Other News In Brief

Lord Mayor Welcomes Success Of Civic Dollars Initiative

Belfast Lord Mayor Councillor Ryan Murphy has met with Upper Springfield Development Trust Healthy Ageing participants and Civic Dollars today to find out how people are earning a free Translink day pass or a cup of coffee for time spent in their local park.

People can earn rewards by spending time in parks, open spaces, heritage, and conservation zones around Belfast. Once Civic Dollars are earned, they can be traded for discounted or free services, community classes, or donated to local community groups and charities.

First piloted by Belfast City Council in 2021 during lockdown, the app was funded through the council's 'Amazing Spaces, Smart Places' project, part of the Smart Belfast programme, exploring how data and innovative technologies can create smart solutions for urban challenges and improve city services.

Since the launch of the Civic Dollars app, over 6,100 hours of additional footfall has been recorded in Belfast parks, with this data now being used to consider how to better use city spaces, promote local attractions, increase physical activity, change behaviours, encourage switches to multi-modal transportation, and improve mental wellbeing.

On the success of the pilot, Belfast Lord Mayor Councillor Ryan Murphy said: "We first launched Civic Dollars on the Connswater Community Greenway as part of our Smart Belfast programme, supporting innovators to trial their prototype. It's great to see that Stephen McPeake's innovative app is now being rolled out to benefit many more people and communities.

"Innovation is in our DNA in Belfast. We also place great importance on community, on caring for people – and for our planet, so it's fantastic to see Civic Dollars' success – it proves that tech really can be for good."

The Civic Dollars app can be downloaded and used for free through Google Play and the Apple App Store.

 Appeal For Information On Scaffolding Plank Theft

Police in L'Derry have issued an appeal for information following a report of the theft of scaffolding planks from a carpark in the Strand Road area of the city sometime between 5pm and 6pm yesterday evening, Monday 21 August.

A Police Service spokesperson said: "We know the area would have been busy at the time, and the removal of this material would have involved one individual, or possibly more, and a larger vehicle - possibly a van - may have been used. We’re keen to hear from anyone who was in the area and saw any suspicious activity, or something that seemed out of the ordinary. We also appeal to anyone who is offered this type of material for sale in suspicious circumstances to call us."

The number to call with information is 101, quoting reference number 273 of 22/08/23. A report to police can also be submitted online using the non-emergency reporting form via www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org/.

Alliance Calls For Urgent Review On School Transport Services

Alliance Education spokesperson Connie Egan has called for the recommencement of a review into home to school transport after it was placed on indefinite hold by the Department of Education.

The North Down MLA has said: "The current policies regarding home to school transport are simply not fit for purpose, and this has been widely recognised for a considerable length of time now.

"A public consultation and subsequent review commenced in 2019 and yet, four years later, no significant policy changes have been made. The review was placed on hold pending the outcome of the ongoing Independent Review of Education. This review should have taken place alongside the Independent Review of Education, rather than pupils and parents still having to wait years for any proposals to be brought forward by the Department for Education.

"The interim report on the Independent Review of Education doesn’t even mention Home to School Transport Policy.

"Parents need action, especially while the cost of living crisis continues to impact families across NI. The current policy is simply not fit for purpose with parents struggling to navigate the differences between the six school sectors including controlled, maintained and voluntary grammar. The inflexibility of this policy causes huge issues for families that just miss out on support as, for example, their child lives 2.99 miles from their school in a rural area with no footpaths or streetlights.

"Just over one in four pupils across Northern Ireland currently benefit from this scheme and it is essential that the DoE prioritises this issue in order to provide safe, reliable and fit for purpose home to school transport for all our children and young people."