Town Hall throws out opposing bids for Neighbourhood Forum in Stamford Hill

Linda Kelly (centre) with other members of the new Stamford Hill Neighbourhood Forum committee

Residents in Stamford Hill will not be awarded direct say over planning rights, as two bids for opposing neighbourhood forums have been rejected for the second time by Hackney Council.

The Council will instead set up an Area Action Plan (AAP) which will aim to help ease the “major tensions” surrounding planning issues in North Hackney.

Neighbourhood forums are statutory bodies created by the government’s Localism Act, giving local communities new powers over planning decisions in their own area.

The Stamford Hill Neighbourhood Forum, which wants power over contentious planning decisions such as loft conversions and extensions, applied to the Council last year to become the recognised neighbourhood forum for the area.

But lobby group Hackney Planning Watch, who accused the forum of creating a “political base” in north of the borough, immediately launched a rival bid the North Hackney Neighbourhood Forum (NHNF), with the intention of scuppering the chances of the SHNF.

Hackney Planning Watch then launched a petition calling on councillors to reject both forums, including their own.

Both 2013 applications were rejected on the basis that neither had widespread support from the community and would do little to “enhance community relations”. Following a cabinet meeting last week the fresh bids have also been rejected for the same reasons.

An Area Action Plan (APP), a Development Plan Document (DPD) that provides specific planning policy and guidance for an area where significant regeneration or investment needs to be managed, will instead be set up in order to ease tensions in the North of the borough.

A Council statement on the Cabinet decision read: “The submitted forums as proposed are not considered acceptable on two grounds: firstly neither group includes a representative spread of the whole community as evidenced by the many responses to the publication of both forum applications.

“Secondly, the Council considers that the designation of either of the two submitted forums would not enhance community relations and could be detrimental to community cohesion in the local area.”

Jane Holgate, of Hackney Planning Watch, said: “The rejection of the two proposals clearly indicates that there is no general consensus and indicates that the way forward is for an Action Area Plan.

“Members of Hackney Planning Watch don’t think neighbourhood forums are a good idea because  they are unable to represent the needs of a diverse community like Hackney.

“Most local residents support the idea that planning should remain in the domain of the local authority which is made up of representatives that we have elected, and not in the hands of unelected individuals.”

The Stamford Hill Neighbourhood Forum have not responded to the Citizen’s request for comment.