King's Cross Neighbourhood Forum

King's Cross Neighbourhood Forum will form by the end of this month- this was agreed last night by about twenty people who live and/or work in the King's Cross area, who met at Camden Town Hall with KXDF. Each member of this new steering group was willing to outline their interest in collaborating in planning for this distinctive and complex mixed-use area in central London. The Neighbourhood Forum would develop a Neighbourhood Plan for the future development of the newly defined King's Cross Neighbourhood Area, which incorporates an area of about a mile radius around the stations with about 20 000 residents (see below).

The Neighbourhood Form, once approved under the Localism Act 2011, would have powers to guide the local Boroughs of Camden and Islington and develop the area according to its own five-year Neighbourhood Plan. The emphasis would be on planning by residents, local workers and people who run small and medium enterprises and who use the area on a day to day basis. The Forum would make use of local resources and local professional services (eg. like this).

The main appeal to me is that the Neighbourhood Forum would be funded and supported by central government to work hyper-locally with the boroughs. The relationship of the Forum with relevant local Ward Councillors and with other authorities like Transport for London would need to be carefully managed. The new Forum's Neighbourhood Plan would be able to incorporate or guide some of the work being developed by the boroughs like the Caledonian Road Scheme (Cr Convery) and the King's Cross Place-Shaping Scheme (Cr Hayward) and the Kings Cross Site Allocations 1-8 just released. Local planning may even affect Transport for London ... (see note 456)

Draft Constitution and Application (15 Mar)

Greg C. (chair)


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