The Northern Ireland Assembly - Proceedings of the Environment Committee

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Proceedings of the Environment Committee
Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday, 8 February 2001
in Room 144, Parliament Buildings.

Present were:-
Rev Dr Wm McCrea MP (Chairman)
Ms C Hanna (Deputy Chairperson)
Mrs J Carson
Mr A Doherty
Mr D Ford
Mr J Leslie
Mr M McLaughlin
Mr E Poots
Mr D Watson

In attendance:-
Mr J Simmons (Committee Clerk)
Mr J Beatty (Assistant Committee Clerk)
Mr J Nulty (Executive Support)
Miss M Devine (Administrative Support)

Apologies:-
Mr M Murphy

The meeting commenced at 10.30am.

1. Minutes of previous meeting

The minutes of the meeting held on 1 February 2001 were agreed.

2. Matters arising from previous meeting

(a) Telecommunication Masts

The Committee Clerk gave a summary of the results of the research on the consultation document issued by the Department.

Mr J Leslie joined the meeting at 10.40am.
Mr E Poots left the meeting at 10.42am.

The Committee discussed the way forward.

Agreed:- (i) To invite representatives of groups opposed to development of Telecommunication Masts to speak to the Committee;

(ii) To invite representatives of the Telecommunications Industry to speak to the Committee

(iii) To invite representatives of the Scottish Parliament to speak to the Committee on their recent Report.

(b) Best Value

The Committee discussed the responses received to date from the Local Councils.

Agreed:- (i) To issue a holding response to the Department;

(ii) To invite representatives of some Councils to speak to the Committee.

Relationship of the Historic Building Council (HBC) with the Environment and Heritage Service.

The Committee discussed the reply from Dr Mowat, the new Chairman of the HBC.

Agreed:- To write to Dr Mowat with the views of the Committee.

(d) The Committee noted the following replies outstanding:-

Ferry proposal - an economic appraisal is awaited from Newry and Mourne District Council;
Local Government Elections - the Secretary of State is to reply on his plans for this year's Local Council elections. A further letter is to be sent to the newly appointed SoS;
Hare Coursing - letters have been sent to both the DoE and DSD;
Public Hire Taxi Drivers Association - their comments are awaited on the Department's response;
Historic Buildings Grant - the Historic Buildings Council (HBC) is to comment on the effect of the moratorium;

3. Policy and Practice for the Protection of Groundwater in Northern Ireland.

The following Officials from the Department joined the meeting at 10.52am:-

Dr Roy Ramsey
Des Lyness
Dr Victoria Crone

After a short presentation, the Officials answered questions from the members.

Mr E Poots returned to the meeting at 10.57.
Mr A Doherty joined the meeting at 11.07am.
Mrs J Carson joined the meeting at 11.17am.

The Chairman thanked the officials for their attendance and they left the meeting at 11.38am.

4. Statutory Rules

(a) Commencement Order - Sections 37 and 38 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995

The Committee discussed the Order.

Agreed:- (i) To contact organisations representing the Blind to ascertain if they have been consulted on this Order;

(ii) To contact the Department to clarify the meaning of the word "etc" within the Order.

(b) Implementation of the EC Directive 1999/32/EC on the Sulphur content of certain liquid fuels in Northern Ireland.

The Committee discussed the Rule.

Agreed:- To clarify some details on the process involved.

(c) Local Government Pension Scheme (Pension Sharing on Divorce) Regns (NI) 2001.

The Committee discussed the replies from the consultees.

Agreed:- That the Committee had no comment on the policy/intention of this Rule.

5. Requests to give Presentations to the Committee.

The Committee discussed the requests from the Woodlands Trust and the British Association of Shooting and Conservation.

Agreed:- That both groups should be scheduled to give presentations to the Committee.

The Committee moved into Closed Session at 11.44am.

6. Deliberations on Draft Report of Inquiry into the Transport used by Children travelling to and from School.

Mrs D Pritchard joined the meeting at 11.45am.

The Committee discussed a paper prepared by the Clerk.

Mr J Leslie left the meeting at 12.11pm.
Ms C Hanna left the meeting at 12.52pm.
Ms C Hanna returned to the meeting at 12.54pm.
Mr M McLaughlin left the meeting at 1.00pm.
Mr D Ford left the meeting at 1.01pm.

Agreed:- That a second draft should be prepared on the basis of the decisions made at today's meeting.

Mrs D Pritchard left the meeting at 1.03pm.

7. Letter to the Chairman.

The Committee discussed the papers supplied by the Department and a further letter from the respondent.

Agreed:- That this issue would be referred to next week's meeting.

8. Date of next meeting

The next meeting will be held at 10.30am on Thursday, 15 February 2001 in Room 144, Parliament Buildings.

The meeting closed at 1.08pm.

1 February 2001 / Menu / 15 February 2001