The Soho Neighbourhood Forum is coming

The Soho Neighbourhood Forum will be a new organisation that prepares a neighbourhood plan for Soho. The neighbourhood forum formally comes into existence at the first annual general meeting that will take place on 8 July 2015. Under the terms of the Soho Neighbourhood Forum Constitution that was approved by Westminster City Council in 2014, preparations are now being made for that first annual general meeting. Neighbourhood planning is participatory for everyone who wants to get involved. It is open and democratic by default.

Forum membership

Forum membership is open to everyone who lives and/or works in Soho. The forum steering group will be elected from and by the community at the first meeting. To become a member of the neighbourhood forum and/or to put yourself forward for the steering group election you need to be on the email mailing list. You will be first to hear what is happening.

What has been happening

Neighbourhood forums receive no public money and we have to raise funds and resources by a range of means. During 2014 we received a small grant from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) which was used to register this website and pay for the expert support of Angela Koch of Imagine Places. We are applying for further funding from DCLG for the coming years. We will provide a system to make donations later this year.We set up regular communications with the larger property companies, including Shaftesbury PLC and Soho Estates, who provide valuable support and advice. We have kindly received free support on design and branding from a local agency, Bandstand. Administrative support has been provided by The Soho Society who have donated the time of Steve Chambers, their urban planning advisor.

Get involved now

Make sure you are signed up to the email mailing list. This is the best way to get all the most important information before anyone else. For more frequent updates, be sure to subscribe to the Twitter and Facebook feeds. Developing the neighbourhood plan is participatory from the very beginning and we are currently asking for your feedback on:

• The date of the annual general meeting (closes 8 March 2015).
• The most important issues in Soho right now (closes 15 March 2015)
• The new logo for the neighbourhood forum (closes 22 March 2015)

What to look out for

In the coming months we will release the date of the first annual general meeting and we will have our first call for volunteers to help spread the word about the forum and the first annual general meeting. Before the first meeting we’ll release details of how to formally join the forum and also how to stand for election to the steering group. And then things really get going!