HAVERING RESIDENTS HAVE SPOKEN: THIS IS WHAT THEY WANT BACK ON OUR HIGH STREETS
Dunelm in Hornchurch. Marks & Spencer in Hornchurch. A traditional bakery in Elm Park. More traditional bakeries across Havering’s town centres. Shoe shops. Clothes shops. A book shop for Collier Row. Costco. More health food shops. An art supply shop.
These are some of the businesses Havering residents say they want to see on their high streets, as calls grow for the borough’s town centres to regain the vibrant feel they once had.
Residents have been making their views clear about what they want to see when they walk down their local high streets.
And one message is coming through loud and clear.
They want more choice.
They want individual shops, recognised high street names and independent businesses that give each town centre its own identity.
In Hornchurch, residents have asked for a Dunelm and a proper Marks & Spencer in the town itself.
In Elm Park, there have been calls for a traditional bakery.
Across Havering’s town centres, residents want more bakeries and the return of shops that offer something different from what can already be found on the high street.
In Collier Row, one request has been particularly clear: residents want a book shop.
Other suggestions include Costco, more health food shops and an art supply shop.
But residents are also making clear what they don’t want.
They do not want their high streets to become dominated by vape shops, nail bars and barbers.
The issue is not about attacking individual businesses. It is about the balance and variety of shops available to residents.
For many people, a thriving high street is about being able to walk through the town centre and find something different at every turn.
It is about browsing in a clothes shop, buying a pair of shoes, picking up a book, visiting a bakery, finding something for the home or discovering an independent business that cannot simply be found everywhere else.
Residents want their town centres to feel like destinations again.
They want busy shops rather than empty units.
They want streets that feel welcoming rather than tired.
And they want the character and individuality that many believe Havering’s town centres have gradually lost.
For generations, Havering’s high streets were places where people went not just because they needed something, but because they enjoyed being there.
They were places to meet friends, browse the shops, have a coffee, buy something different and spend time in the town centre.
Today, residents are asking whether that feeling can be brought back.
The demands being made are not simply for more shops.
They are for different shops.
They are asking for the return of variety, independent businesses and bigger names alongside one another.
They want high streets where there is genuine choice rather than rows of similar businesses.
And perhaps most importantly, they want their high streets to have a future.
The message from residents is clear: they want Havering’s town centres back to being vibrant places that people actually want to visit.
Because Havering residents have had their say.
And what they are asking for is simple.
More choice. More variety. More independent shops. Better-known high street names. More reasons to visit.
And ultimately, they want to see Havering’s high streets regain the vibrant feel they once had.
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