. The Mayor, Diversity Champions and Mental Health Champions have been invited to attend this event.
Module 1 Training for Safeguarding The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) delivered Module 1 accredited safeguarding training to 22 employees from Ards and Comber Leisure Centres. This training is for employees who do not work directly with children and young people but who supervise those who carry out such duties. In this training they were informed of their responsibilities and how to report any concerns or incidents they witness or are made aware of.
Safeguarding Steering Group The Group met on 15th June 2017 to ensure all sections of the Council are reminded of the importance of identifying and reporting any concerns in relation to safeguarding to the Designated Officers. Those present were asked to ensure the information was cascaded to all relevant employees, particularly to raise awareness over the summer months when the number of users of the council facilities increases significantly, and officers may identify issues both in the council facilities and when visiting resident’s homes. It was agreed that for future meetings speakers would be invited to update those present on issues that all council officers should be aware of. The next meeting in November will have a guest speaker highlighting the issues of human trafficking.
Internal Audit - Safeguarding An internal audit of the Council’s Safeguarding function took place in August 2017, focusing on its safeguarding policy and its management across the council. The report will be presented to the Audit Committee.
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Safeguarding training and visits Training for employees across the Council who may work with vulnerable adults has been arranged through the Human Resources Section for September 2017 in preparation for this year’s programme delivery. The training will be delivered by Volunteer Now and will include scenarios and case studies to demonstrate the legislation in practice.
Adult Safeguarding Champion training The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) has been identified as the Council’s Adult Safeguarding Champion. The officer attended training on 4 July 2017 that outlined the role of the individual and responsibilities for organisations including the requirement to complete an annual audit and report this to the relevant statutory agencies. The learning from this training will be cascaded through the Safeguarding Steering Group.
Safeguarding The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) continues to attend meetings on behalf of the Council on the Local Government Staff Commission Safeguarding Network, South Eastern Trust Training and Steering Groups on Safeguarding Children and Young People as well as with the South Eastern Trust Local Area Adult Safeguarding Partnership and the Safeguarding Board NI South Eastern Panel.
ECNI Mental Health Charter A meeting took place on 11 June 2017 with the Head of Human Resources, Principal Environmental Health Officer with responsibility for Employee Health and Wellbeing Officer and the Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) to identify responsibilities of each section, share contacts of individuals and organisations and identify what further action was required in the next three month period. It was agreed that the delivery of this charter is cross departmental to ensure compliance and mainstreaming.
Carers’ event The work of carers across the province is recognised and highlighted during one week in June each year. This year the Council demonstrated its support for the work of carers in an event in the Town Hall, Bangor on 16 June 2017. The event included a motivational speaker, and closed with a buffet lunch. The speaker was funded by the South Eastern Trust whilst the Council provided the facility and catering. The Mayor, Councillor Adair opened the event and thanked everyone present for the work they do, mostly unrecognised. Alderman Henry (Mental Health Champion) introduced the event, whilst Councillor Robinson (Diversity Champion) attended to meet with individuals. This partnership working is appreciated by all in attendance.
Volunteers The Head of Community and Culture and Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) met with representatives from Action Mental Health (AMH) to discuss the potential for clients of AMH to become volunteers or gain work experience with the Council. It was explained that opportunities will become available for volunteering once the Council’s volunteer policy is agreed and that work experience is currently available for 12 week periods where a suitable match is identified for both the AMH client and the council section. The time given by officers was appreciated
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Unclassified by AMH who are positive that a working relationship will develop for the benefit of both parties.
Peace IV Partnership The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) delivered an overview of the duties and responsibilities of Section 75 NI Act 1998, Disability Discrimination Act and Disability Discrimination Order 2006 to partnership members at their training day on 29 June 2017, in the Clandeboye Lodge Hotel. Following this five projects were screened to ensure they met the Section 75 duties and responsibilities and disability duties.
Committee and Council report template The report template has been amended to give report writers the opportunity to write a comment where the report is not either identified as complying with Section 75 or not complying. This is to ensure all council reports consider the duties and responsibilities of Section 75 in the council’s duties and responsibilities.
