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.”