The Old Oak Neighbourhood Forum was designated on 9th February 2018. Designation by the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation means that the Forum now has the legal powers to prepare a neighbourhood plan for the 22 hectare area previously designated by the OPDC in September 2017,
A copy of the OPDC report recommending designation of the Forum can be downloaded from this link OPDC report on OONF designation. More background information is available here from the OPDC website
We would have welcomed decisions last autumn from OPDC and London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham to designate the whole of the 280 hectare area for which we had originally applied (shown by the blue boundary on the map below). Of the respondents to the second round of consultation on designating the Forum, 33 people expressed disappointment that this had not happened.
We continue to believe that the OPDC Board and LBHF Council were unnecessarily cautious in the decisions they took to ‘refuse’ the original proposals from our Forum. Neighbourhood planning was introduced by the 2011 Localism Act to give local people more say in our national planning system. There is growing recognition that the national system is slow, disconnected from the views of most of the public, and unresponsive to changing economic and market conditions.
Our recent posts give more details of how the OPDC Local Plan requires further review and redrafting. The forecast timetable for adoption of the final Local Plan has been delayed (again) until Spring 2019. Given the significance of the changes to be made, a further round of statutory public consultation may be required.
Area designated by OPDC has green boundary. Old Oak Estate designated by LBHF has brown boundary. Original OONF proposed area in blue.
Please get in touch by emailing oonforum@gmail.com if you wish to join the Forum as a member of an ‘affiliated member.’ There is no membership fee to join.
Background information
Since April 2015, the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) has has had planning powers for the area within the red boundary on the map above. This body is overseen by Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London.
The chair of the OPDC Board is Liz Peace CBE. The Board includes the Leaders of the Boroughs of Brent, Ealing and Hammersmith & Fulham along with a number of appointed members.
Current plans for a future Old Oak involve 24,500 new homes being built in the next couple of decades. In Old Oak and neighbouring Park Royal, 55,000 new jobs are due to be created.
The OPDC is in the late stages of preparing a new Local Plan for Old Oak and Park Royal. A first round of public consultation took place in early 2016. A second round started on June 29th, and ended on September 11th 2017. Details of the Draft Local Plan and the consultation exercise are at this link.
Neighbourhood forums are granted powers under the 2011 Localism Act to prepare a neighbourhood plan for their area. When completed, these plans are voted on at a local referendum. If supported by a majority of those voting, the policies in a neighbourhood plan become part of the statutory development plan for the area. Future planning decisions then have to be in accordance with these policies.
We want the existing communities at Old Oak to be integrated successfully in what will be a whole new part of London. We want the best examples of successful urban living across Europe to be followed. We also want lessons to be learned from past unsuccessful regeneration projects in the UK. The OPDC claims to want the same. But when it comes to real ‘engagement’ of local people, its actions to date have spoken louder than its words.
Other pages on this website give more details of who we are, the story so far, and about the OPDC Local Plan.