The second meeting of the Pimlico Neighbourhood Forum took place on Tuesday 21 March 2017 at St Saviour’s Hall, Pimlico.
Present were the Steering Group as well as Councillors: Nickie Aiken, Christabel Flight, Jacqui Wilkinson, Angela Harvey, Shamim Talukder and Murad Gassanly and 67 Pimlico residents.
The meeting approved Andrew McCarthy, a retired solicitor living in Pimlico, as an additional member of the Steering Group. It also agreed that the Forum should be incorporated as a Company Limited by Guarantee, a corporate form that limits the liability of members to £1 and the necessary changes to the Constitution will be put to the next meeting for formal approval.
The Committee has been asking local residents groups what they like about Pimlico, as well as what would make it better and what the priorities should be for the Neighbourhood Plan. It has also been finding out from the most recent Census data the characteristics of the households in Pimlico:
There are about seventeen and a half thousand residents in Pimlico, living in nine and a half thousand households, almost all of them flats.
30% own their own homes, 30% live in council or housing association homes and 36% rent privately.
There has been a 21% increase in the number of residents living in Pimlico between the census of 2001 and 2011 and a 64% increase in people living in private rented homes.
Without much new build, this huge increase in population has happened without any major increase in street frontage or indeed increase in infrastructure provided.
We have also been asking the local residents associations:
What did they like about the area,
What would make it better,
What buildings or services were needed in the next 20 years
And what policy areas should be given priority.
In the light of the responses the meeting agreed with the Committee’s view that the “Vision” for developing the Neighbourhood Plan at this stage should be:
Continue to maintain the quiet village atmosphere and its largely residential nature
Improve the quality of life of current and future residents by bringing about a more vibrant retail and commercial sector and enhancing leisure and cultural facilities
Development that respects and enhances the form and setting of the conservation areas
Protecting the squares and green spaces and where possible add more of them
Improve the local environmental quality by continuing to limit and if possible reduce the harmful effects of traffic
PNF Steering Group
Peter Ruback (Chairman) James Ingham (Vice Chairman) Edward Reeve (Treasurer) Clive Aslet Mair Garside Andrew McCarthy
The meeting was held at St, Saviour’s Hall Monday 26 September 2016 at the invitation of the Pimlico Federation of Residents Association
Present:
Directors of Pimlico Freda: Mr Edward Reeve (Chairman), Mr Richard Gayner, Lady Scott
Westminster Councillors: Angela Harvey, David Harvey and Nickie Aiken
Guest Speaker: Mr Simon Birkett from the Knightsbridge Association
+ 50 Pimlico residents
Edward Reeve, acting as Chairman, welcomed Simon Birkett from the Knightsbridge Association (KA) to the meeting. He then outlined the main purpose of a Neighbourhood Forum which is to create a Neighbourhood Plan (NP). This Plan can include not only planning matters but it can also cover such issues as trees, open spaces, hotels, short-term tenancies, cultural and sporting provision for the area etc. Once approved, it will carry significant weight in planning decisions for Pimlico during its five-year life span. The Localism Act 2011 defines the hoops to be jumped during the process of creating a Neighbourhood Plan and states that NPs must cohere with both national and local policies.
Simon explained to the meeting that he had recently formulated Knightsbridge’s Neighbourhood Plan with the help of a professional planning firm. Their Plan runs to 140 pages and has cost the Kensington Association £100,000. It will soon be the subject of a public consultation, followed by a local referendum before it becomes active. He finished by generously saying that he would be happy to help us formulate Pimlico’s Neighbourhood Plan and to share any relevant chapters which feature in the Knightsbridge Plan.
The Chairman decided to set up a Steering Group, totally separate from Pimlico FREDA, which would manage the PNF membership, create the Neighbourhood Plan and raise funds for any professional help that might be needed. Raising funds was considered to be the biggest challenge in our area which has no big businesses.
The PNF Steering Group was then formally elected by the meeting as follows: Peter Ruback as Chairman, and Clive Aslet, Edward Reeve, Mair Garside and James Ingham as members.
The Localism Act 2011 gives local communities the right to shape development in their areas through the production of a Neighbourhood Plan, led by a Neighbourhood Forum. Join the Pimlico Neighbourhood Forum and make your community a better place to live and work in.
The Localism Act 2011 gives local communities the right to shape development in their areas through the production of a Neighbourhood Plan, led by a Neighbourhood Forum.
Our Neighbourhood Plan will become part of the Local Plan and its policies will be used in future planning applications. Neighbourhood Development Orders and Community Right to Build Orders will allow Pimlico to grant planning permission either in full or in outline for the types of development they want to see in their areas.
The policies cannot block development that is already part of the Local Plan but it can shape where that development will go and what it will look like.
Invitation
“The Federation of Pimlico Residents Associations (Pimlico FREDA) has been facilitating an application from 30 residents/business people to the Westminster City Council to be recognised as a Neighbourhood Forum as provided for under the Localism Act 2011.
The Council has now granted such status so Pimlico NF is now officially in being.
These Fora are open to all residents and people in business in the designated area we are now seeking applications from anyone who qualifies, either by being a resident of the designated area or working in that area, to join the Pimlico NF.
A map of the designated area is shown below with some further information on NFs and an application form should you wish to join and become a member. We are especially seeking members who are prepared to be active in running the PNF.”
Edward Reeve, Chairman, FREDA.
Apply for Membership
Joining the Pimlico Neighbourhood Forum is your chance to decide how Pimlico develops over the coming years – come in and make a difference!
If you’d like to get more involved with shaping the Forum and its Neighbourhood Plan, please get in touch. The first public meeting will be held at St. Saviour’s Hall on Monday 26th September 2016 at 7 pm.
