Isle of Dogs

Adopted Isle of Dogs Neighbourhood Plan

Adoption

On 19 May 2021, a meeting of Tower Hamlets Council agreed to formally adopt the Isle of Dogs Neighbourhood Plan. The neighbourhood plan will be adopted as a part of the development plan and used to help decide planning applications in the designated neighbourhood area. The formal adoption of the neighbourhood plan will take effect from 1 July 2021.

Referendum – May 2021

A referendum on the Isle of Dogs Neighbourhood Plan took place on 6 May 2021. Information about the referendum can be found on the Democracy pages of the Council’s website. Documents related to the neighbourhood plan referendum can be found below.

The referendum question was: Do you want the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to use the neighbourhood plan for the Isle of Dogs Neighbourhood Planning Area to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?

The result was an 86% vote in favour of the neighbourhood plan, on a turnout of 38%.

Examiner’s report and Council’s Decision – April to May 2020

The examiner’s report on the Isle of Dogs Neighbourhood Plan was received by the council and the Neighbourhood Forum on 14 April 2020. The report recommended that the neighbourhood plan be sent to referendum with a number of changes, and that the referendum area should be the same as the neighbourhood planning area.

On 12 May 2020, the Mayor signed an Individual Mayoral Decision to send the Isle of Dogs Neighbourhood Plan to referendum, with a referendum area that is the same as the designated neighbourhood area. The officer report, appendices, and decision sheet can be found on the Mayor's Executive Decision Making page.

Due to Coronavirus regulations, the referendum on the neighbourhood plan was delayed until May 2021. Under national planning policy guidance, until the referendum can take place the neighbourhood plan should be given significant weight in relevant planning decisions.

Regulation 16 Consultation and Examination – January to April 2020

The Isle of Dogs Neighbourhood Plan was submitted to the Council on 23 October 2019. On 18 December 2019, the Mayor in Cabinet agreed that the submission met the statutory requirements for neighbourhood plans, and should proceed to a Regulation 16 consultation and independent examination. The Regulation 16 consultation was held between 9 January and 19 February 2021.

Following the Regulation 16 consultation, John Parmiter FRICS FRSA MRTPI was appointed as the independent examiner of the neighbourhood plan. The examination was conducted by written representations only, with no public hearing.

As part of the examination, the examiner encouraged the Forum and Council to continue to discuss potential drafting amendments and the following proposed amendments were submitted to the examiner for his consideration.

Regulation 14 consultation – April to May 2019

On 3 April 2019, the Isle of Dogs Neighbourhood Planning Forum launched their formal Regulation 14 public consultation on a new draft Neighbourhood Plan – known as ‘the Basic Plan’.

The consultation ended on 16 May 2019. This consultation was run by the Neighbourhood Forum.

The Council prepared a screening exercise to determine whether the Spitalfields Neighbourhood Plan (‘the Basic Plan’) requires a full Strategic Environmental Assessment or Habitats Regulation Assessment. It concluded that full assessments are not needed at this stage. Should any major changes be made to the plan, or new policies be introduced, the plan may need to be screened again to determine whether this is still the case. The reasons for the council’s decision are set out in the following documents:

Neighbourhood Planning Forum

The application to designate a Neighbourhood Planning Area and Forum for the Isle of Dogs was approved by the Mayor in Cabinet on Tuesday 5 April 2016 at the same time as approving the neighbourhood planning area designation.

Neighbourhood Planning Area

The application to designate a Neighbourhood Planning Area for the Isle of Dogs was approved by the Mayor in Cabinet on 5 April 2016, at the same time as approving the neighbourhood planning forum designation. As part of this decision a minor amendment was made to the neighbourhood area that was applied for, in line with the requirements of the relevant legislation. The approved area can be seen in the following documents:

The application to designate the Isle of Dogs Neighbourhood Planning Area and Forum had first been considered at Cabinet on 1 December 2015, where it was agreed that the decision should be postponed in order to seek further clarity on the proposed area boundary.

Contact details

Email: isleofdogsforum@gmail.com, isleofdogsnpf@gmail.com 
Website: www.isleofdogsforum.org.uk