The Plans And Havering Mosque

P1765.23 now splits the entire development into a number of stages or phases, and involves 91 Waterloo Rd, the Havering Islamic Cultural Centre. Read the documents here . Please note that some of the documents will take a while to load.

LBH received 2,500 objections to the scheme.

The plans were introduced at length by the case officer, and we then heard from Tahir Ali from the Havering Islamic Cultural Centre. 

The representative from HICC spoke about the uncertainty of the development, and how unhappy HICC were. It was revealed that:

• The council have been unable to convince the owner of 222-226 South St to sell, and may be forced to compulsory purchase the site.
• Once the community centre is completed, HICC would temporarily relocate there, or possibly the proposed health centre.
• HICC feel that the community centre, being a shared use would be unsuitable.
• Even if LBH acquire 222-226 South St, plans submitted by HICC would still require planning permission.

Cllr Judith Holt also echoed the concerns of HICC, and raised a number of valid points about the overdevelopment, the overshadowing of Regarth Avenue and the impact of the influx of thousands of new residents on the critical infrastructure. The committee also heard from the agent for the applicant and Cllr Taylor.

Down To The Nitty Gritty

In the debate that followed, all of the committee members had serious concerns about this development, and the Head of Planning, Simon Thelwell clarified that school and health centre may not even happen, which are vital parts of the infrastructure that accompanies the development.

Cllr Keane specifically mentioned the Page Calnan building and expressed a number of concerns about moving the Havering Mosque to that location, and highlighted a number of non policy-compliant issues with the proposed development.

We were surprised that the chair passed a comment about this level of over-development being forced on Havering by the Mayor of London, to hit housing targets. We always thought that the councillors we elected, are in charge of the borough, and not St Sadiq Khan of Tooting.

But when it came to the final vote, the HRA councillors towed the party line and voted to approve, allowing the chair to use his casting vote to approve the application, despite his concerns about the level of over-development. The final vote was 4:3

Still Up In The Air

There is still a degree of doubt that this development will even happen. Given the issues with the supporting infrastructure, the Havering Mosque and funding the development, we may see this application referred back to the committee, with amendments or changes.

And given the possibility of a change in council control in 2026, we very much doubt this long running saga is over.