{"id":12,"date":"2016-10-10T21:17:16","date_gmt":"2016-10-10T21:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oldoakneighbourhoodforum.org\/?page_id=12"},"modified":"2025-10-30T22:59:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T22:59:27","slug":"who-we-are","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/oldoakneighbourhoodforum.org\/?page_id=12","title":{"rendered":"Who we are"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Old Oak Neighbourhood Forum began meeting as an ‘interim’ body in early 2016.\u00a0 It was formed by a number of residents associations within and on the borders of the Old Oak area.\u00a0 Several of these associations had already been working together in responding to proposals from HS2 and in lobbying Parliament on the details of\u00a0 the High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Act 2017)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In February 2018, after lengthy negotiations, the OPDC approved the designation of the Forum (under the 2011 Localism Act provisions for neighbourhood planning).\u00a0 This designation was renewed for a further five years after a public consultation held in 2023.<\/p>\n

The Forum operates via monthly open sessions, held on Zoom.\u00a0 Membership is made up of 75 members who live or work in the neighbourhood area as designated by OPDC.\u00a0 \u00a0There are a further 80 ‘affiliated members’ who live in the wider area or who have joined because of an interest in the future of Old Oak.\u00a0 These include local MPs and ward councillors.<\/p>\n

All members are invited to the Zoom sessions.\u00a0 Slides are used and we try to avoid using planning jargon.\u00a0 After each meeting the slides are added to this website.<\/p>\n

A core group of individuals have been involved with the Forum in the decade since it was formed.\u00a0 From 2015-18, the OPDC Board included a seat for a ‘community member’ which provided a form of access to the Board for local residents.\u00a0 This arrangement ceased in a 2018 ‘refresh’ of Board membership.<\/p>\n

After several years of lobbying to restore a more formal and regular avenue for dialogue between local residents and the Development Corporation, the Board agreed in July 2025 to the establishment of an OPDC Residents Panel.<\/p>\n

This body is chaired by Dame Karen Buck as OPDC Board chair and involves senior managers from OPDC meeting with 8 residents nominated by an agreed set of ‘nominating bodies’.\u00a0 \u00a0These are the three neighbourhood forums established in and adjoining the OPDC boundary and five of the local residents associations.<\/p>\n

These individuals are amongst those who have had a long involvement with OPDC and HS2.\u00a0 They are also members of OONF and in several cases chair their own residents associations.\u00a0 \u00a0The terms of reference of the Residents Panel allow for additional ‘nominating bodies’\u00a0 be added, as and when these emerge.\u00a0 Current resident membership of the Panel is as below.<\/p>\n

Amanda Souter, Old Oak Neighbourhood Forum (and former OPDC Board member 2015-18)
\nColin George, Harlesden Neighbourhood Forum
\nHenry Peterson, St Quintin & Woodlands Neighbourhodod Forum
\nFaye Thomas, Friends of Wormwood Scrubs
\nTheresa Magee, Wesley Estate RA
\nMark Walker, The Island Site RA (TITRA)
\nEwa Cwirko-Godwyka, Midland Terrace\/Shaftesbury Gardens
\nMaren Strandevold, Wells House Road RA<\/p>\n

Since 2015, the Forum has been advised (in a voluntary capacity) by Henry Peterson, chair of the St Quintin and Woodlands Neighbourhood Forum.\u00a0 He convenes and chairs the monthly Zoom sessions, administers this website and can be contacted at oonforum@gmail.com.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Forum has found that it works well to hold monthly Zoom sessions, to which all members are invited.\u00a0 This allows members to participate as and when there are issues of concern to them, while a core group are in regular attendance.\u00a0 We have no staff and no funding from any source, so do not require a ‘treasurer’ or some of the adminstrative arrangements that might be expected from other forms of not-for-profit or community organisation.\u00a0 All input is provided by volunteer effort.<\/p>\n

Membership of the forum is open to all. Please email oonforum@gmail com<\/a> if you would like to join us.<\/p>\n

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The Old Oak Neighbourhood Forum began meeting as an ‘interim’ body in early 2016.\u00a0 It was formed by a number of residents associations within and on the borders of the Old Oak area.\u00a0 Several of these associations had already been working together in responding to proposals from HS2 and in lobbying Parliament on the details … Continue reading “Who we are”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldoakneighbourhoodforum.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldoakneighbourhoodforum.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldoakneighbourhoodforum.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldoakneighbourhoodforum.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldoakneighbourhoodforum.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/oldoakneighbourhoodforum.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1050,"href":"https:\/\/oldoakneighbourhoodforum.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12\/revisions\/1050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldoakneighbourhoodforum.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}