“Wildlife, Homes, and Havering’s Green Belt Under Siege From Mega M25 Plan”.

Moto Hospitality Limited wants to build two huge motorway service areas (MSAs) just north of junction 28 of the M25, but for local residents, this plan represents far more than just traffic and tarmac. It is yet another slice of Green Belt under threat, more concrete poured over fields and wildlife, and a devastating loss of the precious open space that separates our communities.

Campaigners claim if built, the sites would swallow land on the old Priors Golf Course near Navestock and part of Hill Farm north of Chequers Road. The scale is staggering: residents point out these service stations would be as big as Lakeside Shopping Centre. Dropped into this narrow strip of Green Belt, the project would completely sever the last green lung between Harold Wood, Harold Hill, Navestock and Brentwood.

For those of us who live nearby, this isn’t an abstract planning debate, it’s the destruction of a landscape that connects our villages, our heritage, and our wildlife. Deer, foxes, badgers, and countless birds rely on these green corridors. Once the land is bulldozed, they will vanish, and with them goes the character of our borough.

Moto insists it is working in close partnership with National Highways (NH), but NH’s own comments raise serious doubts. In fact, NH has repeatedly warned that the plans could increase congestion, compromise road safety, and put even construction traffic at risk. Junction 28 already struggles with long queues at peak times. Adding four new slip roads and hundreds of construction vehicles a day would only make things worse – and more dangerous.

Residents are also alarmed by the idea that construction traffic could be routed through local roads such as Gooshays Drive, North Hill Drive, Noak Hill Road and Church Road – roads that are narrow, residential, and already stretched. Havering Council has said outright these routes are unsuitable. The thought of 150 heavy construction journeys a day thundering through these communities for at least six months is enough to spark fury and fear.

Beyond the traffic, the deeper wound is to the Green Belt. Once lost, it can never be replaced. These sites are not just fields; they are habitats, buffers between towns, and a defence against the endless march of urban sprawl. Residents see this as yet another case of developers chasing profit at the expense of nature and community wellbeing.

As one campaigner put it: “This is not just about services for motorists, it’s about destroying the fabric of our environment, turning Havering and Brentwood into a concrete corridor, and leaving future generations with nothing but fumes and motorways.”

National Highways has lodged a standing objection. It is believed Moto has had 15 months to overcome safety concerns but has failed. To residents, that says it all – the project is in the wrong place, at the wrong scale, and at the wrong time.

For now, the fight continues. Local people are determined to protect the Green Belt, their wildlife, and their communities from being swallowed by a development that promises only traffic, pollution, and profit for outsiders.

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