Biodiversity Plan for old Comber Town Amenity Site The Biodiversity Officer requested some advice on the grant application for this site in relation to access for those with a disability. The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) arranged for a meeting with two users of wheelchairs to discuss access/egress issues and matters relating to heights and toilet facilities, all of which can be addressed at the planning stage. The meeting was appreciated by the attendees who were pleased the Council was seeking their advice and suggestions at an early opportunity. They also identified issues for people with other disabilities including sight and hearing impairment as well as age related issues for children and adults.
Equality Action Plan The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) continues to work to deliver the Equality Action Plan in a meaningful and timely manner to ensure the Council is meeting its statutory duties and responsibilities. The update on outcomes for this year to 31 March 2017 has been reported in the Annual Report to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland in August 2017. This was the subject of a separate report to Council in July 2017. The action addressing identity and flying of flags is addressed in a separate report to this committee.
Disability Action Plan The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) has issued a draft revised Disability Action Plan to a broad range of consultees to ensure the final Action Plan is meaningful and relevant. This is the subject of a separate report to this committee.
Diversity Training No Diversity Awareness training sessions have been carried out during the period of this report. The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) will encourage e- learning to be introduced across the Council as a priority to enable employees to have access to information and training on issues they identify in relation to customer service provision to the range of Section 75 dimensions. Dementia Awareness Training has been arranged for all frontline staff and is being delivered over a three month period commencing August 2017.
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Accessible Toilet Signage The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) and Technical Manager, Property Operations have discussed the design of the preferred signage for accessible toilets as agreed with the members of the Ards and North Down Borough Council Disability Forum. The design includes the recognised outline of a male and female and person in a wheel chair with the wording ‘Not every disability is visible’. The pictures and writing are raised and the wording is also in braille. It is intended to use these signs across the Council as and when replacement signage is required and in new and upgraded facilities. The sign encourages priority usage to those with a disability but recognises the need for carers to use facilities where those they are responsible for may be unable to wait or may become disorientated when separated. A separate report will be tabled to the Environment Committee.
Beach access The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) and an Environmental Health Officer are working with a representative group, ‘The Mae Murray Foundation’, to identify accessible areas with suitable accessible toilet and changing provision at beaches within the Borough to encourage use by those with a disability. The outcome of these visits will be reported in future reports and relevant officers will be included in any requests or proposed service improvements.
Provision of audio recordings Within the period of this report two audio recordings have been provided to 140 residents to inform them of the household waste recycling bin revised service and the glass collection service collection dates. They have also received an audio recording to encourage participation in the Disability Action Plan consultation.
Screening of Council Policies Council officers continue to screen council policies as an integral part of the policy development process. Completed screening forms are scrutinised by council officers at the Internal Screening Panel on Section 75 and Sustainability. The next Internal Screening Group meeting is arranged for Friday 6th October 2017 at which 9 policy screenings will be reviewed.
Consultative Panel on Equality and Good Relations The next meeting of the external Ards and North Down Borough Council Consultative Panel on Equality and Good Relations is scheduled for 10th October 2017 commencing at 5.00pm in the Marine Court Hotel, Bangor. It was suggested that elected members join the panel after this meeting to enable networking to take place. Members are therefore invited to attend an informal buffet tea at 7.00pm and meet the panel members who all give their time voluntarily. For catering purposes, it is necessary to inform the Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) or the Assistant Compliance Officer no later than Friday 29 September, if they wish to attend.
Quarterly Consultations The Council has a requirement within the Equality Scheme to publish the outcome of screened policies quarterly. The most recent quarterly report was uploaded onto the Council’s website on 4th July 2017. This consultation included 8 policy screening
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Unclassified outcomes. To date there have been no requests for screening forms or comments on screened outcomes. The next quarterly screening consultation will be circulated on Monday 2nd October 2017 and to date has 6 screenings agreed for consultation.
