A new era for the Forum

These are exciting times for Westbourne Forum… through years Westbourne Forum has continued to reflect on the future of the community and to work with local people and organisations to improve the quality of life in Westbourne, but new things are to come.

The Localism Act 2012 provides for local communities to create their own Forums, with recognised planning competences which will make sure that local people always have a strong say in any building work, renovation or public realm changes that require planning.

The first step towards the birth of our new Westbourne Forum was taken in March, when our neighbourhood area was defined and recognised by Westminster City Council. The second step took place in April, when a group of local residents and representatives of local community organisations accepted to become founding members of the new Forum

A Constitution was drafted and, together with a mission statement explaining what the founders proposed the new Forum to be in the community, was sent to the Council, and our accreditation as the new Neighbourhood Forum for Westbourne was officially announced on 25 July. The next step is for the new Forum to prepare a neighbourhood plan to be submitted to the local community for approval as a statutory document which will inform all future planning procedures.

In the autumn, all members of the existing Board will step down, and there will be a call for candidates to stand for election to the new steering body, the Forum Committee. This is planned to happen at a Community event, and preparations for that will begin presently.

We hope to have as many candidates as possible, and we wish to have a diversity of backgrounds represented, to reflect the multicultural character of our area and ensure that the Forum continues to work effectively for greater community cohesion.

Preparations will soon be on their way. So… watch this space!