Neighbourhood Plan

The Hyde Park and Paddington Neighbourhood Area was designated by the City of Westminster in 2014. The Forum was established in 2017. We envisage a vibrant, well-balanced community of established and new residents and businesses in the Hyde Park and Paddington Area.

A partnership of the Hyde Park Estate Association, the Paddington Partnership, PaddingtonNow and Marble Arch BIDs and the Church Commissioners – alongside local residents, businesses and organisations – the Forum has successfully pursued a range of Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) applications, including gateway schemes, the introduction of green infrastructure, public realm projects and measures to improve connections between ‘old’ and ‘new’ Paddington.

The Forum is working towards the creation and adoption of a Neighbourhood Plan. The Plan will be a statutory document used by Westminster City Council to help determine planning applications in the area. Covering a ten-year period, the Plan will also set out priorities shared by the the community for investment, the public realm and improving the neighbourhood.

The Hyde Park Paddington Neighbourhood Plan will sit alongside, and be in compliance with, the Mayor’s London Plan and Westminster City Council’s City Plan.

Benefits of a Neighbourhood Plan

Having an adopted Neighbourhood Plan for Hyde Park Paddington 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 area.

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.

This process can take two years.

What a Neighbourhood Plan Might Include

The Forum’s emerging planning policy approach focuses on the retail centres of Praed Street, Edgware Road and Connaught Village.

We work closely with residents, businesses, landlords and statutory agencies in the area to maximise the opportunities arising from development proposals, investment and transport enhancements, whilst protecting the area’s rich heritage.

The Forum will work within the following key six themes:

Transport

  • We will work with key agencies such as City of Westminster, the Mayor of London and Transport for London to ensure that this vital gateway to Central London and the West End benefits from the transport it deserves. We will ensure that the Forum has a voice in drawing up plans for post-Crossrail, and that local services, cycling provision and onward journeys from Paddington benefit the Hyde Park and Paddington area.
  • We will work with the neighbouring Marylebone Forum to ensure that Edgware Road becomes a more appealing destination for pedestrians and that accessibility and permeability of movement remains a top priority for our members.
Transport

Environment

  • We will ensure that the Neighbourhood Area continues to flourish by encouraging more green infrastructure and public realm improvements.
  • We will use our resources to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour that affect our members, resisting changes that make the area vulnerable to criminal activity.
Environment

Culture

  • We will develop a collaborative approach to raising the cultural profile of the Neighbourhood Area, by working with local partners and attracting established and prestigious cultural brands. Our aim is to create a Neighbourhood that offers something different to the West End for our members, not that competes with it.
Culture

Promotion

  • We will combine resources and efforts to promote the Neighbourhood as a destination of choice for leisure and retail, and protect and celebrate the green spaces, the waterspace and the heritage within Hyde Park and Paddington.
  • Promoting Hyde Park and Paddington as a place to live and do business remains a priority.
Promotion

Investment

  • We will embrace investment across the Neighbourhood, maximising the benefits for our residents and businesses, whilst protecting established local amenity and heritage.
  • We will engage with developers and promoters of schemes in the Paddington Opportunity Area and ensure that the Neighbourhood is seen as welcoming and a rewarding place to do business.
Investment

Partnership

  • We will work with a range of partners to deliver our vision including City of Westminster, The Royal Parks, The Church Commissioners, The Portman Estate, Marble Arch BID , The Canal and River Trust, our neighbouring communities, Crossrail and Transport for London.
Partnership