lacb makes a valid point. I would add the other side of things, that once this neighbourhood forum is set up people within this area could be excluded from any role in planning outside their area.

In this particular case we could end up with Honor Oak Rec and One Tree Hill within the Peckham and Nunhead neighbourhood planning area and effectively excluding Lewisham residents from contributing to a neighbourhood development plan. What say would the Crofton Park and Honor Oak Park Neighbrouhood Forum have in the Southwark planning process?

Neighbourhood forums are meant to match local residents with local amenities and provide some form of local perspective on planning issues. This is something that should be welcome, but different people will see boundaries differently, and there is the potential to end up excluding people from processes rather than including them.

Apparently it may be possibly to include additional people in any neighbourhood forum decision making, but the membership of the proposed forum only allow people who live or work in the ward (just like assembly rules), no allowance has been made for shoppers, commuters (public transport users), or people who use other services (including fire stations, libraries, schools, doctors, etc).

That said I'm sure that a neighbourhood forum could help to improve Honor Oak Park, and while I wouldn't be able to contribute at that stage, I would suggest that a priority from any neighbourhood planning should be getting Honor Oak Park recognised as a "Neighbourhood or Local Centre" - not just a parade of shops between Crofton Park and Forest Hill (see STC1 in http://www2.lewisham.gov.uk/lbl/planning...pter8.html for the current status or lack thereof). The sooner this is changed the better it will be (in my opinion), not that there is any assumption that the Crofton Park and Honor Oak Park Neighbourhood Forum would want to promote or oppose this idea. It might not even need a Neighbourhood Forum to make it happen.