Community groups identify serious shortcomings in Ealing’s draft Local Plan

It’s now more than ten years since the London Borough of Ealing’s current Local Plan was adopted. Work on the new Local Plan started more than three years ago, but it was only on 30 November last year that Ealing Council launched a statutory (Regulation 18) consultation on the draft.

The Local Plan is an integral part of the overall planning system, whose rules are set out in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. The Act specifies that planning permissions must be determined in accordance with national policy and the development plan, unless there are good reasons to decide otherwise. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out national policies. Under this sit development plans from the London Plan through Local Plans down to plans for small neighbourhoods. 

Ealing’s draft Local Plan document comprised almost 500 pages, with thousands more pages of reports making up the evidence base in support of the Plan. To help residents frame their responses, Save Ealing’s Centre (SEC) organised a meeting and invited other resident groups, including Ealing Matters, to attend.

The Chair of SEC gave an overview presentation of the draft Plan, which noted many problems with it, including the sheer volume of documentation to be absorbed. Ealing Matters followed up with a short document outlining 14 areas for comment and objection to help local groups and individuals with their responses. Many of the participating groups also took part in a Local Development Plan Advisory Committee meeting, which took place two days before the consultation closed on 8 February. 

Ealing Matters has collated submissions to the Council from residents’ associations and other community groups on the draft Local Plan. These are set out below with links to the relevant documents.