LOCAL RESIDENT LETTER LOCAL RESIDENT LETTER April 2024 April 2024
Thanks to those of you that could make the meeting on 29th February. Please see update below on the discussions. Apologies for the delay in sharing these with you.
We will continue to keep you updated as we make progress. In the meantime, please do get in touch if you have any questions or concerns. Contact details are on the back of this flyer.
Topic/Question
Community Garden update
Agreed actions/updates/details
Question about sourcing new plants as some of them have died. Wates have agreed to buy seeds for the garden.
Events in the garden - residents will be holding their own Easter hunt this year.
Further notes
These will be delivered by around the end of March.
The joint venture partners will look at a one year celebration event and will share details as soon as we can.
Meanwhile use Car Parkpower supply and trees
Question about whether there can be a power supply to the garden from the meanwhile use car park. Michael Rourke said he would look at this once we have outline planning permission for the hut/cabin/hall.
No trees on the Cotleigh Road boundary will be removed as part of the proposed car park plans.
Temporary homes
In 2021 there was no families or single people in hotels. In 2023 there were 646 families and single people in hotels, so there is a demand for temporary accommodation.
In 2021 we had 3 hostels in Havering now have one perm hostel and 2 temp ones (Royal Jubilee Court and Park Lane)
Darren Alexander confirmed they will all be family homes
Residents asked why is this going up in Waterloo and not any of the other 12 sites. The reason is Waterloo has been demolished, the other 11 sites have buildings on them, apart from the Family Welcome Centre and construction will be starting there soon.
The families that could be placed in the modular homes would be in priority need for housing
As part of the development process, security of the temporary housing and the wider site (including when the construction work begins) will be reassessed.
Any issues that might arise with potential antisocial behaviour would need to be reported to Paul Dwyer to raise directly with Darren.
Question about how long the modular homes will be on site. Michael explained that the temporary planning permission we would be seeking would be for five years.
Residents asked if they could speak to residents in the Cardiff properties. Paul Dwyer to work on this.
Question on how many houses/flats are planned to be built on the area
The number of homes has not yet been determined though an initial assessment of Block 5 suggests there would be around 10 to 20 family homes.
Question on whether this will lead to further development. Michael confirmed that the Council have no intention to develop temporary housing on the land behind Cotleigh Road.
Will plans be made available? The project has only just commenced and the first stage is to develop the brief in detail. No design work will be carried out until that is completed.
Temporary homes continued
Can we have a parking officer present at the residents meetings to understand where the people in the modular homes will park?
The path to the station will also not be reinstated as the intention is to build Blocks 1 and 2 of the scheme.
The four storey units next to the Cardiff site are not part of the scheme proposed for WQS, as the boards shared at the meeting and the photos in this newsletter show.
A written response will be provided by the Parking Service on Business Parking. The parking for the temporary units will be considered as part of the planning application.
What safeguards will be in place for the planning permission, will is be made under Mercury Land Holdings or Havering Council?
The planning application will be made by the joint venture (Havering Council and Wates). Public consultation will be held on the application and the Planning Authority will consider it on it’s merit, as with any application.
Temporary homes continued
Can we get an update about the construction start date?
Question regarding the Crow Lane development in relation to the proposed scheme at WQS
As confirmed previously the containers on Crow Lane are not owned by the Council but by a private developer As explained above the Joint Venture will make a temporary planning application for the proposed temporary accommodation at the rear of the Sun It will be for the local planning authority to determine the application.
The JV Board is currently completing an evaluation of a one-stair and twostair solution for Phase 1 of the project. This should be completed by end of June 2024.
In the meantime, the project has been referred to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) who will assess it in due course following the Government’s statement in Autumn 2023
HOW YOU CAN REACH US
Paul Dwyer
Regeneration and Community Liaison Officer
01708 431154, 07976 539 160 or email regeneration@havering.gov.uk
You can also reach Paul via the WhatsApp group.
Colm Nolan, Construction Manager for Wates, colm.nolan@wates.co.uk or call 07713 697 344