Romford shop and office space to be permanent homeless shelter

Some shop and office space in Romford will permanently be used as a homeless shelter after council approval.

Two planning applications were submitted by Kim Merry, founder of charity Hope4Havering, to Havering Council regarding the use of three units in Atlanta Boulevard.

The first proposal related to two of the units, which have been used as shelters under temporary approvals in the past.

It sought to give the applicant consent for continuously using them as a permanent homeless shelter.

The application was sent in September 2022.

The conversion of a third unit to a permanent shelter was added under a second proposal by the same applicant, filed in February this year.

Both the plans were approved by the council on Friday (August 4).

Under the terms, users of the shelter in all three units can only arrive after noon and stay until next morning. 

A council planning officer said the units would be used for functions such as office space for the charity during the day.

A total of 18 people can be housed between the three units per night.

An officer report attached with the application stated that since these sites are in the town centre with close availability of other amenities, they “lend themselves for being used for the purpose more than a setting in a residential area.”

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Certain other conditions are attached to the council’s approval.

If the charity, Hope4Havering, ceases to operate or no longer requires the units, they will go back to being used for commercial purposes.

Arrangements for parking are required to be made so the shelters do not impact highway safety or other amenities.

The officer’s report however said that the proposal will not lead to parking issues in the area, as the location has a “plethora of local parking opportunities.”

The applicant is ordered to have sound insulation to prevent noise nuisance to adjoining properties.

Further, only people from Havering are allowed to be referred to these night shelters to enable the local planning authority to retain control and avoid disturbance to surrounding residents.

At the end of every month, the charity has also been asked to provide a detailed return to the borough’s rough sleeper co-ordinator, providing details of people using the property. 

The officer’s report stated that historically, the use of two of the units as shelters were subject to a number of objections.

These cited “fear of crime” and concluded that the “concentration of vulnerable people in an area could lead to tension.”

In response, the charity had outlined the reasons behind the choice of location, the use of building, their experience of running such services and how they intended to deal with anti-social behaviour.

The officer in his report for the third unit said that there is “little reason to dispute” that the site will not be well managed, and the proposal is “not suggestive of an increased uptake” in crime.

He added: “There is no evidence before officers that the character of the use proposed would materially harm neighbouring amenity were those adjoining premises in residential use.

“During the day there would not be any accommodation provided, the units would be used for ancillary functions such as office work associated with the charity.”

Detailed documents for each of these proposals can be accessed on the council’s planning website- https://development.havering.gov.uk/OcellaWeb/planningSearch