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PROCEEDINGS OF THE ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
THURSDAY 1 MARCH 2001
IN ROOM 144 PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS

Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday, 1 March 2001 in Room 144, Parliament Buildings.

Present were:-
Rev Dr Wm McCrea MP (Chairman)
Mrs J Carson
Mr A Doherty
Mr D Ford
Mr J Leslie
Mr M Murphy
Mr E Poots

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

Apologies:-
Ms C Hanna (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr M McLaughlin
Mr D Watson

The meeting commenced at 10.25am.

1. Minutes of previous meeting

The minutes of the meeting of 22 February 2001 were agreed.

Mr E Poots joined the meeting at 10.29am.

2. Matters arising from previous meeting

(a) The Water (NI) Order 1999

The Committee discussed a response to the Consultation Document from the Department.

Agreed: (i) To respond to the Department as discussed and to include the comments received from the RSPB and Mr H Avery; (ii) To advise the Department that the Committee will want to speak to officials in the near future about their response to the recent PAC Report on River Pollution in Northern Ireland.

(b) Costs Recovery Scheme (Water (NI) Order 1999.)

The Committee discussed a response to the Consultation Document from the Department.

Agreed: To respond to the Department as discussed and to include the comments received from the RSPB and Mr Avery.

The Committee noted the following replies outstanding:-

(i) Ferry proposal - a reply is awaited from Newry and Mourne Distrtict Council;

(ii) Local Government Elections - a reply is awaited from the Secretary of State; and

(iii) Historic Building Grant - a reply is awaited from the Department.

3. Motor Cycles (Protective Headgear) Regulations (NI) 1999 and the Motor Cycles (Eye Protectors) Regulations (NI) 2000.

The Committee discussed the Department's response to a query on the proposed Statutory Rule.

Agreed: That the Committee had no comment to make at this stage.

Presentation on Technetium 99

The following Officials from the Department joined the meeting at 10.40am:-

Mr Ken Ledgerwood
Mr Robert Larmour

After giving their presentation on the Consultation Document from the Environment Agency (GB), the Officials answered questions from the Members.

The Chairman thanked the Officials for their attendance and they left the meeting at 11.15am.

Agreed: That a draft response should be prepared for the Committee's consideration at next week's meeting the Committee.

5. Presentation on Best Value

The following Members declared an interest as Local Councillors:-

Rev Dr Wm McCrea MP
Mrs J Carson
Mr A Doherty
Mr D Ford
Mr M Murphy
Mr E Poots

The following representatives from Local Councils joined the meeting at 11.17am:-

Mr Brian Hanna - Belfast City Council
Mr Peter McNaney - Belfast City Council
Mr John Millar - Belfast City Council
Mr David Fallows - Ards Borough Council
Mr John McKnight - Ards Borough Council
Cllr Dolores Kelly - Craigavon Borough Council
Mr David Pepper - Craigavon Borough Council

After giving their presentation, the representatives answered questions from the Members.

The Chairman thanked the representatives for their attendance and they left the meeting at 12.50pm.

Agreed: To request the Minister and Officials from the Department to attend before the Committee to answer Members' concerns.

The Committee moved into Closed Session at 12.51pm.

6. Letter to the Chairman

The Committee discussed a draft response together with correspondence that it had received from the Department.

Agreed: That a letter should be sent to the individual concerned advising that the Committee does not consider it appropriate to pursue the matter any further.

7. AOB

(a) Letter from DVTA.

The Committee noted the letter received from the Chief Executive of the DVTA.

(b) Inquiry by the H & FTE Committee

The Committee noted the Terms of Reference for the forthcoming Inquiry.

8. Date of next Meeting

The next meeting will be held at 10.30am in Room 144, Parliament Buildings on Thursday 8 March 2001. It was agreed that Hansard would be in attendance to record the sessions on Telecommunication Masts.

The meeting ended at 1.10pm.

22 February 2001 / Menu / 8 March 2001