Beeston Neighbourhood Forum

The Beeston Neighbourhood Forum met last Wednesday (11 March 2015) to start work on developing a Neighbourhood Plan for the area.

This was the Forum’s second meeting and Chair Greg Turton introduced the themes that the plan will be written around. Members of the Forum were invited to sign up to work on the theme(s) that interested them most, work on each theme will be led by a committee member.

Beeston Plan logoThe themes are:

  • Housing
  • Community
  • Environment
  • Opportunities for young people
  • Retail and business
  • Celebrate history
  • Community cohesion and integration

Anyone living within the plan area can apply to join the forum and get involved with shaping the plan. Once the work is completed the plan will be put to a referendum when everyone in the area can vote to accept or reject the plan.

The following members were elected to the committee:

  • Gohar Almess
  • Yvonne Crowther
  • Arthur Kirby
  • Christine Thornton

They will join officers elected at the first meeting: Greg Turton (Chair), Robert Winfield (Vice Chair), Mark Parry (Secretary) and Bill Birch (Treasurer).

The meeting also discussed plans for a study trip to Wolverhampton to visit Heathfield Park and learn from their experience of drawing up a neighbourhood plan.

The next meeting of the Forum will be held on Tuesday 19 May at 7:30pm at Beeston Village Community Centre.

 

8 Replies to “Beeston Neighbourhood Forum”

  1. Hi there,

    I can not make it to any of the meetings for Beeston forum, however, I would like for the panel to consider placing a community notice board near the co op. It could be used to display events and community information. Letting residents know what’s happening in Beeston on a monthly basis. I have asked other people if they like the idea of a community notice board and the majority of people said it was a great idea.

    Thank you

    Julie X

  2. I like the idea of the Neighbourhood Forum.

    I wonder how much influence they will actually have over the planning process. People spoke out strongly against the park and ride (including me), but it went ahead anyway. The council cannot stop every development just because local people object. Perhaps the Forum will have more influence with fixing existing issues and adding new things (as opposed to blocking proposals). Are there examples from elsewhere in the country of the impact Neighbourhood Plans and Forums have had?

    Perhaps the main challenge for the Forum is how can it really be representative of people’s varying views across the community. Of the 6,500 surveys sent out, only 62 (less than 1%) were returned (I’m embarrassed to say I failed to return mine). Some of the people being elected to the committee are current/ex Beeston Community Forum members – nothing wrong with that in principle of course, this means there will be some good experience and skills in place – but some of the members do have outspoken views about particular developments. I don’t know anything about a lot of the people on the Neighbourhood Forum (who have voting rights) and it would be helpful to have some biographies up on the Forum site perhaps.

    Questionnaire results:
    http://beestonplan.weebly.com/uploads/2/7/7/3/27730519/beeston_n_questionnaire_results.pdf

    Full list of Forum members:
    http://beestonplan.weebly.com/members.html

    1. Hi John – The powers set out for a neighbourhood plan are quite extensive. Planning has to make reference to the plan when making planning decisions. The plan has to be agreed through referendum, so its validity as a statement of wishes for local people should be guaranteed through that process.
      Your query about how representative the forum is of people’s differing views is interesting. Not sure what “outspoken views” you make reference to, but I do know the motivation of the forum is to be as inclusive as possible. However, when people don’t want to engage, for whatever reason, then you’re right in that some voices may be missed.
      If you are concerned about direction (and you fit the requirements of being a resident, worker or running a business in the defined area) then I’d encourage you to get involved with the work being done by the forum.

  3. Hello to my fellow Beeston residents, I am not sure where this comment will end up but I thought I would post some comments about my experience today:

    I walk my dog every day from the Cross Flatts to the park, today (19th March 2015) I walked her from Cross Flatts Road to the park, I found an old dumped mattress on Wooler Road, on Cross Flatts Drive at the bottom end there are two houses which look derelict, the back gardens are an absolute disgrace, filthy, full of rubbish, and boarded up.

    Surely the residents of that street must be ashamed to live there, has anyone complained I wonder, what on earth do the council think of us?? do they think we are a slum clearance area?

    I hope anyone in authority reading this can re-assure the Beeston residents that this will be put right.

    I won’t hold my breath, I will write to our local councillors and see if anything can be done.

    I have pictures of the mattress and the back gardens but I can’t see anywhere to upload them to.

    Kind regards

    Mr P Vickers

      1. Hi Jeremy and Dave,

        A quick update, the mattress has been removed, and I recieved a letter from the councillors with regards to state of the properties in Cross Flatts Drive. They have said the properties will need to be attended to within a reasonble time frame.

        Kind Regards

        Peter

  4. Unfortunately ..this comes down to the quality of the people the landlords stick into their houses ..

  5. As bad if not worse on the Longroyds at least your councillors live in the area and so things seem to get done quicker where as ours live in Bramhope (nice for some) kirkstall and roundhay, Its about time the landlords were taken to task everytime their tenants get fined for rubbish etc fine the landlords twice as much theyl soon start to be a bit more choosy about their tennants

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