Proceedings of the Environment Committee
Minutes of meeting held on Thursday 10 February 2000 at 10.30am
in room 144, Parliament Buildings.
1.Minutes of the Last Meeting
2. Matters Arising
3. Waste Management Strategy
4. The Department's Budget
5. Any Other Business
6. Date of Next Meeting
Present were: Rev. Dr W McCrea (Chairman)
Ms C Hanna (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr T Benson
Mrs J Carson
Mr A Doherty
Mr D Ford
Mr M Murphy
Mr E Poots
Mr D Watson
In Attendance: Mrs D Pritchard ( Committee Clerk)
Mr S Fay ( Assistant Committee Clerk)
Mr N Currie ( Executive Support)
Mr J Nulty ( Administrative Support)
Apologies: Mr M McLaughlin
1. Minutes of the last meeting.
The minutes of the meeting held on 3 February 2000 were agreed.
top2. Matters arising.
- Meetings' schedule.
- Report from the Department about the overcrowding of school buses.
- The impact of the error in the Highway Code.
- The McQuillan Skip Hire case.
The Clerk of Committees has not yet received a response to his suggestion that the Members affected by the current schedule of meetings should raise their concerns with the Party Whips.
Members were seriously concerned about the contents of the Department's report. The report outlined the maximum number of passengers that various forms of public transport are permitted to carry. The legislation allows for 101 children under 16 years of age to be transported on a 53-seater bus.
The Committee felt that the information regarding insurance for taxis involved in school transport was insufficient.
Agreed: That the Committee Clerk will write again to the Department expressing the Committee's ongoing concerns about the overcrowding of school buses and requesting a more detailed response on taxi insurance.
The Committee believed the Department's response to be inadequate and did not address how and when the error will be corrected.
Agreed: That the Clerk should write to the Department advising that the Committee is unhappy with the response and suggest that an addendum correcting the error is attached to all copies of the code still to be issued.
The Members discussed the contents of the papers released by the Department and in particular the request from Antrim Borough Council that a formal "Hazop" Operational Risk Assessment Analysis should be completed.
Agreed: That the Clerk will write to the Council about the analysis.
That the Clerk should also write to the Department asking why it had not carried out a "Hazop" Operational Risk Assessment.
top3. Waste Management Strategy.
The Chairman welcomed Mr Jim Lamont Chief Executive, Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) and Mr Stephen Aston Head of Waste Management and Contaminated Land.
The Chairman thanked both for their efforts in compiling the report in such a short period to address the many questions posed by the Committee. The officials answered further questions orally and informed the Members that:
- The publication of the document is urgently required so that breaches in European directives can be corrected and outstanding planning permissions can be processed.
- The costs of the strategy and its implementation cannot yet be estimated with any reasonable accuracy.
- Promotion and advertising of waste management is essential and links with the Department of Education have been established to ensure children are educated in waste management matters.
- A series of secondary legislation will follow the publication of the Strategy to allow for its implementation, including the enforcement elements of it.
The Chairman thanked the officials for their presentation and also thanked the Clerk for preparing the detailed questions which proved very useful.
The officials left the meeting at 11.50am.
Agreed: The Committee would like more time to consider the draft document but will support its publication if circumstances prevent further scrutiny. The Chairman will write to the Minister informing him of the Committee's decision.
top4. The Department's budget.
The Chairman welcomed Mr Gordon Welsh, a consultant on economics, planning and the environment. Mr Welsh answered questions on the Department's budget.
Agreed: That the Clerk will send the detailed questions to the Department and ask for replies to be sent by the next meeting.
top5. AOB
- The Chairman reported that he had met with the Minister on 9 February 2000 to discuss concerns raised by Castlereagh Borough Council about waste management including extensions to permissions for landfill sites.
- The Deputy Chairperson reported that she had met with representatives of Belfast Civic Trust on 3 February 2000 to discuss concerns about proposed developments in Belfast City centre.
- Concern was raised about errors in calculating the General Exchequer Grant.
Agreed: The Clerk will write to the Department raising the Committee's concerns about the errors and copy the letter to the Committee for Finance and Personnel.
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