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Neighbourhood Plans

Neighbourhood planning allows residents, employees and businesses to come together through a 'Neighbourhood Forum' and produce a neighbourhood development plan. Once adopted, the neighbourhood development plan can be used to guide decisions on planning applications within the neighbourhood area. Find out more by visiting the Government's Planning practice guidance on Neighbourhood Planning.

Neighbourhood planning gives communities direct power to shape the development and growth of their local area. They are able to develop a neighbourhood plan which will support the grant of planning permission for the new buildings they want to see go ahead.

A Neighbourhood Plan may address a wide range of social, economic and environmental issues. The number and form of the issues addressed are dependent on what the neighbourhood forum considers to be relevant to the neighbourhood.
A neighbourhood plan sits alongside our Local Plan for the area, which provides policies and guidance at both a borough-wide and a neighbourhood scale
Your Neighbourhood Plan must be in line (known as "general conformity") with the strategic policies in the area

Like other planning policy documents, an adopted neighbourhood plan is reported as part of the local authority search within the conveyancing process for each home, business or other property is sold or bought within the neighbourhood area.

Designating a Neighbourhood Area and creating a Neighbourhood Forum

The neighbourhood planning regulations set out the process by which community groups can apply to the council to be recognised as a neighbourhood forum for a specific area that they identify, known as a neighbourhood area. If communities identify a neighbourhood area that crosses different London borough boundaries, then this proposal will need to be submitted to all relevant local planning authorities.
The first step in the process is for a community group to make an application for the designation of a neighbourhood area. Your application must include the following:

  • A map identifying the area that you want designated as a neighbourhood area
  • A statement explaining why this area is considered appropriate for designation
  • A statement that the organisation or body making the application is either: a) a parish council, or b) capable of being designated as a neighbourhood forum

The second step, which can be carried out simultaneously, is that the same group can submit an application to be the neighbourhood forum for that area.

If the neighbourhood forum is designated, no other organisation or body can be designated for that neighbourhood area until the designation expires or is withdrawn. A neighbourhood forum designation expires after five years from the date that it is made.

The application must include the following:

  • The name of the proposed neighbourhood forum
  • A copy of their written constitution.
  • The name of the Neighbourhood Area and a map clearly identifying it.
  • Contact details for at least one member (which will be made public).
  • A statement explaining how the neighbourhood forum meets the following conditions:
    • That the Neighbourhood Forum has been established for the express purpose of promoting or improving the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of an area that consists of, or includes, the neighbourhood area concerned.
    • That there are at least 21 members of the Neighbourhood Forum who live in the area, work in the area or are an elected member for any part of the area.

Merton's neighbourhood planning application form

Once a community group has been designated as the neighbourhood forum for their specific neighbourhood area, then this group can produce a neighbourhood plan for that area. Find out more by visiting government's advice pages on neighbourhood planning Government's Planning practice guidance on Neighbourhood Planning.

Neighbourhood plans proposed in Merton

In early 2021 a community group called PlanWimbledon applied to Merton Council to designate a proposed neighbourhood area predominantly around Wimbledon and to become the designated neighbourhood forum for this area. More information on the community group's reasons for deciding upon this boundary and for what they would like to do as the neighbourhood forum for this area is available in their application form below.

Find out more about Plan Wimbledon's proposed neighbourhood forum and the map of their proposed neighbourhood area on their website https://planwimbledon.org/

Public consultation took place between 12 April and 23 May 2021. Thank you to those of you who responded to our consultation on PlanWimbledon's Neighbourhood Area and Neighbourhood Forum proposals

PlanWimbledon Consultation Responses April to May 2021

Following consultation we made decisions on the proposals at the meetings below

Contact details

If you would like more information on neighbourhood planning in Merton, please contact the Future Merton Team.
Email: future.merton@merton.gov.uk
Telephone: 020 8545 3837