Residents back plan for first parish council in London in 50 years

The prospect of the first parish council being established in London in 50 years moved closer this week after residents of Queen’s Park voted in favour of the plan.

The power for London boroughs to establish parish councils was brought back by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. Parish councils in the capital were abolished in 1963, when the Greater London Council replaced the London County Council.

A referendum run by Westminster City Council this month saw 1,100 residents in the Queen’s Park area vote in favour of the plan, with 508 voting against. With approximately 8,000 residents entitled to vote in the referendum, the turnout was 20%.

Westminster set up the referendum after a year-long community governance review. Campaigners had previously sent in a petition with 2,181 signatures calling for the creation of a community council.

A consultation by Westminster subsequently received more than 400 responses, with 87% in favour of the new council.

A special Cabinet meeting on 11 June and an extraordinary Full Council meeting on 25 June will take the formal decision on the formation of the Queen’s Park Community Council.

If the plan gets the green light, the first elections to the new council would be held in May 2014.

According to Westminster, the new council is expected to undertake responsibility for a range of activities “including coordinating community events, befriending the elderly, supporting young people and the unemployed, local management of Queen’s Park gardens, and launching a local allotment”.

The campaign group plan to levy a precept of between £3.30 and £3.70 a month or between £39.60 and £44.40 per year (for a Band D property). This would raise more than £100,000 per annum to pay for the set up and ongoing running costs of the parish council.

Angela Singhate, of the Queen's Park Forum, said: "We're overjoyed with the referendum result which shows people in our neighbourhood are backing our call for a new community council. This result shows that ordinary Londoners do want to work together to make a difference where they live.

“But whilst the people of Queen's Park have spoken, the final decision rests with Westminster City Council. Given the overwhelming support for a new community council, we are hoping they say yes at their meeting next month."

Cllr Robert Davis, the Deputy Leader for Westminster City Council, said: “I am delighted that the residents of Queen’s Park have given a clear endorsement to the proposal for the community council. For Westminster to have the first parish council in London for fifty years would be a fitting endorsement of the Government's ambitions for localism and neighbourhood engagement.”

But Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, pointed out that the 2007 Act was passed by the previous government.

He said: "This is a great result for the Queen's Park community and a well-deserved success for the all the hard work put in by the campaign team over the past two years. We look forward to working closely with the new Community Council so that together we can make Queen's Park an even better place to live."