Press Releases

26 November 1997
EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER ADDRESSES MAJOR BELFAST CONFERENCE

European Commissioner Monika Wulf-Mathies will make the keynote speech at tomorrow's major Regional Strategic Framework conference in Belfast.

The conference will be chaired by Sir George Quigley, a leading authority on economic affairs in Northern Ireland, and will include international and local speakers.

Canadian Professor Alan Artibise, of the School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia and President of the Cascadia Planning Group in Vancouver, is one of the main speakers. He is a prolific author and has lectured throughout the world on urban studies and planning.

David Lock, a member of the UK Round Table on Sustainable Development, has an international reputation as a leading authority in both greenfield and urban regeneration environments. He has spoken in Northern Ireland before on transportation matters.

The conference follows the decision to merge the Belfast City Region Strategy and Regional Strategic Framework projects. A discussion paper is being published to coincide with the conference to stimulate public debate and facilitate the widest possible input on the key issues which should guide the development of the Region over the next 25 years.

Following the conference there will be an intensive round of discussions with Councils and interest groups in the business, environment, trade union and voluntary sectors. In parallel with these meetings a University Consortium will consult community groups throughout the region to draw the wider community response.

Arrangements are also being made to stage a Youth Forum next Spring and the DOE is committed to publishing a draft Regional Strategic Framework next June. Issues raised by the community will be the subject of a public meeting next Autumn and a final strategy taking these views into account will be published next December.

Anyone interested in responding to the discussion paper should write to The Director, Regional Planning Division, DOE, Windsor House, Bedford Street, Belfast BT2 7LT.

Notes to Editors

Interview and photo-opportunities will be available at the conference which will take place at the Octagon at Balmoral Conference Centre.

Registration is from 9.00am, the conference opens at 9.30am, the keynote address by Commissioner Wulf-Mathies is at 9.45am. Lunch is from 12.45pm to 1.45pm and the conference closes at 4.30pm.