Benefits of a Neighbourhood Plan

Having an adopted Neighbourhood Plan for Marylebone gives a number of benefits.

It enables us to shape the development and growth of the area and generates increased Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) being allocated to the neighbourhood portion, meaning more investment in community infrastructure in the Marylebone area.

What a Neighbourhood Plan Might Include

The Forum is working with Amenity Societies, local councillors, and people who live, work and study in Marylebone to develop policies around an emerging set of ideas, including, but not limited to:

• Wellbeing and Protection of Open Space
• Biodiversity and Greening
• Sustainable Transport
• Site Specific Areas of Growth
• Edgware Road Corridor  
• Small Business Use
• Small Retail Use  
• Basements
• Design and Conservation including Retrofit of Historic Buildings

Neighbourhood Plan Process and Timetable

As the Neighbourhood Plan will be a statutory document, there are a range of stages the Forum must pass through in order to meet the legal requirements of plan-making.

• Policies must comply with and not duplicate Westminster’s City Plan and the Mayor’s London Plan.

• Extensive consultation must be carried out prior to submission of the draft Plan to Westminster City Council, known as Regulation 14 pre-submission consultation.

• A formal submission to the City Council, known as a Regulation 16 submission, must be accompanied by a wealth of evidence justifying policies and detailed accounts of widespread consultation throughout the process.

• The City Council then publicises the draft Plan and carries out a formal consultation, for a minimum period of six weeks.
• Westminster Council then appoints an Independent Examiner to make formal recommendations about whether the draft Plan meets legal requirements and tests.
• The City Council then considers the report from the Independent Examiner and decides whether the draft Plan can go forward to a referendum of residents and businesses in the Forum area.
• A majority must be reached in the Referendum (of both residents and businesses who vote) for the Plan to be brought into force or ‘adopted’ by the City Council.