BBC involvement in new Belfast attraction put on hold

A deal between the BBC and Belfast City Council over a new studio has been put on hold after a last-minute challenge from Sinn Féin.

The party says it has "serious concerns about transparency, fairness and governance of the proposal".

The studio would be part of the new £100m Belfast Stories visitor attraction due to be built in the city by 2030.

Belfast city councillors voted in favour of the deal earlier this month by 30 votes to 24, but Sinn Féin are now trying to overturn that decision.

A Sinn Féin spokesperson said: "We have called in this decision because our members have repeatedly sought clarity on the engagement between senior council officials and the BBC regarding the proposed enhanced studio space within the Belfast Stories Project, yet no detailed record of those discussions has been provided.

"Sinn Féin's position remains clear - this flagship development, which will be delivered by Belfast City Council, should not have a financial relationship with a state broadcaster."

The party also suggested the arrangement with the BBC could be subject to legal action.

Within the council, the party is challenging the decision using the 'call-in' process.

SDLP councillor Carl Whyte said he was "very concerned" that the deal has been put on hold.

"Potentially we're seeing the same thing we've seen at Casement Park," he said.

"Further confusion and uncertainty" places the project "at risk", according to the councillor.

"There are so many other capital projects in Belfast, in Northern Ireland, which stop and stall because of political division, because of legal challenges, and because of all these obstacles which means we can get nothing meaningful built here."

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme, Alliance councillor Michael Long said delays to the project are "costing hundreds of thousands of pounds every few months".

Long told the programme that the attraction will be built regardless, but that without the involvement of the BBC the venue "will not have that enhanced space, which will make a massive problem for our local arts sector".

Green Party councillor Áine Grogan said her party had voted against the deal due to a "lack of transparency".

Grogan said councillors had not seen "details of the economic relationship or the legal relationship" between the BBC and the project, and that she was unsure what the BBC's role as a "key user" would entail.

A call-in can be requested by 15% of councillors on a local authority.

It can be requested if they believe a decision was not properly considered on procedural grounds, or that it would disproportionately affect a section of the district on community impact grounds.

The council can then ask a lawyer to examine the decision.

Sinn Féin have more than 35% of the council seats at City Hall with 22 of the 60 available.

The BBC is keen to use the proposed studio but are content not having exclusive rights to it.

It is understood the plan would allow the broadcaster use of the space for 140 days a year for at least 10 years.

It would not be branded as a BBC studio, as other organisations could use it, for exhibitions, film-screenings or other cultural events.

A BBC spokesperson said: "We want our local screen industries to flourish and to do everything that we can to support BBC studio-based production in Northern Ireland into the future.

"Belfast Stories could help to make these ambitions a reality, allowing the BBC, the independent production sector and council to do and achieve more together than would otherwise be possible."

Asked about Sinn Féin's concerns about the "transparency" of the discussions with the BBC, the council defended the process.

A spokesperson said: "Councillors were updated on this proposal through the committee process and party briefings. Elected members decided to proceed with the enhanced studio space at the meeting of full council on 1 July.

"This decision will now be subject to the call-in process and, as such, it would not be appropriate to comment further."

It could be September before the call-in process is completed, if not later.

Building work on the Belfast Stories development is due to begin before the end of next year.

The visitor attraction will be based at the site of the former Bank of Ireland building at the junction of Royal Avenue and North Street.

It will use words, pictures and sounds to illustrate the city's past, present and future.

Plans for the Belfast Stories project were first revealed in 2021.

One of the aims is to boost tourism in the city centre.