Creating the Plan
The road to a neighbourhood plan
Many stages have to be completed before a plan can be completed and become effective. This has taken time to achieve. Central Ealing and its partner in central West Ealing are "front runners" in several ways. Under the London Plan, together we comprise a Metropolitan Town Centre with a range of land uses and some complex problems. Both were designated as "business areas" by Ealing Council. This means there is a mix of residential and commercial uses, which require a balance to be struck between those who live here and those who have business interests. At the time of our referendum, only one other comparable area (Milton Keynes) had successfully produced a business neighbourhood plan, and co-operation between the representatives of both is essential for success. Our timeline to adoption Dec 2010 Government introduces concept of neighbourhood planning (NP) in Localism Bill May 2011 Save Ealing’s Centre (SEC) proposes Ealing should become a NP “front runner” Sept/Oct 2011 NP seminars; SEC and Ealing Broadway Business Improvement District (BID) urge joint action Nov 2011 Localism Act passed. Ealing Council (LBE) applies for front runner status Mar 2012 Government approves Central and West Ealing as front runners with £40,000 grant May 2012 Central Ealing stakeholders steering group applies for recognition of area Oct 2012 LBE approves application, designates central Ealing as a “business area” Dec 2012 Stakeholders agree Central Ealing Forum (CENF) constitution, applies for recognition Apr 2013 LBE recognises Central Ealing and West Ealing Centre as Neighbourhood Forums. CENF starts public engagement exercise. June 2013 Ist CENF AGM; committee elected Nov 2013 Analysis of public input and draft Vision statement presented to Forum members Jan 2014 Identification of policy issues and options started June/Aug 2014 2nd AGM; public consultation on issues and options agreed and launched Oct/Dec 2014 Analysis of the consultation and turning the results into proposed policies Feb/Apr 2015 Drafts checked for conformity with national and London Plan Aug 2015 Submission of draft to LBE Feb 2016 Start of 6 week public consultation (extended to 8 April) on draft plan June 2016 Analysis of comments & plan amendments Sept 2016 Final amendments and submission of plan to LBE Oct 2016 LBE carries out public consultation (6 weeks) Feb 2017 Plan goes to public examination (Thursday 16th) March 2017 Examiner's report received with recommendation to go to a vote, after some changes July 2017 Ealing Council confirms final version of plan and sets referendum date 12 October 2017 Separate referendums for residents and businesses (see page Area and Referendum) Dec 2018 Ealing Council approves final version 1 Jan 2018 Plan comes into force |