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Spitalfields
Spitalfields Neighbourhood Plan
Referendum
On 9 August 2021, the Mayor of Tower Hamlets made a decision to agree with the examiner’s recommendations that the Spitalfields Neighbourhood Plan should be modified and sent to referendum, and that the referendum area should be the same as the neighbourhood area.
Read the council’s decision statement.
The Spitalfields Neighbourhood Planning Area is designated as a business area, so two referendums will be held – one will be a referendum for residents of the area, and one will be a referendum for businesses based in the area. Both referendums will be held on Thursday 11 November 2021.
For the residential referendum, anyone who lives within the boundaries of the Neighbourhood Planning Area and who is eligible to vote in local elections will be entitled to vote in the referendum.
For the business referendum, anyone who is a non-domestic ratepayer within the boundaries of the Neighbourhood Planning Area will be entitled to vote in the referendum.
View the information statement for the referendum. The information on the referendum can also be viewed on the Spitalfield referendum page.
View the referendum version of the Spitalfields Neighbourhood Plan.
The examiner’s report and the consultation responses can be viewed in the section as follows.
View a statement providing general information on town and country planning, and confirming that the local planning authority is satisfied that the neighbourhood plan meets the basic conditions.
Examination – February 2021
The Spitalfields Neighbourhood Plan was independently examined by Jill Kingaby MRTPI between February and July 2021. The final examiner’s report can be accessed below, alongside tracked changes and clean versions of the neighbourhood plan incorporating the examiner’s recommendations. The examiner recommends that the neighbourhood plan should go to referendum, with some modifications.
Documents from the examination process can be found below:
Submission documents for the neighbourhood plan
Regulation 16 Consultation – January to February 2021
The Spitalfields Neighbourhood Plan was submitted to the Council on 30 October 2020. On 16 December 2020, 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 7 January and 18 February 2021.
Regulation 14 consultation – July to September 2020
A Regulation 14 consultation on the Spitalfields Neighbourhood Plan was organised by the Spitalfields Neighbourhood Forum and held between 20 July and 14 September 2020.
The council prepared a screening exercise to determine whether the Spitalfields Neighbourhood 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 Forum for Spitalfields was first approved by the Mayor in Cabinet on 5 April 2016, at the same time as approving the neighbourhood area designation. The Spitalfields Neighbourhood Planning Area was designated as a Neighbourhood Business Planning Area.
The neighbourhood forum was due to expire on 5 April 2021. This is because national legislation states that Neighbourhood Forum designations expire after five years. In November 2020, the Spitalfields Neighbourhood Forum submitted an application to be redesignated for another five year period.
A consultation was held on this application between 3 December 2020 and 22 January 2021.
On 3 March 2021, the Mayor in Cabinet agreed to redesignate the Spitalfields Neighbourhood Forum. This decision will take effect from 5 April 2021.
Neighbourhood Planning Area
The application to designate a Neighbourhood Planning Area for Spitalfields was approved by the Mayor in Cabinet on 5 April 2016, at the same time as approving the original neighbourhood forum designation.
As part of this decision a minor amendment was made to the area that was applied for, in line with the requirements of the relevant legislation.
Contact details
Email: info@spitalfieldsforum.org.uk
Website: Spitalfields Forum