Queen’s Park residents vote ‘yes’ on Parish Council
First London Parish Council for almost 50 years set for Queen’s Park following referendum
Residents in Queen’s Park have voted in favour of creating London’s first parish council for almost 50 years.
In a referendum held by Westminster Council, a total of 1,100 residents voted in favour of establishing a parish council while 508 voted against. The results were revealed yesterday.
With around 8,000 residents living in Queen’s Park, the referendum saw a return rate of 20 per cent and a formal decision will now be made at a special cabinet meeting on June 11 and extraordinary Full Council meeting on June 25.
Angela Singhate, who chairs the group of residents who have campaigned for the new council, said: “What a great result. The campaign group has been confident all along that a community council is the way forward for Queen’s Park and this result demonstrates that we have the backing of the wider community. The journey towards establishing a parish council here in north Westminster continues.”
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If rubber-stamped, it is expected that the Queen’s Park Parish Council will undertake responsibility for activities such as coordinating community events, befriending the elderly, supporting young people and the unemployed, local management of Queen’s Park gardens, and launching a local allotment.
A precept of between �3.10 and �3.70-a-month – which equates to between �39.60 and �44.40-a-year (for a Band D property) – is expected to be levied to raise the funds to pay for the �100,000-a-year running costs of the parish council.
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Cllr Robert Davis, 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.”
Parish Councils were abolished in London in 1963 when they made way for the Greater London Council.
