Ilex Urban Regeneration Company
Board Meeting – 15th September 2011
___________________________________________________________________________
Present:
Sir Roy McNulty
Geraldine Keegan
Frank Hewitt
Aideen McGinley
John Meehan
Michael Heenan
Matt McNulty
Margaret Lee
In Attendance:
Mel Higgins
Jenny Pyper
Gerard McCleave
Tom McCartney
Brian Doherty
Brenda Fraser
Minute Taker:
Gail Downey
1. Apologies from Colm McKenna, Deirdre Heenan & Alan Maitland
2. Conflict of Interest - Frank Hewitt declared his interest as Chair of the N.I Science
Park
3. Minutes of the last meeting were agreed
4. Action List Noted - agreed to adopt status of Actions
Secretariat
5. Chairman’s Update
Sir Roy confirmed his intention to step down as Chair of the Board early next year.
He advised that he had received a letter from OFMdFM advising that Ilex should
not over commit to the implementation of the One Plan as all the necessary
funding is not immediately available.
He suggested that the October Board meeting be a Strategic meeting to consider
Governance issues, emerging ideas on the Corporate and Business Plans and the
implementation of the One Plan. This was agreed.
6. Chief Executives Update
 Parade Ground
Tom advised of potential overspend on the Parade Ground exceeding the 10%
contingency available on the project, and of our intention to advise the Depts. and
to seek approval.
Aideen advised that we are on schedule for opening the Parade Ground at
Christmas with a celebratory opening event.
John Meehan requested early and detailed engagement with Derry City Council
with particular regard to Halloween and Christmas celebration events as well as
planning for the Clipper event.
Sir Roy requested a detailed paper to advise on the way forward with regard to the
ongoing animation of Ebrington, beyond these initial plans.
The Board approved a £130k spend on the opening ceremony + a £150k spend
on a subsequent animation programme this financial year
Tom to bring
report on
implications
to October
Board
Caoimhin to
engage with
DCC in Event
programmes
Caoimhin to
outline
animation
proposals

Fort George and Science Park
Aideen advised that there was likely to be slippage on the target for the
completion of the decontamination of Fort George from October 2011 to Spring
2012 but that we had CPD assurance that the Science Park project coudo still
progress.
Frank Hewitt raised concerns around the potential for significant adverse impact
which this would have on the NISP objectives which were approved and
predicated on a model which had now slipped.
Aideen advised that it was proposed to take a twin track approach with regard to
the NWRSP and the Development Framework to expedite the project.
Aideen advised of the meeting on the 16th September at which the NWSP would
be presented to the 5 Councils which will lead the application to SEUPB. Michael
Heaney assured the Board that this was a tried and tested model and that, as long
as Councils were assured that the £15 million was additional funding, the model
would work well to support the application.
John Meehan advised that he had received a letter from SEUPB to confirm that the
£15 million is indeed additional funding.
Brian Doherty requested early engagement with the Department with regard to
the provision of evidence based costings for the required infrastructure for NWRSP
- to enable the Department to secure funding.
Sir Roy agreed that the proposal needed to ensure alignment of plans for
decontamination, infrastructure and Development framework with the key
milestones for the NWRSP.
Sir Roy requested a detailed proposition for the October Board.
Frank Hewitt advised that interviews for a Project Manager were imminent and
that the agreement between Ilex & NISP to share the cost needs to be finalised.
On appointment the post holder will concentrate on Fort George and should work
closely with an identified Ilex member of staff who would be the single point of
contact for Ilex on the NWRSP project.
Aideen advised that two project boards have been established.
1. Fort George – with a subgroup to progress NWRSP
2. Ebrington

October Monitoring
Aideen advised the Board on the proposals submitted for October monitoring and
that Ilex is on track to spend budget allocations. This was confirmed by Mel Higgins.
Tom to
produce a
report for
October
meeting on
the
Development
framework
for Fort
George and
Ebrington
and
implications
for the
Science Park

BDO Review
Governance issues will be considered at the October Board as a substantive item.
It was noted that there is as yet no formal response from Ministers.
Brian Doherty advised that the DSD Minister had approved the
report but that OFMdFM had not at this stage. He further advised that
Both Departments had accepted the sunset clause. Sir Roy expressed serious
reservations on behalf of the Board.
Frank Hewitt commended the Executive team on the progress made to
date moving forward and Brian Doherty reiterated the sentiment.

Accommodation
Board approved the remodelling of accommodation in Exchange House to
accommodate increasing numbers of staff, including use of the Boardroom with the
long term aim of moving to Ebrington by 2013.
 Living Lab
Board approved Ilex share membership fee of £7.5k with DCC to join the Living Lab
network.

Fair Fund
Board noted the potential opportunity presented by this fund with particular
regard to the development of a vital venue for the City of Culture.

AOB
Aideen asked the Board to note the ongoing successful Ministerial meetings and
thanked the Board members for their input.
 Development Frameworks
Tom tabled a paper and outlined the four options to progress. He will bring a
detailed solutions paper to the October Board after discussion with CPD and
approval from the Depts. regarding the proposed methodology.
Tom to
update next
Board
Aideen asked the Board to note the successful OECD visit and advised that Gerard
would provide feedback to the October Board.
Gerard to
update next
Board

Date of next meeting
Agreed as 20th October – with strategic focus.
.