Join forums and help influence future of town

The Harborough Town Hub, a community led, non-party political volunteer group, is creating Neighbourhood Forums in Market Harborough, with the support of Harborough District Council.

Anyone over 18 years old, who lives or works in Market Harborough, can join a Forum in their area.

The five areas proposed are the Market Harborough electoral wards of Little Bowden, Arden, Welland and Logan, plus a Town Centre Forum for businesses and residents within the area outlined by the recently approved Town Centre Masterplan.

The first Neighbourhood Forum in Little Bowden, which required 21 people to form the group, has already been filled and is working towards its neighbourhood priorities – but non-members can still contribute to the neighbourhood priorities during the evidence gathering phase.

There are also opportunities to join any of the other forums by emailing the Council’s Neighbourhood Planning Engagement Officer, at neighbourhoodplans@harborough.gov.uk

Cllr Jonathan Bateman, Harborough District Council’s Cabinet lead on neighbourhood plans, said: “We know people are keen to join these forums, which is great. Those sitting on the Forum will help set out ‘neighbourhood priorities’ from the local community, relating to a range of social, economic and environmental issues. These may, for example, include matters relating to transport, green spaces, community facilities, etc. The community’s vision can be set out in the Neighbourhood Plan and would work alongside the Local Plan, adopted by the Council. In fact, many village Parish councils in the Harborough district already have fully-adopted Neighbourhood Plans.”

Market Harborough does not have a Town (or Parish Council), but a Neighbourhood Forum, once formally designated, will have the same statutory rights as a Parish Council for Neighbourhood Planning.

In October, the Harborough Town Hub received some great feedback from residents and businesses attending the Big Green Week and Volunteers’ Fair about what people really like about Market Harborough and what they would want to change.

People can also highlight what they enjoy about living or working in Market Harborough and what they might like to see protected, by emailing neighbourhoodplans@harborough.gov.uk