The result of the referendum into the Central Ealing Neighbourhood Plan (CENP), announced on 13 October, is a resounding vote in favour of the plan being adopted by the Council. The figures [table below] show a decisive result in favour of the plan for central Ealing, developed over the past five years by the Forum jointly with local businesses and residents.
| No of votes cast: | YES | NO | Turnout (% of eligible voters) |
| Business voters | 54 (91.5%) | 5 (8.5%) | 45.4% |
| Residential voters | 2616 (92.4%) | 214 (7.6%) | 17.2% |
It is a happy coincidence that polling day also saw the celebration of 50 years of the Ealing Civic Society, which itself grew from the wish of local people to resist inappropriate development and instead ensure that change should be positive and build on the special local characteristics which had made the town known as the Queen of the Suburbs. This is the first time in a London borough (rather than in a small village) that the local community – businesses as well as residents – can exercise its legal right to have a decisive say in how development should affect the way our town looks and works.