Monitoring arrangements of current employees A number of meetings have taken place between The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding), Head of Human Resources and representatives of the Trade Unions to discuss the Equality Action Plan initiative to develop and maintain an up to date employee profile. This will ensure that Council policies are reflective and relevant to the current profile and thus provide reliable data for future planning in relation to service delivery and potential staffing arrangements; particularly where an older workforce is developing and thus limiting opportunities for younger people to be recruited for future planning and skills development. All parties agree the exercise will be a positive action to ensure a reliable source of data is available. The voluntary exercise will be delivered through positive communication using ANDi (the Council’s Intranet), personal communication to all employees at their home address and with a single point of collation for data. The Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) and Head of Human Resources will be available to respond to individuals’ concerns.
It Takes Allsorts This annual diversity awareness raising event for all employees and Elected Members is in its third year. The programme has been finalised and the dates and venues agreed. It will once again have a broad range of speakers and will be held on days and times to suit the majority of employees and services. Employees from across the Council will also have the opportunity to meet colleagues they would not otherwise have the opportunity to meet. The detailed programme for each session and booking arrangements will be made available in September and members are encouraged to attend. The events are on Thursday, 12th October at Londonderry Pavilion, Londonderry Park, Newtownards from 1.00pm to 4.30pm and Tuesday, 17th October 2017at Donaghadee Community Centre from 9.00am to 12.30pm.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that:- a. this report is noted; b. Members note the above invitation to attend the event to meet the panel members of the External Consultative Panel on Equality and Good Relations on 10 October 2017 and inform the Compliance Officer (Equality and Safeguarding) or the Assistant Compliance Officer no later than Friday 29 September, if they wish to attend; and c. Members save the dates of the “It Takes Allsorts” events.
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ITEM 13
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Report Classification Unclassified
Council/Committee Corporate Services Committee
Date of Meeting 12 September 2017
Responsible Director Director of Organisational Development and Administration
Responsible Head of Head of Administration Service
Date of Report 30 August 2017
File Reference
Legislation Access to the Countryside (NI) Order 1983
Section 75 Compliant Yes ☒ No ☐ Other ☐ If other, please add comment below:
Subject Public Rights of Way - (1) Cushies Land (2) Portavo and others
Attachments Associated Maps
Background The Council has a duty under the Access to the Countryside (NI) Order 1983 to assert Public Rights of Way. However, over the transition period from 2015 until January 2017, the post of Public Rights of Way Officer remained vacant.
A permanent Officer (PROW Officer) has now been appointed and is part of the Administration Section Compliance (Lands) team. A backlog of cases has accumulated during the period which is now being systematically dealt with in line with a Public Rights of Way Policy which was agreed by the Council in June 2017.
Notices of Motion In February and April 2017 respectively, the Council agreed the following Motions:-
1. “That this Council commences the process of formally asserting Cushies Lane, which runs from Ballymacormick Road, Bangor to Springwell Road, Groomsport as a public right of way”.
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2. “That this Council requests Officers to bring a report on the possibility of asserting the path around Portavo Reservoir as a Right of Way”.
Officers have been asked to provide an update on how the assertion process is progressing and whether the pathways can been asserted.
Members are asked to bear in mind at the outset that the assertion process is often complex and requires an in depth review of a lot of evidence and can take a long time, sometimes years, to complete.
1. Cushies Lane
Background
The route between Ballymacormick Road, Bangor and Springwell Road, Groomsport is an alleged Public Right of Way which, to date, has not been asserted by the Council. The Council holds evidence relating to the alleged Public Right of Way dating back to 1987. A site survey was carried out in 2012 which identified that access could only be gained approximately halfway along the route, there are hedgerows blocking access and it is muddy underfoot.
Current position
Investigations have been ongoing to establish the ownership of the land, as only one portion of the land is registered at Land Registry.
The Council’s PROW Officer has been in discussion with Councillor Chambers, who proposed the above Motion, and has provided him with evidence forms for dissemination and completion. Copies of the form are available on the Council’s website.
