MINUTES

Open Meeting
St Helen’s Church Hall

Present: Members of the St Quintin and Woodlands management committee; some 30 other members of the St Helen’s Residents Association and the St Quintin and Woodlands Neighbourhood Forum; Cllr Judith Blakeman, Kensington and Chelsea council.

Henry Peterson gave an update on  the Neighbourhood Forum.

As part of the new Localism Act 2011, local communities can now set up Neighbourhood Forums, which have the purpose of promoting or improving the social, economic and environmental well-being of the area. The movement is gaining public support, and although there are only two such forums so far in Kensington and Chelsea, there are 15 proposals in Westminster. All members of the St Helen’s Residents Association are automatically members of the St Quintin and Woodlands Neighbourhood Forum.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has formally designated the St Quintin and Woodlands Neighbourhood Area and Forum within its borough and this will last five years. A decision is still awaited from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

Committee Members duly elected at the last meeting on 27 June 2013:

Andre Michaud
William Cooper
Richard Herman
Cassie Goldman (Treasurer)
Jenny Harborne
Tania Martin
Henry Peterson (Chair)
Nigel Whitbread
Fiona Withey

Committee members proposed and accepted at this meeting:
Andrew Hanson
Steve Divall
David Marshall
Tara Winter Wilson

There is 1 place remaining if others would like to propose themselves.

Over the coming months the Forum will formulate a Neighbourhood Plan with the aim to having a final document in nine months to a year. The plan will set out how we would like to see the neighbourhood evolve and will influence the planning policies and decisions for the area.

The Forum is looking for ideas from those living or working in the area. It wants your views on what makes the area successful, what we lack and what we would hate to lose in order to formulate the Plan. For example, planning permission is currently required to pave over front gardens and change the walls. Should this be relaxed?  There will be workshops on key local issues (Housing, Conservation, Shopping Parades, Local Facilities, Employment & Enterprise, Latimer Road, Transport and Traffic, Sustainability). These will be open to all.

It was noted that the GP surgeries in St Quintin Avenue will be displaced for a couple of years while the site is redeveloped. The current aim is for new surgery accommodation to be included as part of a residential redevelopment. The Kitchen Garden is looking for an alternative site.