Forum topic: Neighbourhood Plans - success or failure so far?

Nicholas Boys-Smith of Create Streets has published an article reviewing the degree to which Neighbourhood Plans have been successful since they were introduced by the Localism Act in 2011. He asks "Are neighbourhood plans allowing communities, to go back to the original intent, to 'say where they think new houses, businesses and shops should go – and what they should look like'?"

www.createstreets.com/blog/4585309664/Is-Neighbourhood-Planning-flourishing-or-withering-And-how-can-communities-do-it-better/10967930

His answer can be summed up as "Yes, to a certain extent". Interestingly, an associated innovation has been the possibility of creating "urban parishes" in big cities, though so far only one has been created in London (in Queens Park).

Could neighbourhood plans play a role in our area? Well, even deciding what constitutes a "neighbourhood", "urban village" or "town" is difficult. Where are the "bounds" of Palmers Green, does it have "neighbourhoods"? And could it not be argued that "Southgate" includes some streets that are in the London Borough of Barnet as well as those in Enfield? But these are not necessarily insuperable obstacles.