Once evidence forms are returned, the Council proposes to: • Conduct a further site survey • Investigate further the ownership of the land • Inspect the path • Meet with landowners • Continue to review all evidence • Make a recommendation to this Committee on whether the pathway can/should be asserted as a Public Right of Way
2. Portavo Reservoir
Background
As members will be aware, Portavo Reservoir is currently in the ownership of Northern Ireland Water (NIW). NIW advertised the property for sale under the D1 process when it became surplus to requirement in 2014. At that time, the Shadow Council expressed an interest in acquiring the land, subject to the outcome of an economic appraisal of its development potential. This was not carried out as,
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Unclassified subsequent to this, a Judicial Review was successfully sought by Portavo Estates Ltd. Portavo Estates Ltd claimed pre-emption rights to the property. The High Court found in favour of the plaintiff concluding that Portavo Estates Ltd did enjoy a right of pre-emption in respect of the lands of his “predecessors in title”.
It is perhaps important to note that six landowners could claim pre-emptive rights for the lands at Portavo although the Judicial Review was driven by only one of them.
The following Motion was agreed by the Council at its meeting in April 2017:-
“ The Council notes Northern Ireland Water’s decision not to appeal the High Court judgement made against it regarding Portavo Reservoir” and request “an urgent meeting with both the Chief Executive and the Chair of NIW to clarify the reasons for not appealing the judgement and for considering its sale to a local developer. The Council reaffirms its expression of interest in Portavo and requests that NIW enters into immediate and meaningful discussions with Officers to explore every possibility before Portavo is permanently lost as a public asset within the Borough”.
The above meeting duly took place and correspondence was received thereafter friom the Chief Executive of NIW stating that there was no point of law on which NIW could appeal the outcome of the Judicial Review.
Unauthorised access to the path could, currently, amount to trespass although it is evident that members of the public have used the path for recreational purposes for a number of years without any enforcement action being taken against them by the landowner (NIW).
Current position
In accordance with its Policy, the Council will collect, process and consider completed Evidence Forms claiming that a Public Right of Way exists at this location. The evidence will be considered against the eligibility criteria contained in the policy and, once the requisite number has been received (the Policy states that six is the minimum number required, demonstrating that the alleged right of way has been in use for more than 20 years), the steps listed above for Cushies Lane will be undertaken and a further report will be brought back to the Committee with recommendations on how to proceed.
Evidence Forms are available on the Council’s website or by contacting the Rights of Way Officer.
Other Alleged Rights of Way The PROW Officer is currently in the process of compiling a list of Alleged Rights of Way, of which there are approximately 60 and matching them against maps and historical files as the information can be conflicting.
Once this exercise has been completed, it is proposed that members will be provided with a full list of asserted and alleged Public Rights of Way in the Borough and the status of each will be reported to the Committee on an annual basis.
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The Council will be kept informed of any proposed legal implications arising from the assertion of Rights of Way on an “as required” basis.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the above proposed actions be noted.
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ITEM 14
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Report Classification Unclassified
Council/Committee Corporate Services Committee
Date of Meeting 08 September 2015
Responsible Director Director of Organisational Development and Administration
Responsible Head of Head of Administration Service
Date of Report 23 August 2017
File Reference EQ 33
Legislation
Section 75 Compliant Yes ☒ No ☐ Other ☐ If other, please add comment below:
Subject Local Government Awards Dinner 12th October 2017
Attachments N/A
The Local Government Awards Dinner will take place on 12th October 2017 at La Mon Hotel, Castlereagh. Ards and North Down Borough Council submitted seven nominations and has been shortlisted for three of the awards as follows:
BEST LOCAL AUTHORITY SERVICE TEAM Sponsored by the Association for Public Service Excellence [APSE] Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council (Antrim Castle Gardens Team) Ards and North Down Borough Council (Food Waste Recycling Project Team) Belfast City Council (Play Service Team) Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council (Grounds Maintenance Unit)
EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR Sponsored by the William Johnston Memorial Trust [WJMT] Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council (Samuel Hyndman) Ards and North Down Borough Council (Julie Ferguson) Fermanagh and Omagh District Council (Matthew Nevin)
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BEST INITIATIVE BY A COUNCILLOR/ COUNCILLOR GROUP Sponsored by the National Association of Councillors [NAC] Ards and North Down Borough Council (Comber Farmers’ Market) Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council (Heart City – Community Defibrillators) Mid Ulster District Council (Aughnacloy College 3G Community Pitch)
It is proposed that the Council sends the following representatives to attend the dinner;
The Mayor (or Deputy Mayor)
BEST LOCAL AUTHORITY SERVICE TEAM Chair of Environment Committee 5 relevant Officer nominations
EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR Julie Ferguson 1 other relevant Officer nomination
BEST INITIATIVE BY A COUNCILLOR/ COUNCILLOR GROUP Alderman Girvan
The cost is £60 per person for the dinner.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that Council agrees to up to 10 representatives of the council attend the Local Government Awards Dinner on 12th October 2017
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2017/18 Savings Plan Consultation Invitation to Public Meetings
Belfast Trust would like to hear your views on the 2017/18 Savings Plan proposals and invites you to attend any of the 6 public meetings being held across the City, details below. The Consultation period runs from 24 August 2017- 5 October 2017 and it is important that your voice is heard.
