London Borough of Havering
The London Borough of Havering (/ˈheɪvərɪŋ/ ⓘ) in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities are Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham. The borough is mainly suburban, with large areas of protected open space. Romford is a major retail and night time entertainment centre, and to the south the borough extends into the London Riverside redevelopment area of the Thames Gateway.[1] The name Havering is a reference to the Royal Liberty of Havering which occupied the area for several centuries. The local authority is Havering London Borough Council. It is the easternmost London borough.
"Havering" redirects here. For other uses, see Havering (disambiguation).
London Borough of Havering
1 April 1965
Leader & Cabinet (Havering Residents Association (NOC))
Cllr Stephanie Nunn
43.35 sq mi (112.27 km2)
184th (of 296)
262,022
68th (of 296)
6,000/sq mi (2,300/km2)
00AR
E09000016
Neighbours[edit]
Havering is bordered to the south by the London Borough of Bexley by the River Thames, to the west by the London Borough of Redbridge and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and to the north and east by Essex.
Industry and commerce[edit]
There are over 7,000 businesses based in Havering. Romford is the main commercial hub of the borough with a small district of mainly office development close to the railway station. There is also some industry to the south between Rainham and the River Thames such as Rainham Steel headquarters on the boundary of Elm Park. Light industry elsewhere in the borough has been in decline, with major employers such as the former Star Brewery now closed down.[12] New industrial development is encouraged in the south of the borough has been encouraged by the London Development Agency (now GLA Land and Property), with the opening of the Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence.
The main retail district is also located in Romford with several interconnected or neighbouring shopping arcades including the Liberty Shopping Centre, the Mercury Mall, and the Brewery. Romford Market is located to the north of Romford and is the largest market within the borough and in the surrounding area. Hornchurch and Upminster are the other main retail centres with extensive high street shopping areas.
Romford has a developed night-time economy with one of the highest concentrations of bars and nightclubs anywhere in Greater London outside the West End with public transport radiating into all parts of the borough.
Havering London Borough Council applied to the Government to allow a 'super-casino' to be built in the south of the borough,[13] however the application was rejected in May 2006.[14]
This pattern of the 'garden suburb' with inter- and post-war private housing developments occurred widely across the borough, with small estates of social housing representing a low percentage of housing in any single council ward; six of the 30 electoral wards with fewer than 2% social housing are in the borough: Hylands, Mawneys, Pettits, Hacton and the two wards forming Upminster, Cranham and Upminster Ward.[17] Plans to extend existing developments in much of the borough are blocked as open land is protected as part of the Metropolitan Green Belt. In contrast, the southern part of Havering adjacent to the Thames is within the London Riverside section of the Thames Gateway redevelopment area. New open spaces and large scale house building to provide an entirely new residential community is planned.
The most built-up areas are the traditional garden suburb districts of Hornchurch, Emerson Park, Gidea Park, Harold Wood, Romford and Upminster. These places have developed over the last hundred years to form a large area of continuous urban sprawl with indistinct boundaries.
A 2017 study found that, when comparing low-end rent to low-end earnings, private rented housing in Havering is the most affordable of any London borough.[18]
Named neighbourhoods are the developments of Ardleigh Green, Chase Cross, Collier Row, Elm Park, Harold Hill, Rainham. The borough's exurbs with green buffers of farmland or parkland are:
Transport[edit]
Roads[edit]
The M25 motorway forms part of the borough boundary to the east with North Ockendon the only settlement to fall outside. The A12 (near Romford) and the A13 (near Rainham) are the main trunk radial routes from central London and are located to the north and south of the borough respectively. The A127 trunk route to Southend begins at Gallows Corner; which also forms the eastern end of the A118 local artery from Stratford. The A124 local artery from Canning Town terminates at Upminster.
Media[edit]
The local newspapers in Havering are The Havering Daily and the Romford Recorder.
Bedrock Radio [21] is a charity run community health & Hospital radio station located within the Queen's Hospital in Romford.
The first Hospital Radio Service In Havering began broadcasting in 1964 as Harold Wood Radio.[22]
Today, Bedrock Radio serves the community by broadcasting online and to Queen's, King George & Goodmayes Hospitals and features information about the Hospitals and NHS services, promotes charitable and community organisations and has an extensive local events guide featuring community non-profit events.
Time 107.5 FM is the commercial radio station broadcasting to Havering and surrounding areas and features local news.
The London Borough of Havering has several sporting clubs:
Havering is twinned with:
Health Care[edit]
The Borough of Havering is serviced by The Barking Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust.[32]
Provisions of Accident and Emergency from Queens Hospital, Romford. During the 2019/2020 financial year Queens hospital received 309,551 patients into the A&E department.[33]