BELFAST CITY COUNCIL MONTHLY MEETING OF THE COUNCIL 1. Summons TO: THE LORD MAYOR, ALDERMEN AND COUNCILLORS OF BELFAST CITY COUNCIL Notice is hereby given that the monthly meeting of the Council will be held in the Council Chamber, City Hall, Belfast on Monday, 2nd November, 2015 at 6.00 pm, for the transaction of the business as set out on the agenda: 2. Apologies 3. Minutes of the Council Meeting of 1st October (Pages 1 - 6) 4. Request to Address the Council re: Budget Cuts at Queen's University and Ulster University - Unite the Union 5. Official Announcements and Memorials 6. Nominations for the Office of High Sheriff of Belfast for 2016 (Pages 7 - 8) 7. Minutes of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee of 23rd October (Pages 9 - 62) 8. Minutes of the People and Communities Committee of 13th October (Pages 63 - 84) 9. Minutes of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee of 14th October (Pages 85 - 110) 10. Minutes of the Licensing Committee of 21st October (Pages 111 - 118) 11. Minutes of the Planning Committee of 20th October (Pages 119 - 128) 12. Notice of Motion re: Invitation to Pope Francis (Councillor McAllister to move) “This Council notes that Dublin will host the 9th World Meeting of Families and recognises the opportunity for the Republic of Ireland to host a Papal visit. The Council further recognises the opportunity to coincide this with a Papal visit to Northern Ireland and therefore the Council extends a formal invitation to Pope Francis to visit Belfast.” 13. Notice of Motion - Northern Ireland Football Team (Councillor Jones to move) “This Council congratulates the Northern Ireland Football Team in reaching the finals of the European Championships for the first time, and a major championship for the first time since 1986. Furthermore, the Council sends its best wishes to the Northern Ireland squad for the matches in France next year. In recognition of the achievement of the players and management, the Council has agreed to hold a reception in the City Hall.” 14. Notice of Motion re: Cancer Services (Councillor Johnston to move) “This Council notes the absolute importance of timely diagnosis and treatment of cancer as any unnecessary delays can result in a reduced likelihood of a successful outcome; accepts that cancer targets are set within established medical evidence; notes that whilst Northern Ireland has become a world leader in cancer research, local waiting times across a range of specialities have deteriorated to unacceptable levels and calls upon the Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety to ensure that cancer services are adequately organised, funded and resourced to ensure that patient safety is not further compromised.” 15. Notice of Motion re: Food Waste (Councillor Corr Johnston to move) “This Council recognises the steps it has already taken to seek to address levels of food poverty and food waste in the City. Council officers ensure that information on food waste is an essential element to the presentations and workshops which they undertake. They promote ways to reduce avoidable food waste and divert any food waste that is produced into the organics collections. They hold food waste demonstrations at events and fun days and work proactively with WRAP on Love Food, Hate Waste and the Ten Cities project – both of which are aimed at reducing food waste. They also work with the Belfast Food Network who are attempting to make Belfast a ‘Sustainable Food City’. Despite all of this effort, the Council still finds the existing situation with regard to food waste in the City to be unacceptable. Accordingly, in order to try to alleviate the suffering associated with food waste, the Council agrees to write to the three members of the European Parliament for Northern Ireland urging them to lobby for the introduction of legislation to make it illegal for supermarkets to destroy unsold food, but rather to donate this to charitable organisations in the City; and agrees also to write to the Minister for Social Development requesting him to review Job Seekers Benefit Sanctions which is one of the biggest factors contributing to people needing to use food banks, with 19,388 sanctions having been placed on benefits claimants last year alone.” 16. Notice of Motion re: learning Disability Day Centres (Councillor Carroll to move) “This Council notes with concern the ongoing consultation by Belfast Health and Social Care Trust regarding the merging of Learning Disability Day Centres in Belfast. Contained within the Trust's document, A Consultation on the Delivery of Learning Disability Day Services for People Living in Belfast is the proposal to merge Fallswater Day Centre in West Belfast with two other centres i.e., Mica Day Centre and Suffolk Day Centre. The Council notes that Fallswater Day Centre provides an invaluable service to the community. A move to merge Fallswater with two separate centres will have an adverse effect on its users, their family members and, indeed, the wider community. Closure of Fallswater