A Romford group has raised concerns over plans to redevelop the Rom Valley Way Retail Park and Seedbed Centre.

Rom Valley LLP, a joint venture between the real estate investment firm Portland Capital and Mitheridge, submitted proposals in January.

The current buildings would be demolished to make way for 840 homes, a school, medical centre, a new business and retail space and open green spaces for residents.

But the Romford Civic Society has posted its response to the plans on its Facebook page.

It said: “Our comments focus on the proposed layout of the site, which creates a narrower pathway by the river but a broader route through the centre of the site”.

Because of this, the society believes residential units close to the river could be vulnerable from flooding. The plans also miss the opportunity to create a more spacious riverside approach to Romford, they claim.

"The proposal seems to miss the chance to, essentially, create a new public linear park with water, forming a key pedestrian approach to Romford," the society said.

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But it welcomed measures to revitalise the River Rom and praised developers for their community engagement.

An initial application for the development of the site was filed in 2020 and later withdrawn in April 2021. Then Havering Council leader Damian White termed it "unsuitable" for Romford.

Tim Simpson, partner and head of development of Mitheridge, said that a full environment assessment was included in the latest application that demonstrates a range of mitigating factors to prevent risk of flooding.

He said: “Significant work has been done to ensure that no properties will flood even in a 1 in 1000 event.

“We have met the Environment Agency who are supportive of the proposals."

In the current plans, there are commercial spaces and cafes by the east side of the river and the river frontage will have spaces for people to sit and relax, he clarified.

A council consultation is still ongoing and a decision on the planning application would be taken by October 5 at the latest.