Meetings have been identified to accommodate a range of times – three daytime and three evening meetings across Belfast in the following locations:
Crescent Arts Centre Wednesday 2-4 University Rd 10.30am-12.30pm 13 September 2017 Belfast BT7 1NH Conway Mill Thursday 5-7 Conway St 2pm-4pm 14 September 2017 Belfast BT13 2DE Network East Centre Wednesday 55 Templemore Ave 10.30am-12.30pm 20 September 2017 Belfast BT5 4FP Grosvenor Hall Wednesday 5 Glengall St 6.30pm-8.30pm 20 September 2017 Belfast BT12 5AD Girdwood Hub Thursday 10 Girdwood Avenue 6.30pm-8.30pm 21 September 2017 Belfast BT14 6EG Grosvenor Hall Thursday 5 Glengall St 6.30pm-8.30pm 28 September 2017 Belfast BT12 5AD
The Savings Plan is available to view at Belfast_Trust_Financial_Planning_Savings_Plan.pdf.
We want to make our meetings as accessible and inclusive as possible so please let us know in advance if you wish to attend and advise of any specific communication or access requirements: Orla Barron, Equality Lead, 1st Floor, McKinney House, Musgrave Park Hospital, Stockman’s Lane, BT9 7JB Email: [email protected] Tel: 02895048734 Text: 0782 514 6432. If you are unable to attend but would like to comment on the proposals, you can do so (before 5th October 2017) in writing, by email, text or phone to:
Chief Executive Belfast HSC Trust c/o Corporate Communications 1st Floor, Nore Villa KHCP Saintfield Road, Belfast BT8 8BH By emailing: [email protected] By telephone: (028) 9504 4500 Mobile Text: 0782 514 6432 [email protected]
Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland The Bungalow Mr Stephen Reid Stormont House Stormont Estate Chief Executive Belfast Ards and North Down Borough Council BT4 3SH Town Hall The Castle BANGOR BT20 4BT
25 August 2017
Dear Mr Reid,
2018 REVIEW OF PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCIES SECONDARY CONSULTATION
Last September the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland published its Provisional Proposals Report for the 2018 Review of Parliamentary constituencies in Northern Ireland. Thank you for displaying the Provisional Proposals in your council offices.
We consulted on our Provisional Proposals for 12 weeks, which included four public hearings. We have now collated all the responses received, including the transcripts of the public hearings, and intend to publish these on our consultation portal www.bcni2018.uk on Tuesday 5 September 2017. This will trigger the start of a four week secondary consultation period, ending on 2 October 2017, during which time views are invited on the representations received.
We have produced a poster publicising the secondary consultation period so as to make the responses and the transcripts accessible to as many people as possible and to encourage them to participate. I should therefore be grateful if, for the duration of the consultation period, you would agree to display the poster in a prominent place within the appropriate council building(s).
The posters will be delivered directly to Ms Susan Senior in advance of the consultation beginning. A copy of this letter has also been sent to the Mayor, Councillor Robert Adair.
Yours sincerely
Eamonn McConville Secretary to the Boundary Commission
Email: [email protected]; Tel: 028 9052 7041 www.boundarycommission.org.uk