Voting for a community-designed framework for what could help shape future planning developments in Hackbridge and Beddington Corner has opened.

People are being urged to put forward their views as the plan, which has taken seven years to get to this point, goes to a public vote today (November 29).

The polling station at All Saints Community Centre, in New Road, as the deadline is set for 10pm.

READ: Public to vote on plan which could shape future Hackbridge and Beddington Corner developments

Councillors at a housing, economy, and business (HEB) committee meeting agreed, on September 25, to hold a referendum for the area’s proposed neighbourhood plan.

Having been in the pipeline for several years, it aims to act as guidance for what objectives must be met by developers who submit plans to Sutton Council for sites within the area.

If voted through by the public then it would form part of the larger Sutton Local Plan framework amid major regeneration plans for the area.

Representatives from the Hackbridge and Beddington Corner Neighbourhood Development Group (HBCNDG) spoke at the meeting to discuss their views.

 

Lisa Armstrong said: “The plan captures what we love about our neighbourhood, what problems we are struggling with, and how we'd like to deal with those problems.

“It's taken us a while - seven years - to get to this point because it's been a journey that we've been determined to do ourselves. We want this plan to be written by residents and not by an outside consultant.

“We've walked around Hackbridge many times, trying to understand it, photographing the good bits and the not-so-good bits, and consulting with our neighbours by holding events alongside the Hackbridge Carnival at the train station and in the heart of Hackbridge.”

It needs more than 50 percent of the total votes to get approved, amid fears of voter apathy and low turnouts, or it would need to be started all over again.