Romford shops redevelopment plan appealed after rejection

A company has filed an appeal against Havering Council’s rejection of its latest bid to replace shops with homes in Romford.

Victoria Road Romford Ltd had proposed to demolish Twins Wedding Shop and Wet Pets Shop to build six flats and three terraced houses in Victoria Road.

Their planning application, submitted in March this year, claimed to provide “high quality homes” in a sustainable location.

It said the site is currently “under used” featuring “poor quality buildings” but the application was turned down by the council in May.

The council’s decision noted that the building would be “out of character” with the prevailing pattern of development in the area due to its “scale, bulk and in particular with respect to the poor design of the rear block”.

Read More: Historic Victorian pub in Romford transformed into flats

It said the building will have “harmful impact” upon the “visual amenity of the area”.

Residents of the nearby Jane Court, it added, would have been “adversely affected” by the development.

Lack of parking provision and loss of light for people in the surrounding properties were other reasons for rejection.

The council’s decision is now a subject of appeal, and it is expected to be decided through written representations.

It was the third such bid for planning permission by the applicant, whose previous attempts to build 21 and 15 homes each also failed to get the council’s approval.