Category: environmental damage

Havering Council Meeting, 22nd July 2026 (part one)

Apologies “….have been received from Councillors Kevin Ayres (Reform), Petru Eugen Dinsorean [Reform], Diane Smith, Russell Smith [Reform], Geoff Starns [Reform], John Tyler, Liz Tyler, [RA] Christine Vickery and Tom Vickery [Reform]. This is a 16% absentee rate, a Red Flag for most organisations.

Question Time1

Question Time (QT) was a filibuster. Answers became speeches and it ended with the Mayor pulling the plug. Reform councillors were in heaven with a captive audience.

Q1 Sue Ospreay (26 minutes) asked Keith Prince about Launders Lane. His jot-trot through the history made my heart sink. Needless to relate he said nothing….at length.

Q4 Stephanie Nunn (40) asked Robert Whitton about the Romford Plan. He was silkily elusive and charming. Charm goes a long way and everyone believed in a better tomorrow after he’d finished.

Q7 Gillian Ford(54)asked Keith about housing. He doesn’t like other boroughs buying houses in Havering. Keith is helpless and indignant, which isn’t a good look. Gillian’s killer question about Havering’s export of homeless residents ended Keith’s happiness. He was reduced to a ‘Don’t know’ answer, which is the ultimate cop-out at QT. He should know.

Q8 Martin Goode (58) was on top form. A straight-forward question to Sue Benjamins became a meandering speech. Her economic model depends on heroic assumptions. Regeneration and additional business rates are her economic 5th Cavalry coming to rescue Havering. Martin was polite and didn’t spoil her fantasy.

Q9 Graham Day (1:08) was enjoying himself before the Mayor pulled the plug.

Best Question: Martin Goode

Best Answer: Robert Whitton

Note

1 Annotator Player All times noted relate to this webcast. The questions that were tabled are here  Council questions.pdf

Havering’s Council Meeting, 18th March 2026

Question Time (QT)1

Question one2 was a political question! Michael White (25 minutes) asked about Havering joining Essex. He was digging out Andrew Rosindell and his Reform UK party.Apart from flags, Andrew is obsessed by the ‘Evil Empire’ that is London. Ray Morgon eagerly joined in, listing the inescapable advantages that the GLA brings Havering. Michael concluded by saying that leaving London was “a risk too far”. Ray was only too pleased to agree.

QT went downhill after this

Questions 3 and 6 were identical (33 and 39). Barry Mugglestone realised that giving identical answers was ridiculous. It didn’t stop him.3 Irony isn’t Barry’s strong suit.  He likes being the centre of attention at whatever cost to his dignity.

There were eleven questions for Barry out of 15. QT is a golden opportunity for councillors, but they don’t use it to any good purpose. Red hot topics are ignored. The East Havering Data Centre was unquestioned even though the three HRA ward councillors oppose it. This includes two councillors who are cabinet members. They haven’t resigned. Then there’s the multi-million pounds loan from government. How much has Havering borrowed this year, what’s the repayment period, and at what ruinous interest rate? No-one was interested.

Keith Prince (35) asked Q4 about mislabeling staff agency costs as telephone expenses.4 The amount was £262,000. Apparently ‘mistakes’ happen and ‘lessons have been learned’. Keith accepted this. This is amazing. The ‘mistake’ is so bizarre it needs a vivid imagination to think how it could have been made. Keith’s fatal lack of probing curiosity is characteristic of councillors who literally don’t know how to do scrutiny. Everything is accepted at face value regardless of how ludicrous.

The 2022-26 HRA Council finished with a whimper.

Notes

1 (Public Pack)Agenda Document for Council, 18/03/2026 19:30 p325 for all printed questions See Annotator Player for the webcast All times relate to this webcast

2 Can the Administration please confirm which services will be lost and what the approximate financial impact would be on the Borough should Havering withdraw from the Greater London Authority area? It shouldn’t be forgotten that Andrew tried, and failed, to become the Conservative Mayoral candidate.

3 Groundhog Day – Wikipedia

4 In the interests of transparency can the Leader explain why, who and what amount is being referred to in the Standard article which says Havering Council has tagged payments to one of its recruitment and workforce suppliers as “telephone expenses”.

Havering’s Data Centre Consultation, 25th March 2026

The consultation meeting held at the Town Hall was challenging. The room was inadequate. Neither the acoustics nor sightlines aided discussion. These problems were exacerbated by a chair who was inexperienced. Panel members huddled defensively behind computer screens instead of standing and clearly addressing the meeting. As a result, members of the public were helplessly holding up their hands for inordinate periods of time.

Havering’s Friends of the Earth: A Visualisation

The group1 have produced a visualisation to aid understanding. The link is here:

HFoE – VDC Tour

Greenwashing

As with all intrusive industrialisation projects, there are heroic efforts to greenwash. The pretence is that there is an environmental gain from the industrial use of the Green Belt. The offer here is an ‘ecology park’ and small-scale agriculture.

This is a tragic lost opportunity. The Data Centre will become Havering’s industrial frontier. Why not go the whole hog? Why not pivot towards intensive industrial farming?2 Another warehouse would fit in visually and help meet Britain’s insatiable desire for salad food all year round. Industrial farming would curb imports and the destructive carbon footprint miles.

The ‘ecology park’ is comically misplaced. It’s as appropriate as putting it at the junction of the M25 and A13. Far better would be land south of Albyns Farm in Hornchurch Country Park.3 A sensitive development would enhance the ‘jewel in the crown’ that is the country park. It’s possible to imagine the ‘ecology park’ being a destination if placed in a country park. It is impossible to imagine people having a day out next to industrial warehouses.

Finally

Section 106 agreements could show ambition. A Data Centre is massively intrusive and alters the character of Havering. The Council should be demanding significant and bold investment in Havering as a mitigation of the industrialisation of the Green Belt.

Notes

1 Havering Friends of the Earth

2 Vertical Farming Transforms The Farm-to-Fork Supply Chain

3 Havering’s Finest Park – Politics in Havering