Becontree Heath to Rush Green

Exciting plans for a new children’s playground in Eastbrookend Country Park have been unveiled, promising fun and exercise for youngsters.

The new playground, which is being built next to the park’s Discovery Centre, will feature swings, slides, a climbing frame, balance beams and sensory play facilities to stimulate fine motor and language skills, offering adventurous play for children aged 2 to 12.

The design uses natural wood with teal and subtle green highlights, helping to create an attractive play area that complements the parks landscape.
Barking and Dagenham Council have committed £99,500 to the project through its Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy (SCIL), which uses a tax on new developments to raise money that is ring-fenced for improvements that benefit the local area.

Councillor Saima Ashraf, Deputy Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership & Engagement, said: “Residents asked for a playground, so we are delighted to be able to deliver on their wish by providing this investment. This exciting new facility will provide a safe place where young people can have fun, get fit and enjoy the outdoors without compromising on the natural beauty of the area.

“Eastbrookend Country Park is the jewel in our crown when it comes to green spaces, and this playground adds to the already fantastic activities available there, which include fishing lakes, horse riding, guided walks, and nature trails.”

Playground supplier Kompan have produced a 3D image of how the new playground will look, with work on the park set to be completed in May this year.
Barking and Dagenham has a total of 28 parks and green spaces, which provides 463 hectares of publicly open land – more than three times the size of Hyde Park.

Six of the borough’s parks hold a Green Flag Award, which is the nationally recognised standard for excellent green spaces.

For more information on the borough’s country parks, visit barkinganddagenhamcountryparks.com

On Saturday 19 March, Barking and Dagenham opened three of its new Community Hubs; Sue Bramley Centre, Marks Gate, and William Bellamy.

Formerly opened by Cllr Darren Rodwell, Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, and Cllr Maureen Worby, Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration, the hubs aim to provide residents and neighbourhoods with the support they need, closer to home.

Working with partners from the community and voluntary sector, the council is committed to building strong relationships with communities and residents to address the key issues and challenges the borough faces. The concept of the Community Hubs is to provide a ‘one-stop shop’ for residents to provide a local network of help and support. The Hubs reflect the council's desire and ambition to put public services at the heart of our communities.

The east London council will be opening further hubs throughout the year across the borough and will provide information, advice, and support with:

• Jobs, training, and courses
• Housing and homelessness
• Money and debt
• Health and wellbeing
• General council services
• Help getting online
• Events and activities

Working in partnership with the police and the council’s enforcement team, one of the future key functions of the Community Hubs will be to help residents report a crime online, such as an incidents of antisocial behaviour or fly-tipping. Our Safer Neighbourhoods Police Team will also be running drop-in sessions for residents.

Councillor Maureen Worby, Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration at Barking and Dagenham Council, who has spearheaded the launch of the Community Hubs, said: “As Saturday’s launch events showed, the new hubs are about working with our local community and voluntary sector partners to bring together the people who make things happen with the people who take part, putting on activities that bring residents together, and providing the space to do so.

“It’s about providing residents with face to face help and support, closer to their home, when they need it.

“Following the opening of the new hubs at Sue Bramley, William Bellamy and Marks Gate, I look forward to opening a further 16 hubs across the borough in the coming months”.

For more information about Community Hubs visit: https://www.lbbd.gov.uk/community-hubs

The first stage of an extensive project to improve a park in Dagenham is now in full swing.

Work started at Central Park in November with site preparation works and the first deliveries of environmentally approved clean soil.

The two-year project will be carried out in four stages and the many improvements will make the park a more interesting green space for residents to visit and enjoy.

New play facilities for toddlers and children will be installed, as well as a refurbishment of the tennis courts and creation of approximately one mile of new pathways to make it easier to get around the park.

We’re delighted to be able to help transform Central Park and make it more beneficial for residents. The project is no mean feat and the work involved is massive, but once finished, our residents will have access to a rejuvenated park and some first-class leisure and recreation facilities

More trees and wildflowers will be planted to compliment the new-look of the 89-year-old park, which has remained largely untouched since it opened in 1932.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement, Councillor Saima Ashraf said: “We’re delighted to be able to help transform Central Park and make it more beneficial for residents. The project is no mean feat and the work involved is massive, but once finished, our residents will have access to a rejuvenated park and some first-class leisure and recreation facilities.

“Our parks provide an important space for people to get outdoors, exercise, socialise, and enjoy nature – and with our parks and green spaces amounting to more than three times the size of Hyde Park, there’s plenty to explore and appreciate in Barking and Dagenham.”

Across Barking and Dagenham there are 28 parks and green spaces, which provide 463 hectares of land open to the public. The Central Park project, and similar park improvement initiatives such as planting over 32,000 trees in 2020 in Parsloes Park to create the ‘Forest of Thanks’, are all part of the council’s commitment to making Barking and Dagenham a greener borough and creating high quality green spaces to secure a better, safer and healthier future for children and future generations.

This work is being undertaken in partnership with Alliance Leisure Services and GLE Ltd and the cost of the park improvements will be funded from the income received from the soil deliveries.

For more information on the project visit: www.lbbd.gov.uk/central-park

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