How to take back control over development in Romford

Before the last election, politicians made yet another round of promises they knew they couldn’t keep. We were promised no new developments without infrastructure first, this was shoved through the letterboxes of every home in Havering by the HRA. This week we have the news of yet more infrastructure being sold off, to have homes built on it, as the HRA sell a Hornchurch car park to the council owned developer.

I was stunned to read that instead of affordable homes the developer will give the council just £77k for affordable housing “offsite”. I’m not sure quite sure what the council is supposed to do with that money, maybe buy some caravans…?

The problem we face is two-fold. Yes, we have an administration that is not living up to the promises they’ve made. And they will tell you that it is everyone else’s fault. But, we also lack a vision for our borough when it comes to housing and our relationship with developers. Without a vision, we are shoved about and lose control.

I am calling on Havering Council to develop a Social Value shopping list, as well as a neighbourhood plan for Romford, to begin the process of taking back control.

Havering is limited in power when it comes to developments. The government set us housing targets that we have to meet. If we deny too many applications then government strip us of our powers to decide what is and isn’t built. Council’s don’t build hospitals, so we can’t force an expansion of Queens. This means we have to approve developments we don’t like, increasing our population, and can do very little to improve the infrastructure.

This is why I am so against lazy political promises about “no homes without infrastructure”. It’s all slogans and no substance. No councillor or council can deliver that, so why promise it? We may as well have election promises that say “We will end the sale of pineapples in Beijing”.

Putting Residents In Control

What we can do, however, is be realistic and use what powers we do have. So let’s take a look at those.

First, we have the newly approved Romford Masterplan. This is a good step in the right direction. I don’t like the plan, it’s massively flawed, but it is a start and it now means that developers are restrained in what they can put forward for Romford town centre. This means height limits and design constraints. A few years back I called for a review of the Conservation area an am pleased to say that this is now also being looked at, meaning developers will have to respect our heritage in their plans.

Steps in the right direction.

A Romford Neighbourhood plan is another tool we can add to our toolbox. Neighbourhood plans are developed by residents and local groups, in partnership with the council. This means handing the residents more control over the future shape of their town. Neighbourhood plans have legal teeth, they can allocate certain sites for employment or community use, even if the local council hasn’t. They can also set policy on density, meaning we can allocate areas as being for houses and not just flats.

I have written to the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and asked him to meet with me to set out a roadmap for a Romford Neighbourhood plan and hope to be able to say we’ve got things in motion soon.

This is taking control of planning and regeneration in Romford.

The other thing we need to do is to review what developers provide to our town in the sense of social value.

Social value is one of those more fluffy subjects. Developers don’t just talk about giving homes, they talk about how they’ve created apprenticeships, jobs for locals, planted trees etc. This is stuff that they are doing ‘for the community’ as a way to give back.

Some of this is forced by the council through Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), that is basically a tax on a developer and the money goes into a pot for… infrastructure. This can be used to do things like build a library, upgrade a road, repair a playground etc.

CIL can be spent in a wide area across Havering, but 15% is kept in what is known as Neighbourhood CIL. This can be used to support local community groups and charities closer to the development. If we have a Neighbourhood plan then that 15% becomes 25%, meaning local communities benefit more from a development.

No longer will we get all the new homes in Romford, but all the CIL going to places like Upminster, Cranham and Rainham. Wherever is getting the homes must see some benefit.

On top of CIL a developer will cheer about things such as apprenticeships, and use this as a way of showing the council that they are benefitting the community. Now apprenticeships are good, but I propose that it must be Havering who decides what we get and not just developers.

A social value shopping list would say things such as “we need a youth centre”, “we need youth centre funding for 3 years”, “we need a new library”, “we want a community hall in this area”, and so on.

This means when a developer comes and says “We’re building a towerblock on your car park and will create 10 local jobs”, we can turn around and say “Employment is already strong in this area, please provide us with a youth space instead”.

Solutions, Not Political Promises

These two mechanisms, a Neighbourhood Plan and a social value shopping list, won’t stop developers from building here. There’s little we can do about that, unless we have a massive change in national government. Leaving London wont’ change this, electing Reform locally won’t change this, rejecting planning permission may make it even worse.

To truly take control of local developments, to protect the character of our town and country borough, to restore Romford to being the best version of itself, we must implement common sense and practical solutions. These are more effective then political promises that can't be kept.

I am continuing to lobby our council to implement both a Neighbourhood Plan and a Social Value shopping list. This is a small step forward, but at least it is one we can actually make.