Are you Familiar with Roman Road Neighbourhood plan?

If you're not familiar with what a Neighbourhood Plan is you'll know by the end of this blog.

In brief:

Neighbourhood planning was first introduced in 2011 through the Localism Act. It allows residents and businesses to have their own planning policies in a neighbourhood plan.

Tell me more:

It is a document that sets out planning policies for the neighbourhood area. Planning policies are used to decide whether to approve planning applications. The document is written by the local community who love, live and work in the area, rather than the Local Planning Authority. As the neighbourhood plan is a document with legal force it must go through formal procedures. The role of the Forum and Steering Committee is to ensure that procedures are carried out to the satisfaction of the approving body, the local authority.

We've listed some of the benefits of a Neighbourhood Plan:

• It can protect areas from types of change (such as too much of one type of business)
• It can include policies to influence new building design, or alterations to existing buildings
• It can protect or propose the creation of open spaces (allotments, play areas, parks and gardens, and important historic assets)
• It enables the local community to retain more of the money collected from development, to spend on local projects
• It gives us, the residents of the Roman Road Bow area, more say and control over our community
• It enables us to ensure we protect the things we value the most
• It enables us to manage change effectively and ensure they benefit our community
• It allows us to encourage developers to build what we believe our community needs and wants. (such greater numbers of affordable houses, developments more suited to elderly residents)
• It can say where and what type of development should happen (new housing, or for businesses)

These are some of the things that could be included in a Neighbourhood Plan for Roman Road and Bow:

• Improvements to public realm (pavements, squares, pocket parks, underused spaces)
• Traffic and congestion (cycling routes, buses, one-way systems)
• A community building (a multi-use space run by the community for the community)
• Support the high street (fewer betting shops, protecting key services, look and feel, licensing, evening economy, WIFI)
• Preservation and celebration of heritage (East End, Wiley, Suffragettes, industry, protecting traditional housing stock)
• Security (lighting, policing)
• Art and culture (community events, street art, art installations)
• Eco inititiaves (green roofs, vegetable planters, pocket parks)

Do you understand Neighbourhood Plans now?