Tabled Question in the Name of Cllr A Henry

"Who made the decision to, and when was the decision made, to close Portglenone Public Toilets and what account was taken of the impact this decision would have on people with disabilities prior to it being made?"

The decision to permanently close the public toilets located on Portglenone Main Street was an operational decision made by the Tier 3 Manager and the Director of Operations following an operational review in early 2025. This decision was based on a number of factors including cost, accessibility, and health and safety concerns.

Initially, the intention had been to refurbish the existing toilet block. However, once detailed drawings and costings were obtained, the estimated cost exceeded £70,000. A significant challenge was the difference in levels between the footpath and the toilet floor, which made compliance with Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) requirements and Building Regulations difficult. Achieving level access would have required substantial structural changes, including the creation of a corridor through the ladies’ facilities to access the gents’, reducing the overall footprint and capacity of the block. 

Additionally, the entrance to the toilets opened directly onto a busy footpath adjacent to high-volume traffic, presenting a health and safety risk, particularly for users with mobility issues.

Given these constraints, the value proposition of investing £70,000 in a facility that would still offer limited accessibility, and reduced capacity was deemed poor. It was concluded that the funding could be better allocated to other areas where greater public benefit could be achieved.

To ensure continued access to public conveniences, the Council has arranged for the opening of a new toilet facility at Portglenone Marina. These toilets are located behind the play park and community centre, in a popular area with adjacent car parking. The facilities include:

• 1 disabled toilet
• 3 female toilets
• 2 male toilets
• 2 urinals
• Wash basin facilities

Please note that the toilets on Portglenone Main Street will close permanently on Tuesday 30 September 2025 at 5pm. Signage will be placed at the site with directions to the new Marina toilet facility, which will open to the public on Wednesday 1 October 2025. The new facility will be open Monday through Sunday from 9am to 5pm.

It is important to note that councils in Northern Ireland do not have a statutory duty to provide public toilets. Provision is discretionary under legislation such as the Public Health Act 1936 and the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976. While the Council aims to support accessibility and public convenience where feasible, decisions must also reflect practical constraints and responsible use of public funds.

"Please provide a complete breakdown of all monies received as part of the Executive Office's Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy by (i) activity and (ii) group. Please also detail any other costs related to the delivery of projects including council overheads, admin fees etc."

1.  Please provide a complete breakdown of all monies received as part of the Executive Office's Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.

A.  £150,000 – Letter of Offer details £50,000 Momentum Funding + £100,000 Local Change Fund by activity and group.

B.  Local Change fund totalling £100,000 – 5 Awards

• Women's Aid ABCLN  £24,960
• Larne Well-Being Hub  £24,170
• Irish FA Foundation  £24,860
• Turning Point NI  £18,110
• CHILL (Carrickfergus)  £7,900

C. Momentum Funding TOTAL of £50,000

C1. Northern Domestic & Sexual Violence and Abuse Partnership (NDSVP) £40,000

Key activities as part of the project with NDSVP will include:

• New training to Council and other organisations/facilities across MEA combining Safe Place and PSNI Power to Change
• Specific EVAWG training for women’s groups and community groups
• New online resources and toolkits
• The development of a new programme to support women with complex needs, focusing initially on mental health settings
• Further adjustments to this project outline must be discussed and agreed at project liaison meetings with MEABC key link officer.

C2. Council led Programmes    £10,000

These include programmes such as “Safer Steps” SAFER STEPS - MEABC Parks and Open Spaces Development Team recognises the importance of women and girls accessing and enjoying our Blue and Green Spaces. SAFER STEPS sessions are an opportunity to head out for a moonlit walk with like-minded women. They are joined by Local Neighbourhood Officers who share personal safety advice and answers any questions participants may have.

2. Please also detail any other costs related to the delivery of projects including council overheads, admin fees etc. 

All associated costs were absorbed by Council.

Tabled Question in the Name of Cllr A Clarke

"To ask the number, capacity and location of all HMOs in the Borough, and details of any enforcement taken in each of the past 5 years".

“By way of background, it should be noted that if an owner plans to rent a property as an HMO, the property must have an HMO licensed in place in accordance with the Houses in Multiple Occupation Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (“2016 Act”).

HMOs are required to meet higher physical and management standards that the wider private rented sector before a licence is granted.

All HMO licences are granted with standard licensing conditions, the council may also include additional conditions it considers appropriate for regulating the management, use and occupation of an HMO.

The granting, refusal, variation or revocation of an HMO licence in the borough rests with Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.

