MP Urges London Mayor to Launch Inquiry into Dovers Green

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MP Urges London Mayor to Launch Inquiry into Dovers Green

Over the last few weeks, residents of South Hornchurch who wrote to Havering Council objecting the proposed ?Stopping Up Order' (P1004.18) of Dovers Green, received letters from the council asking whether they would like to withdraw their objection.

Havering Council applied for a ?Stopping Up Order' to take the land bounded by New Zealand Way, Queenstown Gardens and Gisborne Gardens, Rainham, RM13 8JT (locally known as Dovers Green) out of ?Highways' to start development.

Residents whose homes surround the land mentioned have fought off two attempts to develop on the green in recent years with the help of Jon Cruddas MP, the first proposal came from Havering Council themselves and the second by a private developer.

Since then Jon Cruddas and his team in South Hornchurch have worked alongside the community to apply for ?Village Green' status. The council brought in legal experts to fight the case being put forward by the residents, and in 2018 the ?Village Green' application was refused.

The date for objections to the ?Stopping Up Order' to be withdrawn has now passed and to the MP's knowledge, residents of the area have upheld their objections to the proposal.

As the Member of Parliament for Dagenham and Rainham, incorporating South Hornchurch and Elm Park, Jon Cruddas has written to the Mayor of London urging him to instigate a local inquiry as a response to this application under Section 252(4)(b) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

Since the original planning application and the Stopping Up Order were passed by Havering's Council further plans have come to light. The Napier and New Plymouth House site on neighbouring Dunedin Road are due to be redeveloped which will see yet more green amenity space lost to development.

In the Mayor's Draft London Plan it states that: "Local green and open spaces should be protected".

Jon Cruddas MP said: "My concern is that the collective actions on Dunedin Road and the Stopping Up Order will leave the immediate vicinity with no green space for existing or new residents to access. I don't want a previously leafy neighbourhood to take on a claustrophobic feel due to overdevelopment."

Jon Cruddas will continue to work with the South Havering Action Team to monitor all future developments regarding the green.