In 2016 Roman Road Trust launched a local Neighbourhood Forum to bring together local residents and teach them the skills to develop a Neighbourhood Plan for the local area. The Roman Road Neighbourhood Forum is now a fully constituted group with its own governance. You can view their website here.

In simple terms, a Neighbourhood Plan is a document that sets out planning policies for the neighbourhood area. The plan’s policies are used to decide whether to approve planning applications in the area. It’s written by the local community, the people who know and love the area, rather than the Local Planning Authority, and it is a powerful tool to ensure the community gets the right types of development, in the right place.

A Neighbourhood Plan is an important document with real legal force, therefore there are certain formal procedures that it must go through. The role of the Forum and its Steering Committee is to ensure that procedures are carried out to the satisfaction of the approving body (local authority). A Forum is a group of local residents, businesses and community groups who share an interest in planning issues that impact the local neighbourhood.

The project was co-produced by Public Works who organise workshops to help teach skills about neighbourhood planning, citizenship and community development to local residents, businesses and community groups.

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