‘Romford is turning into a ghetto town-we are moving out.’
Following the Havering Daily’s article last week on the agreed new building development of 972 properties on the former ice rink site in Romford, Gemma a local Romford resident reached out to us angry at the way her town has changed.
“I came here with my family just over twenty years ago from north London and it did seem a nice area to live in. I wanted an outer London borough as I did not want such a busy area to bring my family up in. I know all of London has changed and I fully appreciate that things have to change. However, they are not changing for the better.
“When I go into London itself, I am appalled at the way things are now. There aren’t any changes for the better and this mayor of London has clearly shown he will not make any decent changes. I really try and avoid the capital now as it saddens me to see how one person can make such a negative impact on an area.
“I am also saddened by the way things are in Romford. I am a big supporter of the market and often go there to do shopping as I like to support the local businesses. But, look at the market now? For people who remember how it used to be, this is like a different place. It used to be thriving, busy, packed with people. Now there are hardly any stalls anymore and the whole atmosphere seems different. The shopping areas aren’t want they used to be, the areas with shops on them are untidy and dirty. The saddest part for me is that no one seems to have any pride in the area anymore.
“I did vote Conservative in the last local elections as they promised to keep Romford a local town to be proud of, but they haven’t. They have just built and built and blamed the mayor of London but kept building. I couldn’t believe how they approved the new development on the ice rink site. Although, I think we all knew that it was coming, but when we saw the plans, we were appalled. Romford is turning into a ghetto town, everything we were promised it was not going to be.
“We are moving out now, away from all London boroughs. I am sad to see the way Romford is going now.”
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I remember Romford and my old man born at Oldchurch hosp. I live in rural coastal and mountainess area in Lancashire and never now visit either west Ham where i was born or west london Ealing where I did my nurse training 40 years ago this month. I dont go back cause last time i did I could see change that was not good and places that were once smart were delapidated and dirty.
Have to fully agree with pretty much everything stated.
I grew up in Dagenham (ha! Yeah I know) and used to go Romford regularly.
I’ve moved away 12 years ago into deepest Essex and had to recently jump off the train at Romford to use a bank and decided to have a stroll round for old times sake.
The stroll didn’t last long as I was shocked at how grim it looked and I know Romford has always had a few characters lurking around but it just felt frankly an unsafe place to be, I can’t imagine how chucking aload of tower blocks on the edge improves the local area one bit on top of the brewery estate just knocked down for guess what? More flats.
We just seem to make the same mistakes of the 60’s and 70’s over again just with abit more polished cladding in places.
London and it suburbs are becoming the same thing.
Romford isn’t a *ghetto*. No one is forced to live separate from the rest of the community as they were in Poland in the 19th century.
Lancashire has the worst poverty in Britain and low life expectancy so you can keep it.
I was born in 1954 at Harold Hill, I remember how Romford used to be and yes things have to change but not all the changes in Romford have been for the better, with all these ne w homes being built, the extra traffic is going to make Romford a no go area for people outside the area, I think we are at the start of a slow decline for Romford as a go to place to visit and do shopping, I moved out to Chelmsford just over a year ago and it’s like I’m a hundred miles away, the shopping centre here knocks spots off Romford, it’s clean tidy and the people are so much more friendlier, Romford now is just a suburb of London, not a place I will be going back too, which is a shame, Mick.
Romford is far from ghetto I’m from barking side now I live in Hackney now my mum lives in Romford and it’s not as bad everyone is making out just because their are a couple of kids that think they are little gangsters it’s the police that need to do more keep the kids on night curfew from 7pm then you wouldn’t have a problem trust me Hackney Croydon Enfield Brixton all them places are ghetto we’re London your Essex you get a couple burglaries and stabbings like everywhere London is far worse right now
Romfors is London not Essex if your going to whinge at least show the courtesy of getting your facts right before you post them and make youreslf look stupid