would disrupt relationships that have been built over the years between users and staff. It will also disrupt long established routines for users, not least the length of time it would for take them to get from their homes to the new centre, particularly if it is asked to move to Suffolk. The Council opposes the proposed amalgamation of Fallswater Day Centre with two other centres. As part of the ongoing consultation, the Council will submit its formal opposition to this amalgamation, and will write to the Health Minister reiterating our concerns regarding the closure of Fallswater. We will continue to lobby the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and explore ways to ensure Fallswater's doors remain open.” 17. Notice of Motion re: Energy Transition (Councillor R. Brown to move) This Council: recognises the serious challenges presented by climate change but also the significant economic benefits which are created through the development of an energy efficient economy; believes that the council must take a lead in planning for an energy transition and for energy transition to be a central aspect of the Belfast Agenda and all corporate planning documents; agrees to become fossil fuel free by 2050 and to set an interim target date for the city to become carbon neutral; and agrees to implement an energy transition action plan which includes a timeline of actions to be taken and policies to be implemented by the council to support renewable energy generation and energy demand reduction in Belfast. The Members of Belfast City Council are hereby summoned to attend. Chief Executive 28th October, 2015 Council MONTHLY MEETING OF BELFAST CITY COUNCIL Held in the City Hall on Thursday, 1st October, 2015 at 6 o’clock p.m., pursuant to Notice. Members present: The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor (Councillor Carson) (Chairperson); the Deputy Lord Mayor (Alderman Spence); the High Sheriff (Alderman McKee); Aldermen Browne, Convery, Kingston, McCoubrey, McGimpsey, L. Patterson, Rodgers and Stalford; and Councillors Armitage, Attwood, Austin, Beattie, Bell, Boyle, Bradshaw, R. Brown, Bunting, Campbell, Carroll, Clarke, Copeland, Corr, Corr Johnston, Craig, Dudgeon, Garrett, Graham, E. Groves, Haire, Hargey, Heading, Howard, Hussey, Hutchinson, Johnston, Jones, Kennedy, Kyle, Lyons, Magee, Magennis, Mallon, McAllister, McCabe, McConville, McDonough-Brown, McVeigh, Mullan, Newton, Ó Donnghaile, O’Neill, O’Hara, Sandford and Walsh. Summons The Chief Executive submitted the summons convening the meeting. Apologies Apologies were reported on behalf of Alderman Ruth Patterson, together with Councillors Long and McAteer. Minutes of the Council Moved by the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor (Councillor Carson), Seconded by the Deputy Lord Mayor (Alderman Spence) and Resolved – That the minutes of the proceedings of the monthly meeting of the Council of 1st September and the Special Council meeting of 7th September be approved and adopted. Request to Address the Council The Chief Executive reported that a request to address the Council had been received from representatives of the Hope Beacon Day Support Centre. She indicated that the deputation would be seeking the Council’s support for a campaign to prevent the closure of its Centre, which provided mental health services within the Collin area. A46 Meeting of Council, Thursday, 1st October, 2015 The Council acceded to the request and the Lord Mayor welcomed to the meeting Mr. B. Murphy and Mr. J. Crumley. Mr. Murphy indicated that in July the Hope Beacon Day Support Centre had been advised by the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust that its funding would cease at the end of the current financial year. He pointed out that the Centre had opened in 1990 and acted as an independent charity which provided mental health support within the Poleglass and Twinbrook areas. He emphasised the important role which the charity played in treating those who suffered from mental illness and outlined the various programmes of personal development which were provided by the Centre. Mr. Crumley then addressed the Council gave an overview of the care and support which he had received to enable him to address a health condition over the past number of years. He requested that the Council agree to support the on-going campaign to save the Centre from closure. The Lord Mayor thanked the members of the deputation for attending and they retired from the meeting. After discussion, it was Moved by Councillor Magennis, Seconded by Councillor Kyle and Resolved - That the Council agrees to support the campaign to retain the services provided by the Hope Beacon Day Support Centre within the Collin area and, to that end, undertakes to write to the Chief Executive of the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust requesting that the Trust agree to maintain funding for the Centre and to write also to the Health Minister requesting that adequate mental health provision be maintained within the City.