Ealing Council Outlines 20-minute Neighbourhoods Vision

Wants all basic services to be a short walk or bike ride away

The plan intends to increase vibrancy of local town centres. Picture: Around Ealing

February 25, 2025

Ealing Council's has provided more details of its intention to develop 20-minute neighbourhoods aims to enhance local living by ensuring that residents can access essential services and amenities within a 20-minute walk or cycle from their homes.

This approach seeks to ensure everyone living in the borough should be easily able to get to shops, doctor’s surgeries and parks without driving or taking public transport.

New guidance ‘Our 7 Towns – guidance on 20-minute neighbourhoods in Ealing’ has been published as part of the Local Plan which any planning application will now need to take into account. Each area is recognised as having specific characteristics and the guidance looks to build on a town’s strengths. Although the document is new, the principles behind it have already been followed in the borough for some time.

The policy encourages the development of more local amenities such as community centres, health clinics and schools as well as supporting the vitality of retail businesses in local areas. The redevelopment of the South Acton estate is held up as a model of how this would work in practice.

To encourage cycling and walking more emphasis will be placed on safe and accessible pathways, cycle lanes, and pedestrian-friendly streetscapes. It would also increase the importance given to parks, green spaces, and recreational areas.

The aim of 20-minute neighbourhoods is to boost local economies and improve residents’ health and wellbeing. Unlike misinformation spread about the concept on the internet, nobody will be obliged to stay within their area or forced to use services within a certain zone. However, concerns have been raised about the initiative. Ealing Friends of the Earth, while broadly supportive of the overall aims, have expressed concerns that it will lead to further over densification of development due to the need to increase building height to accommodate a mixture of uses. Those lobbying for people with disabilities and mobility issues are worried that the focus on walking and cycling will create accessibility issues for those who have no choice but to drive to access services and visit the shops. The council claims that the focus is to provide more services locally and does not include the need for travel limitations.

The council says that the policy has been formulated based on the real-life experiences of the borough’s residents collected through the feedback from thousands of responses gathered via the Shaping Ealing, Your Voice Your Town. Further 20-minute frameworks consultations will be used to determine priorities for each of the seven towns.

Council leader Peter Mason said: “Through 20-minute neighbourhoods, we want to create communities where your daily needs are all within a short walk or cycle from your home, whether that’s your local GP surgery, supermarkets and corner shops, or green and open space, we want our local neighbourhoods and communities to be truly accessible.

“We want to continue fighting the climate crisis through promoting walking, cycling, and scooting, creating a greener and cleaner borough for our residents. This work is key to building strong communities, filled with identity, pride, and purpose, where residents can enjoy and experience their neighbourhoods together.”

Councillor Shital Manro, the council’s cabinet member for good growth and new homes, added, “We are an ambitious borough focused on growth, but we’ve always been clear that it must be the right kind of growth – the type that delivers the social infrastructure and amenities that our communities need.”