Neighbourhood Plans help communities to influence the planning of the area in which they live and work. The North Kingston Neighbourhood, consisting of Canbury and Tudor wards, was created by local residents in 2017 and, following consultations locally, a draft Plan has been prepared reflecting our community’s priorities and responding to our community’s concerns. It seeks to ensure that future development is managed to preserve the character of North Kingston and to benefit rather than harm the local community. Once the Plan is approved, the Neighbourhood will receive 25% of the Community Infrastructure Levy generated by developments in North Kingston. 

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The Draft Plan seeks to establish the characteristics that make North Kingston such an attractive place to live and work. It explains: 

• The purpose of the Plan and the policy context; by setting out a series of planning policies that will be used to determine planning applications in the area in the period to 2041. 

• The process of preparation, consultation, independent scrutiny, and eventual approval as a statutory Plan. 

• The relationship between the Neighbourhood, Regional and National Planning frameworks. 

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The area’s strengths and vulnerabilities are identified, as are opportunities for sustainable growth. 

The Neighbourhood Plan does not seek to allocate sites for development. Rather, the site specific policies are intended to ensure that proposals for sites with the potential to come forward for future development contribute to achieving the objectives of the Neighbourhood Plan by following detailed design, land use and landscaping criteria. 

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Any future planning application is therefore expected to demonstrate how they meet the detailed design, land use and landscaping criteria. Neighbourhood Plan Policies will carry full planning weight in the decision-making process once the Neighbourhood Plan is adopted by the community at Referendum.

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Planning policies 

The Draft Plan on which your views are sought consists of a series of planning policies which set out the principles to guide decision-makers and achieve the objectives outlined in the draft Plan. These polices cover: 

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NK1 - NK8 Design Policies (pages 32-47): The Neighbourhood Forum’s local consultations have identified the importance of preserving the area’s unique character. Policies are suggested to manage the pressure from government for increasingly intensive development. Special policies are proposed for land on the fringes of the town centre which is particularly vulnerable, as well as for preserving cherished local areas and buildings. 

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NK9 & NK10 Business Policies (pages 48-51): Local businesses are a crucial part of the area’s economy, providing both services and jobs. Our shops, cafes and pubs are particularly vulnerable and some accommodation for small and medium sized business has already been lost to residential use, often poorly planned. Consequentially policies are proposed to help preserve existing businesses and support new workspaces. 

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NK11 & NK12 Community Facilities & Access and Movement Policies (pages 52-55): The new London Plan supports the need for new housing, and, as the population of North Kingston grows, community facilities and social services such as health and education will need to be protected and enhanced by the Neighbourhood Plan, which also seeks to improve local social infrastructure including that of active travel for all. 

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NK13 - NK18 Climate Resilience, Green Infrastructure, Green Spaces and Public Realm Policies (pages 56-68): Climate change and the sustainability of North Kingston is increasingly critical to our future and Policies are proposed to promote the highest standards possible in new development. The biodiversity of our Neighbourhood’s green infrastructure has also become crucial to our future and Policies are suggested for its protection with opportunities for enhancement explored.  

Our local green spaces and the public spaces generally, make an important contribution to the Neighbourhood’s well being. Policies are therefore proposed to protect and enhance our existing green infrastructure and promote additional amenity space within new development together with options to enhance local infrastructure, particularly for the benefit of pedestrians and cyclists. 

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NK19 - NK34 Key, Windfall & Public Sector Opportunity Site Policies ( pages 69-98):  Key Development Sites: Kingston Council has identified a number of potentially significant development sites in North Kingston and the policies of the draft Plan seek to manage future proposals there to avoid over-development and ensure the preservation of existing community amenities, and where appropriate, benefits from new development accrue to support local residents and business. 

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Possible future Windfall Sites: The North Kingston Neighbourhood Forum wishes to ensure the appropriate management of proposals for other sites that may be suggested for future development. A number of such sites have therefore been identified for which proposals might come forward in the future with Policies designed to manage their development, similar to those for sites identified by Kingston Council. 

Public Sector Owned Opportunity Sites: The public sector, including the Borough Council owns a number of sites locally that are already under consideration for redevelopment or might come forward in the future. The draft Plan suggests how these might be developed to optimise the benefits to the community by providing critical facilities for health, education, social services and, where appropriate, affordable housing. The opportunity for Community Land Trusts or other democratic ownership and governance models gifting truly affordable homes in perpetuity will be explored. 

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Finally, the implementation of the Neighbourhood Plan as and when the Borough Council considers and determines planning applications, is explained. Kingston Council has a key responsibility in implementing the Neighbourhood Plan, by applying our policies through the development management process. 

Additionally, The Forum proposes that the priorities for investment of future Community Infrastructure Levy funding allocated by the local planning authority and to the Neighbourhood Forum are considered and decided by the community and can be found in the Regulation 14 consultation questionnaire. We request each project is prioritised according to a time frame once the Neighbourhood Plan is adopted. This series of local infrastructure projects submitted by the local community, will be prioritised for investment from Section 106 agreements and the Borough Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). A minimum of 25% of the levy collected from development in the Neighbourhood Area will be passed by the Borough Council for investments listed in the Neighbourhood Plan.