The London Borough of Havering

05/28/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/28/2024 06:50

Your Romford - resident approval still high for refreshed Masterplan

Your Romford - resident approval still high for refreshed Masterplan

Published: Tuesday, 28 May 2024

73 per cent of participants told us they continued to support the Romford Town Centre Masterplan following a recent engagement programme.

From 8 April to 3 May 2024, Havering Council asked residents and businesses for their thoughts on the refreshed themes of the Romford Town Centre Masterplan.

This will then be followed by a statutory consultation on the refreshed Masterplan in summer 2024.

The Council are delighted with the level of public response.

724 people participated either at one of the in person events across the town centre, at one of the young people focused workshops or via the online survey.

73 per cent of people told us that they continued to support the key ideas of the Masterplan and the key ideas they supported were:

  • The Market - Starting and focusing on the market as a key transformation area for Romford
  • River Rom - Opening up the Rom and creating a high quality, exciting piece of public realm
  • Public spaces - Creating improved public realm across the town centre so people want to spend time there, and this will increase footfall for businesses.

People also told us they wanted to know more about:

  • Building heights
  • How heritage plays a part in the town centre
  • Short term opportunities for improvements
  • The approach to parking.

The Council and the design team will now review all the feedback and update the full Masterplan before a period of statutory consultation in summer 2024.

The intention will be to adopt the Masterplan as a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), in winter 2024.

Councillor Graham Williamson, Cabinet member for Regeneration, said:

"The new administration promised to kick start the Masterplan after gathering dust for years.

"I'm very pleased that local residents continue to support the principle of regeneration and its three main features".