Proceedings of the Regional Development Committee
Minutes of meeting held on Wednesday, 28 February 2001
in room 135, Parliament Buildings
1. Minutes of last meeting
2. Matters arising
3. Statutory Rules
4. Regional Development Strategy (RDS)
5. Port of Belfast
6. The officials concluded their discussions
7. Regional Transportation Strategy (RTS)
8. Date of next meeting
Present were:
Mr A Mc Farland (Deputy Chairman)
Mr PJ Bradley
Mr J Byrne
Mr D Hussey
Mr G Savage
Mr J Wells
Apologies:
Mr A Maginness (Chairman)
Mr D Ervine
Mr W Hay
Mr R Hutchinson
Absent:
Mr P McNamee
In Attendance:
Mr L Barr ( Committee Clerk)
Mr S Fay ( Assistant Committee Clerk)
Mr N Currie (Executive Support)
Mrs S Young (Administrative Support)
Mr P Doran (Assembly Research Team)
The meeting commenced at 10.51am.
1. Minutes of last meeting
The minutes of the meetings held on 19 February 2001 and 21 February 2001 were agreed.
2. Matters arising
(a) Ring of Gullion.
The Committee received written evidence from the Department and the Assembly's legal adviser about the legal provision for erecting bilingual road signs.
Agreed: That Members will study the evidence and return to the matter at next week's meeting.
(b) Public Service Agreements (PSA).
The Committee received the Minister's response to the Chairman's letter. They also noted that the points raised in the Chairman's letter were not reflected in the PSA submitted in the Programme for Government.
Agreed: That the matter will be raised at the Chairman's liaison group.
That Members can make their views known in the debate on the Programme for Government in the Assembly.
3. Statutory Rules
(a) The Committee noted the details of four Statutory Rules which the Department intends to make. They do not have to be laid in the Assembly.
(b) The Committee considered the Statutory Rules:
Magheralave Road, Lisburn (Abandonment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2001; and
Abbey Street, Bangor (Footway) (Abandonment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2001.
The Department intends to make these Rules which are subject to negative resolution.
The Committee agreed the course of action proposed in the Rules.
4. Regional Development Strategy (RDS)
The Committee discussed the final draft of the RDS and heard the views of the Assembly Researcher.
At 11.33am officials from the Department joined the meeting. They were:
Mr Ronnie Spence Permanent Secretary
Mr Dennis Glass Director of Regional Planning
Mr Ian Raphael Regional Planning Division
They gave a presentation to the Committee on the RDS and answered Members questions on it.
Mr Hussey joined the meeting at 11.35am.
Mr Wells left the meeting at 11.35am.
He returned at 12.01pm.
The Minister joined the meeting at 12.30pm. He referred to the critical importance of the RDS and offered the assistance of officials at future deliberations of the Committee on the subject.
5. Port of Belfast
The Minister, accompanied by Mr Robin McMinnis, Director of Air and Seaports Division, made an announcement on the Port of Belfast. He thanked the Committee for its response to him on the economic appraisal of the options for the future of the Port of Belfast. The recommendations in the response were sensible and pragmatic. As a result he was able to announce a package of measures ( in line with the Committee's recommendations) and he was confident that they would secure the support of all concerned in the matter. The package included:
- the Port remaining as a trust port with extended commercial powers;
- improved public accountability of the Port involving a voluntary Memorandum of Understanding between the Department and Belfast Harbour Commissioners governing the use and disposal of the Port's assets to be followed by primary legislation next year to provide the Department with a Power of Direction on such matters;
- the provision of enabling legislation to allow restructuring of the port to be considered in the future.
The Minister stated that he had forwarded a document to the First and Deputy First Minister on the measures and he would make a full statement when the Committee's proposed Take Note motion to the Assembly is discussed.
The Minister stated that, if a Public Private Partnership (PPP) was considered in the future, the Committee would be consulted.
The Minister and Mr McMinnis left the meeting at 12.58pm.
6. The officials from the Department concluded their discussions with the Committee on the Regional Development Strategy. They left the meeting at 1.20pm
Agreed: That the Committee would consider the RDS further at next week's meeting.
7. Regional Transportation Strategy (RTS)
The Committee considered a letter from Mr Perrin, from the Northern Ireland Branch of the Institution of Highways and Transportation.
Agreed: That Mr Perrin be asked to provide a written submission of the Institution's views on the RTS.
8. Date of next meeting
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 7 March 2001 at 10.30am. in room 135, Parliament Buildings.
The meeting closed at 1.26pm.