Stormont to investigate Belfast Harbour deal

The Regional Development Committee at Stormont will investigate the circumstances of a deal between the Belfast Harbour Commissioners and Harland & Wolff over the development of land in Belfast Harbour Estate.

Harland and the commissioners have reached an agreement to develop a 130acre business park to be known as Titanic Quarter. But Mr Alban Maginness, chairman of the regional development committee, said its members were unhappy about the way the deal was done.

"There is a general unhappiness within the Assembly and particularly on the committee. We feel that there is a cloud hanging over this deal, and a number of issues need to be clarified," Mr Maginness said.

The land was of great commercial value, he added, and it was important that details of any transaction should be made known so that it could be established that it was in the public interest. The deal was recently the subject of an investigation by the Insight programme on Ulster Television. The programme claimed that a secret deal had been done between Belfast Harbour Commissioners and the owner of the shipyard, Fred Olsen. It claimed this deal gave the Norwegian billionaire's company tenure on Titanic Quarter for 250 years, even though the original leases were due to run out in 18 years.

In a statement, the Belfast Harbour Commissioners referred to the "confusion" surrounding media allegations of a "secret deal". The statement said that this arose from an internal transaction within Harland & Wolff involving the purchase by Fred Olsen Energy of two H & W companies - Harland & Wolff Properties and Titanic Quarter - for £46 million sterling which was announced on February 7th.

According to the statement, the British government had been aware since August 1999 that Belfast Harbour Commissioners and Harland & Wolff were in discussions to regenerate Titanic Quarter.

The commissioners' statement says the claim that Fred Olsen Energy had obtained a 250-year lease for Titanic Quarter from the Harbour Commissioners in place of current leases due to expire in 18 years, was incorrect. The commissioners insist they informed the regional development committee on March 6th that H & W Properties "through their development company Titanic Quarter" would be responsible for the regeneration of the area. The work was due to start once all statutory approvals had been obtained, and in due course normal commercial leases of up to 250 years would be granted in respect of individual sites.

However, the Insight programme insists the deal was secret, because it says, the public and public representatives had not been informed. Mr Maginness said while the outline of the scheme had been published, the full details had not been made known. The committee wanted to examine further the handling of the Titanic Quarter leases by the commissioners and H & W.

"It is my opinion, as chairman of the regional development committee, that an inquiry should be launched to establish whether the public interest has been served in this instance." The Regional Development Minister, Mr Gregory Campbell, confirmed he had not been informed about the details of the scheme.

"I have had a very constructive discussion with both the chairman and chief executive of Belfast Harbour Commissioners," Mr Campbell said. "I have made it very clear that I think as a matter of courtesy they should have informed me and I think they accept now that in hindsight perhaps they should have."

Mr Maginness said the land involved in the Titanic Quarter development was a huge asset, not only for the people of Belfast, but for the whole of Northern Ireland.

A £20 million (#25.4 million) proposal to develop what is described as "an isolated corner" of the River Lagan has been welcomed by community groups in east Belfast.

Pottinger's Quay will be located at the old tram station near Short Strand, and is named after nearby Mount pottinger Road. In three years, the 48,000 sq ft brownfield site will be transformed into office accommodation, retail stores, pent house apartments and a hotel.

Other Laganside initiatives in the pipeline are the construction of residential apartments at the former Sirocco works, also at Mount pottinger, and office space at Titanic Quarter.