(if any) - receive.

Apologies were received for the absence of Councillor Robby Misir and Councillor Tim Ryan. Councillor Misir was substituted by Councillor Bryan Vincent.

Members are invited to disclose any interest in any of the items on the agenda at this point in the meeting.

Members may still disclose any interest in an item at any time prior to the consideration of the matter.

There were no interest disclosured at the meeting.

To approve as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 26 February 2026 and to authorise the Chair to sign them.

The Committee agreed for the Chairman to sign the minutes of the meeting held on 26 February 2026.

Report attached.

The Committee received a presentation on the proposal that sought permission for the complete demolition of the existing multi-storey car park commercial units and all structures and redevelopment of the site by the erection of two standalone residential buildings providing a combined total of 106 new homes, mixed-use scheme, alongside a Flexible Class E / F1 (commercial / community use) unit, with car parking, landscaping and related infrastructure including a new sub-station.

It was noted that the application had been called in by a Ward Member, Councillor Joshua Chapman joined the meeting virtually to speak. Councillor Chapman commented that the closed nature of the site is unsuitable for a town centre development, expressing concerns that it could lead to increased anti-social behaviour and reduced safety. He also suggested that the scheme should incorporate a well lit pedestrian route through the site to improve accessibility and security. Councillor Chapman urged the Committee to defer a decision on the application for the concerns to be addressed.

The Committee noted the addendum to the report in which officers provided detailed responses to the concerns raised by Councillor Chapman. Officers confirmed that from their perspective all issues identified had been fully captured and addressed.

With its agreement, a ward Member, Councillor David Taylor addressed the Committee. Councillor Taylor stated that just like Councillor Chapman they were representing the views of local residents and emphasised that the committee’s role was to provide proper scrutiny and clear reasons for its decisions rather than simply to express personal preference. Councillor Taylor agreed with Councillor Chapman that the application should be deferred arguing that it was not ready for determination. It was highlighted that the officer report itself recommended that further work—particularly in relation to flooding—should be undertaken before any decision was made. Councillor Taylor expressed the view that the proposal was not in line with the Romford Master Plan, specifically regarding the de culverting and potential renaturalisation of the River Rom. They noted that Mercury Land Holdings had long been aware of this issue and had explored options, but while the applicant concluded that renaturalisation was not viable, the Environment Agency had indicated that more work was required. Councillor Taylor stressed that the Environment Agency had suggested the council pursue alternative solutions and carry out further flood risk mitigation work and therefore approval at this stage would prevent any future opportunity to renaturalise the river.

It was also suggested that the scheme did not deliver affordable housing despite being a council led development and argued that the viability review mechanism was only a deferred assessment with no guarantee of affordable homes. They stated that such assessment should take place before not after, planning permission was granted, noting that policy requires support for delivering the strategic target of 50% genuinely affordable homes. Councillor Taylor expressed concern that the view of the red brick façade of the Church currently framed by open sky would instead be dominated by a tall monolithic block behind it diminishing its prominence and harming  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.