However, Belfast City Council’s NIHMO Unit, on behalf of each of the local councils across Northern Ireland is responsible for managing the HMO Licensing Scheme application process, which will include processing all licence requests, validating the requests, checks and inspections of HMO properties, issuing enforcement notices for unlicensed HMOs or breaching licensing conditions.

A property is defined as an HMO if: 

• three or more people live there (not related), and 
• they form at least three households, and 
• at least one person pays rent or other consideration is made (e.g. the property is provided as part of the occupant’s terms of employment).

The owner of an HMO and the managing agent (if any) commit criminal offences if they allow accommodation to be occupied as an HMO without a licence being in place.

Additionally, the HMO Act creates the criminal offence of allowing an HMO to be occupied in excess of the number of persons authorised on the licence.

Furthermore, an owner, agent or other person named in the licence commits an offence if they breach a condition included in a licence.

The 2016 Act also allows the council to serve notices to bring the property up to the required standard and to maintain the property at that standard during the duration of the licence.

In relation to this specific query,

There are 11 HMOs registered in the MEA area (two in Carrick & nine in Ballymena) with occupancy numbers varying between 3 to 9 with one multiple address property having 20 occupants.

Over the past 5 years, enforcement action taken has included 61 investigations and 12 Statutory notices served as follows:-

 Kevin Bloomfield, Manager HMO unit is happy to attend a Council meeting to explain the statistics and work of the unit, if this would be considered helpful.

"Which MUGA pitches within Braid constituency are locked over the weekend when not in use? i.e. ones which have not been booked by groups. 

If such MUGA pitches are locked when not in use, could this be reviewed to allow for youths to use them on a casual basis?"

“There are currently 5 bookable MUGAs in the Ballymena area, Ahoghill, Broughshane, Kells, Clough and Wakehurst MUGAs.

They are blocked booked by clubs and casual users throughout the football season, Monday through Saturday, mainly from 6pm to 10pm Monday through Friday and morning times on Saturdays.

During all School holidays the MUGAs are opened by council staff to service the need for children in the community from 9am to 4pm for free use on all 5 sites. 

To open MUGAs for free use over weekends will require council staff to open and close at a cost.

In the event a community rep is appointed to each site they will need to ensure the opening and locking of the sites and be on site to move users off in the event a booking comes in.

In general, they are bookable sites and can be purchased for a group of users at £9.50 and £18.95 Junior rates.

Council officers would not be in favour of allowing youths to use the MUGAs on a casual basis without a booking, given the additional resources required for same.”

"There was an agreement at the full council meeting on 17 February to hold a workshop for elected members on the plans for council transformation.

"Could we please get an update on when this workshop will be held?"

“Following agreement at Personnel Committee on 14 January and ratification on 17 February, work to procure external support for the recruitment of new permanent directors for the Council has been progressed as part of the initial stages of taking forward the wider Transformation Programme for the Council. 

The Interim Chief Executive has set up a number of meetings with the individual political groups of Council to brief Members on progress.”

“At the Council meeting on 17 February, during the discussion about the Armed Forces Covenant, the minutes note the following:

Cllr Barr, in supporting the renewal, requested that Council consideration be given to joining the Blue Light Card scheme for veterans and that it pledged to support ‘hard to reach’ veterans.

The Blue Light Card is a discount service for the emergency services, NHS, social care sector, teaching communities and armed forces.

The full eligibility list is set out below:

4x4 Response; Ambulance Service including retired; Blood Bikes; British Army; Cave Rescue; Community First Responders; Dental Practice; Fire Service including re-tired; Highways England Traffic Officer; Home Office; HM Armed Forces Veterans; HM Coastguard; HM Prison & Probation Services; Lowland Search and Rescue; MoD Civil Servants; MoD Fire Service; MoD Police; Mountain Rescue; NHS including retired & volunteers; Optometrists; Police including retired; Red Cross; Reserve Armed Forces; RNLI; Royal Air Force; Royal Marines; Royal Navy; Search and Res-cue; Social Care Workers; and Teachers.

Members would need to consider the affordability and costing of providing such a wide discount.

Following the Council meeting, contact was made with leisure to explore whether veterans could be included in any concession scheme.

This has led to the discovery of a corporate pricing policy which dates from 2016.

This policy would need to be re-viewed and updated.

The policy would also need to go through the Council’s screening processes.

Officers are currently looking at this and will bring a report back to CRPG by way of update.”