To ensure that the Forum is properly set up and that both the Forum and the Neighbourhood Plan it produces are representative of its local community, the legislation lays out a process that must be followed.
A Roadmap for the process of producing a Neighbourhood Plan can be found here .
So far KNPF have completed a number of the required steps. We have:-
- Created an Organising Group of interested stakeholders
- Established a Steering Group with Terms of Reference and elected Officers
- Obtained modest funding for communication expenses and support from a specialised consultant
- Defined the proposed boundaries of the Neighbourhood
- Consulted locally to confirm support for these boundaries
- Applied to the relevant Local Authorities (LAs) to become formally “designated” as a Neighbourhood Forum.
We were designated by both Brent and Camden Councils in autumn 2016.
Now we have to go to the next stage. We need to:-
- Seek the views of local residents, workers, businesses etc on planning issues, objectives and potential action strategies
- Prepare a draft Plan, consult widely and finalise the Plan document for review by Camden and Brent Councils and an independent examiner
- Camden and Brent Councils approve the Plan and they hold a local Referendum to validate it.
- If we achieve all that, the Plan becomes a legally binding document!
If you want to learn more about how Neighbourhood Forums and Neighbourhood Plans work, click here for a plain-English summary of the 2011 Localism Act, or here for the Localism Act in full.
A new round of funding and support for Neighbourhood Forums has just been announced – for four years up to 2022. For details go to My Community/Locality here.