ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FORUM : INFRASTRUCTURE SUB-GROUP

 

Meeting held on Tuesday 20 September at 10.30 am in Londonderry Chamber of Commerce

 

 

1.         Report to EDF and Points Arising

 

1.1       Jim McCusker confirmed that the report from the sub-group had been submitted to EDF and discussed at the meeting on 14 September.  Discussion had focussed on two aspects:

 

·                     the poor condition of the rail track north of Ballymena;

·                     problems with statutory planning processes.

 

1.2       The planning issues raised at EDF had been brought to the attention of the Chief Executive of the Planning Service:

·                     the possibility of a fast track process for economically significant projects;

·                     delays in the process caused by consultees who did not work to target timescales for action;

·                     problems encountered by unusual or innovative projects.

Comments were awaited.

 

1.3       It would be important to ensure that any re-organisation of the Planning function (eg resulting from the RPA) did not further elongate the process and, in fact, speeded it up.

 

1.4       The position on the lesser-used parts of the railway network was that funding was in place to maintain current standards and services.  Some track relaying would take place to prevent deterioration in track speeds.  This could lead to improvement but, in other areas, current speed restrictions would remain.

 

2.         ISNI

 

2.1       The Investment Strategy was now expected to be published in October.  It would probably be accompanied by the work undertaken to assess the capacity of the private sector in NI to handle the major infrastructure schemes envisaged.

 

2.2       It would be important to ensure that there were appropriate links between the Economic Vision and ISNI and that relevant concerns were fully explored.  It was agreed that Tony Doran of the Construction Employers Federation should be invited to the sub-group’s next meeting to discuss the readiness of NI companies to deliver on the Investment Strategy.  This would be necessary to ensure that as many of the benefits as possible flowed back into the local economy.  The sub-group would also seek to identify an appropriate person, possibly from SIB, to attend the same meeting to carry out an insightful challenge role.

 

3.         MTSP sub-group report

 

3.1       The Infrastructure sub-group had been asked by EDF to examine the MTSP sub-group report and to identify scenarios which might be modelled.  To do this, it would be important to know the baseline in terms of assumed economic performance; then it would be possible to identify expectations for the future, eg, closing the gap with the UK average, or going beyond the UK average, and to assess the infrastructure needs.

 

3.2       It was agreed to explore whether there were economic criteria which would determine the sequence of spend in ISNI.  Within that, information would be obtained about the way in which decisions would be made on which roads schemes to bring forward as part of ISNI.  Information would also be sought on the economic assumptions underpinning the modelling of road speeds in the Transport Plans flowing from the RTS.

 

3.3       Michael Brennan agreed to produce a short overview of the thinking on Infrastructure which forms part of the current work on drafting the NI Economic Strategy.

 

4.         Future Meetings

 

4.1       The sub-group will meet again on:

 

·                     10 November, 10.30 am, Cookstown District Council offices;

·                     10 January, 10.30 am, Clarence Court, Belfast.