Last Saturday I visited HMS Raider, a P2000 Archer Class training ship and joined its Commanding Officer, Lt. Adam Riddett and his crew of university undergraduates for the river journey between Tilbury and the Tower of London (see photos page).

In 1943, Romford sponsored a previous HMS Raider in ‘Warship Week’ with Hornchurch sponsoring HMS Hurricane. Havering has always had strong links with the armed forces and I am delighted that we have been able to rekindle a connection with the Royal Navy and I look forward to strengthening those links with the crew of HMS Raider.

To find out more, Living in Havering will be doing a special heritage feature in its next edition which you can download from the Havering website.

Best wishes,

Michael

Last night the Romford Drum and Trumpet Corps won £50,000 in The People’s Millions TV Show on ITV paving the way for them to renovate and refurbish a local building as their new head quarters.

The band has been going for more than 50 years and has played all over the UK, Western Europe and to the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace. This is absolutely fantastic news and on behalf of the Council I would like to congratulate the Band on their success.

Best wishes,

Michael

Havering Council has recently submitted planning proposals to build a new state-of-the-art youth centre in Harold Hill as part of the Harold Hill Ambitions Project.

The Big Lottery Fund is providing £4.7m to build the centre which will include; a juice bar/cafe, creche, dance and music performance space, a recording studio, a bike workshop, an information service and a computer suite.

During the Ambitions consultation, local people on the Hill told the Council that there needed to be more things for young people to do, and the new youth centre should certainly help.

Young people have been central to the development of the project with their views helping to create the final plans. If you’ve been involved with the plans for the new youth centre, please write in and let me know what you think.

Best wishes,

Michael

This year we have got a fun packed schedule for the Christmas Light Switch On from 4.30pm in the Market Place in Romford on Thursday 12 Novermber.

Bob the Builder and his friends Spud and Wendy will be lighting up Romford Town Centre as the Christmas illuminations are switched on at 6.30pm.

The Council and Romford’s four shopping centres – The Brewery, The Liberty Shopping Centre, The Mall and the Romford Shopping Hall, together with Romford Market have organised a fantastic fireworks display, panto favourites from the Queen’s Theatre and a special visit from Santa and his reindeers.

Why not come down and watch the switch on and enjoy a family fun-filled event.

Best wishes,

Michael

Last week the Council gave planning permission for the rebuilding of Broadford Primary School in Harold Hill. £4.5 million will be spent redeveloping the school with new state-of-the-art buildings and outdoor areas for the 315 pupils together with a new nursery.

The new buildings will also be made available to community groups, giving them access to fantastic new facilities.

The rebuild is part of the Council’s Harold Hill Ambitions programme which is aimed at transforming the life of people who live on the Hill  and improve opportunities in employment, education, lifestyle and housing.

If you would like to talk to me about the plans for Harold Hill why not post a comment!

Best wishes,

Michael

Since my blog went live in November 2007, over 20,000 people have visited, with many of them posting comments about local issues.

The blog has proven a great way of being able to discuss different things with different people from right across Havering and I would like to thank you for taking the time to visit the site and letting me know what you think.

Best wishes,

Michael

A few weeks back, I mentioned that we would shortly be holding a free, all-day family event called Romfest.

With just over a week to go preparations are almost complete and, I must say, I’m very excited. Romfest takes place on Sunday 27 September and kicks off with a family fun run in Raphael Park, then it’s over to Romford market place for seven hours of music, dance and sport from midday.

Some of Havering’s finest local talent will be performing from two sound stages at either end of the market place, with headline performances on the main stage by family favourite and X-Factor finalist Chico, the newly re-formed Blazin’ Squad and UK soul legend Lemar.

The main stage acts will be introduced by top presenters from our local radio stations, Time 107.5 and Link 92.2m and, I’m told, there’ll be a number of surprise guests putting in a special appearance throughout the day.

There will be an active sports zone to try your hand at; music, art and crafts workshops; lots of great, free personal safety advice from the borough’s leading experts; a fashion show in the Liberty; guided tours of the 600-year old Golden Lion public house (a favourite haunt of Captain Blood and Dick Turpin) in aid of charity and even a roaming Chinese Lion Dance troupe!

Over at Brannigans nightclub in South Street, there’s the Romfest Best Rock Band competition from 5pm, where finalists ‘Kid Neon’; ‘Zalinski’; ‘L2N1′ (Loyal to No One), ‘Lobster’ and ‘Learn to Swim’ will battle it out.

The prize for the victorious band is a day in the recording studio, an unplugged set and live interview on local radio and the chance to perform in front of thousands at this year’s Big Christmas Light switch-on in Romford.

There really will be something for everyone – and it’s all Free! Visit the official Romfest webpage at www.havering.gov.uk/romfest for full programme details. See you there.

Best wishes,

Michael

This year the Havering Show had over 30,000 people attending, almost three times as many that came along to last year’s show in Hornchurch’s Harrow Lodge Park.

Headline music acts included the Manfreds, the Bay City Rollers and Take That tribute band Never 4get. Also on show were the Knights of Middle England, the Stallions of Substance and the Delta Dogs display team.

Planet Havering was also part of the show and this year generators were run on recycled chip fat making the show one of the greenest ever.

I was there as well as part of my Leader’s Tours programme meeting residents and talking to them about the things that matter in their local community.

Please let me know if you were able to come to the show this year and what you thought of it.

Best wishes,

Michael

Earlier this year, Havering received a prestigious Beacon award by the Improvement and Development Agency for its work in creating a safer night time economy – the only London borough to have achieved such status.

It’s an achievement we can all be proud of, and one that merits celebration. So, tying in with the Cultural Olympiad and the London Week of Peace, there will be a very special, free, one day festival on 27 September called ‘Romfest’.

Romfest will start at 10am with a 5 kilometre Fun Run in Raphael Park which anyone can join. You can walk, run, jog or even push a children’s buggy around the circuit! I understand that some entrants will be using the event to raise funds for their favourite charities. If you’re interested in getting involved simply visit the Havering Council website or call Daniel on 01708 431742.

From midday until 7pm, Romford market place will be the venue for a non-stop programme of live entertainment, featuring a host of superb local talent. Some big name entertainers have also been booked to appear (details of that, coming soon).

The day will include arts and crafts workshops, an active sports zone, a fashion show, amusements and lots of helpful community safety advice – and it’s all free.

At 5pm there will a ‘Best Rock Band’ competition taking place at Brannigan’s in South Street, where the winner will be offered the chance to perform in front of thousands at this year’s Christmas Lights switch on.

It promises to be a great, free day out – hope to see you there.

Best wishes,

Michael

Romfest, Sunday 27 September 2009

You will have seen from my earlier post below how disappointed the Council and I were with the Government deciding to cut the money that Homes in Havering needed to bring many of the council properties in the borough up to the Decent Homes standard.

This week however, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson has pledged to step in and plug the funding gap. This is fantastic news and will come as a relief to thousands of families right across Havering. We’re looking forward to seeing details of the Mayor’s proposals and and we hope to receive these soon.

However we’re still not going to let the Government get off the hook over this and we will continue to lobby them over the money they originally promised.

Regards,

Michael