Most planning news feels like it happens to businesses rather than with them. The next 18 months are different. A new Local Plan is about to start, Romford’s biggest shopping centre has a redevelopment application in, and a decision is pending on one of the largest data centre proposals in the country, on Havering’s eastern edge.

1. The new Local Plan: consultation from January

Havering’s Cabinet is being asked to approve the timetable for a new Local Plan covering 2027 to 2042. If agreed, the council will publish formal notice of the timetable, and a borough-wide scoping consultation is expected from January 2027.

That first consultation asks two questions: what the plan should cover, and how residents, businesses and others should be involved. A draft plan follows over about two years, with further consultation, before independent examination.

The Local Plan decides where homes, offices, workshops, shops and industrial land can go, and what infrastructure must come with them. It is also where the council’s Green Belt and “grey belt” assessment will land, and, because national rules have changed, where updated Romford town centre policies will now sit.

For businesses, the questions to raise early include:

• Is there enough employment land, particularly small and medium industrial units, at London Riverside, Harold Hill and elsewhere?
• Will town centres keep flexible space for independent retail, food and services, not just homes?
• How will parking, loading, deliveries and public transport work as Romford densifies?

2. The Liberty: phase one submitted

The Liberty’s owner, Redical, and its development partner HUB have submitted a planning application for the first phase of a residential-led transformation of the centre. Phase one, around Western Road and South Street, includes about 380 homes, new shops, food and drink space and a new public square, with a 25-storey tower at its heart. Two later phases would need separate applications.

Redical says that, in its consultation, 62% of responses were broadly positive and that many existing occupiers in its ownership are expected to be retained or relocated within the centre.

For town centre businesses, the opportunity is several hundred new households within walking distance. The risk is years of construction disruption. If you trade nearby, now is the time to ask about construction hours, access, signage and how tenants will be supported while work is under way.

3. The East Havering Data Centre Campus

This is the most contested economic proposal in the borough. It would be a 600MW data centre campus on about 200 hectares of Green Belt farmland at North Ockendon. Havering’s planning authority consulted on a draft Local Development Order between 6 March and 7 April 2026. The draft framework includes multiple data centre buildings, an indoor horticultural facility, a district heating network, an ecology park and a visitor centre. A final decision on adopting the order rests with the Strategic Planning Committee.

Supporters see major investment, construction work, long-term jobs, cheaper heat for nearby users and a chance to put Havering on the digital-infrastructure map. Opponents point to Green Belt loss, energy and water demand, and carbon emissions. Local campaigners have staged protests in Hornchurch as part of a Europe-wide campaign.

The Chamber’s job is not to pick a side for members, who will hold different views, but to make sure the business questions are asked: how many local jobs and supply-chain contracts, what skills pipeline, what grid and water capacity is left for everyone else, and what the scheme puts back into the borough.