Step 2: Gather
If you have decided that creating a Neighbourhood Plan (NP) is the right way to make change happen in your area of Birmingham, it’s time to gather the people who will help you.
In areas without a parish or town council (which will be the case for most parts of Birmingham and indeed most urban areas), you need a Neighbourhood Planning Forum. This is a group set up especially to create an NP. It needs at least 21 members - who either live, work or are elected representatives in that area.
When assembling your Neighbourhood Planning Forum, keep in mind Section 61F of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. This shows you what is needed for people to have ‘authorisation to act in relation to neighbourhood areas’. It is good practice to gather some data about your members, to ensure (and later demonstrate) that your Neighbourhood Planning Forum has the input of people from different backgrounds, with different interests and roles within the community.
Birmingham City Council’s Neighbourhood Development and Support Unit (NDSU) will support you in gathering and storing this data legally and helpfully. They will help you ensure your membership satisfies the conditions of Section 61F. Alongside Locality and Birmingham Community Matters, they are here for you at every stage in your Neighbourhood Planning journey. See the advice and guidance page.
From this stage on, it’s a good idea to document the relevant conversations you hold and the meetings you host, and gather the contact details of people who support your NP ideas. Good record keeping will be very useful and save you time later on when you need to show evidence that your draft NP reflects your community’s wishes for the area.
You may hear this stage referred to as ‘pre-designation’. This is because you have not yet formally established the boundaries of your NP.
Important to note
Your area of Birmingham may already have a Neighbourhood Forum, comprised of residents in the area who discuss matters local to the community. You may also have heard about your local Ward Forum, which is run by your councillor and defined by geographical ward.
These are both different from a Neighbourhood Planning Forum, which is set up especially to create an NP in a self-defined area and does not have to follow ward or postcode boundaries.
It might be that many of the people on your local Neighbourhood Forum (if one exists) and Ward Forum are keen to be involved with the Neighbourhood Planning Forum. Just keep in mind that the groups will be separate entities, even if there are overlaps in members and aims.
You may find it helpful to read Locality’s guide to establishing a Neighbourhood Planning Forum.
Here are some Neighbourhood Planning Forum constitutions from Birmingham to help you with establishing your own:
3Bs: Beeches, Booths and Perry Barr constitution
https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/downloads/file/6114/beeches_booths_and_barr_3bs_constitution
Jewellery Quarter constitution
https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/downloads/file/14243/jewellery_quarter_written_constitution
In practice, the designation of your Neighbourhood Planning Forum and Neighbourhood Area (see Step 3) may happen at the same time. The NDSU will advise you on this.