Proceedings of the Regional Development Committee
Minutes of meeting held on Wednesday 11 October 2000
in room 135, Parliament Buildings
1. Minutes of the Last Meeting
2. Matters Arising
3. Statutory Rules
4. Presentation by Trade Union Representatives
5. Railways Task Force Interim Report
6. 2000 Comprehensive Spending Review
7. Any Other Business
8. Date of Next Meeting
Present were:
Mr A Maginness (Chairman)
Mr A Mc Farland (Deputy Chairman)
Mr J Byrne
Mr D Ervine
Mr W Hay
Mr R Hutchinson
Mr P McNamee
In Attendance:
Mrs D Pritchard ( Committee Clerk)
Mr S Fay ( Assistant Committee Clerk)
Mr N Currie ( Executive Support)
Mrs S Young ( Administrative Support)
Apologies:
Mr PJ Bradley
Mr D Hussey
Mr J Wells
Absent:
Rt Hon JD Taylor MP
The Committee meeting commenced at 10.38am.
1. Minutes of last meeting
The minutes of the meeting held on 4 October 2000 were agreed.
2. Matters arising
Visit to Roads Service.
The Committee agreed the programme for a visit to the Roads Service's Western Division in Omagh and Enniskillen on 15 November 2000. The Committee will meet in public session in Enniskillen on that day.
3. Statutory Rules
The Committee noted a further ten Statutory Rules which the Department will make. The Rules will not be laid before the Assembly.
Agreed: That clarification will be sought from the Department on the Statutory Rule entitled Control of Traffic (Belfast) (No 4) Order (Northern Itreland) 2000 which will prohibit left-hand and right-hand turns from Durham Street into Grosvenor Road.
That the Department will be asked about current regulations on taxis using bus lanes and any plans it has to change the regulations.
The Chairman declared the meeting to be in public session.
4. Presentation by Trade Union representatives on public transport funding problems
The representatives joined the meeting at 10.47am. They were:
Mr Robert Carson Regional Organiser GMB
Mr Joe McCusker Regional Officer ATGWU
Mr David Glover Chairman ATGWU (Ulsterbus)
Mr Albert Hewitt Chairman ATGWU (City Bus)
Mr James Hanley Vice President ATGWU (Ulsterbus)
Mr William Morrow Branch Chairman Citybus/Ulsterbus
Mr Hay joined the meeting at 10.54am.
Mr McNamee joined the meeting at 11.02am.
Mr Ervine left the meeting at 11.51am.
They discussed with the Committee the problems for bus services caused by underfunding in Public Transport and the use of private bus companies for public transport.
Agreed: That the representatives will prepare a report for the Committee analysing the problems the bus services are facing and their vision for the future.
The Chairman thanked the delegation for the presentation and they left at 11.54am.
Mr Hutchinson left the meeting at 11.54am.
The meeting returned to private session.
Agreed: That the Clerk will write to the Department to seek advice on the impact on the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company
of the awards of licenses to private operators of bus services.
5. Railways Task Force Interim Report
The Committee considered further the Interim Report and the options contained in it for the future of the railway network in Northern Ireland.
Agreed: That the Committee recommends to the Minister the option of consolidation of the current network but that this solution was a short term one only. The Committee will look at medium to long term options for the future of the network when considering the draft Regional Transportation Strategy.
That the Chairman will write to the Minister to advise him of the decision.
That a press notice will issue explaining the Committee's decision.
6. 2000 Comprehensive Spending Review
The Committee noted the bids proposed by the Department.
Agreed: That the Committee will consider the Department's bids after the Finance Minister has presented the draft budget proposals to the Assembly.
That the Committee will seek a critique of the bids and draft budget from a specialist adviser.
That the Minister and officials should be asked to brief the Committee on the draft budget and Programme for Government.
7. AOB
- Regional Development Strategy
- Presentation by Water Service.
- Recent flooding in parts of Northern Ireland.
- The Committee expressed gratitude to the Committee staff for the high quality of the support provided by them.
The Committee discussed briefly proposals relating to the development of brownfield sites.
Agreed: That the Clerk will write to the Department seeking clarification on the amount of housing land which will be made available from brownfield sites; details of the database to be developed; and details of any white land to be included in the database.
Agreed: That the Committee will receive a presentation from the Minister and the Water Service at its meeting on 25 October 2000.
The Committee expressed concern at the number of occasions recently when flooding has occurred in parts of Northern Ireland.
Agreed: That the Clerk will ask the Department for a report detailing the reasons for the flooding and the steps being taken to stop future floods.
8. Date of next meeting
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 18 October 2000 at 10.30pm. in room 135 Parliament Buildings.
The meeting closed at 12.29pm.