Barking and Dagenham is made up of roughly 40 neighbourhoods and counting. Many residents love their neighbourhoods, but they are also aware of their issues, from a legacy of under-investment in key physical and social infrastructure; including transport, schools, health facilities and community spaces; to the cleanliness of the streets and the perception of crime. We want to use growth to make sure that every single one of our neighbourhoods is both aspirational and resilient, with both exciting new projects and street-level improvements planned in all corners of our borough.

To read more our plans take a look at B&D Shaping Neighbourhoods Together - A summary of our plans for the borough's neighbourhoods. Or to read about these plans respond directly to the questions you asked in January 2019, take a look at the questions and answers section below.

B&D Shaping Neighbourhoods Together - A summary of our plans for the borough's neighbourhoods (PDF, 5MB)

To tell the story of our plans for the future of the borough, and to demonstrate how these plans build on the borough’s unique history and character, we have produced Borough & Me - The story of Barking & Dagenham, past, present and future. This document was developed on the back of hundreds of conversations with residents across all seven of the borough’s areas and is inspired by the brilliant work of school children who took part in the 2019 Borough & Me homework competition.

Borough & Me - The story of Barking and Dagenham, past, present and future (PDF, 40MB)

Questions and answers

Could a focus on history help bring people together and help people feel like they live somewhere with an identity?

Yes. We are proud of the history of our borough and are drawing on and celebrating the borough’s heritage as we plan for the future. In 2021 we will mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of building work on the Becontree estate, with a yearlong programme of events for residents and setting out new standards for future development. We are also supporting plans to open an East London women’s museum in Barking.

Don't we need to increase the capacity of schools, GP surgeries and health centres to keep up with the new homes?

Yes. We will need to expand schools and other services to accommodate our ambitious plans for growth. The council is already planning for this, and will set out our plans for this as part of our new ‘Local Plan’. We will use our powers through the planning system to ensure developers make a fair contribution to the delivery of these vital community facilities, so they can grow as our borough grows.

Don't we need more transport options, like trains and buses? What about a tram in the borough, like in Croydon?

We are committed to working with TFL, network rail and others to improve transport options in the borough. Work has already started on an extension of the London Overground service to Barking Riverside, and plans are in place to develop a new C2C station at Beam Park. Crossrail will serve Chadwell Health when it opens. We do not currently have any plans to introduce a tram service to the borough, but are exploring options to expand and improve high frequency bus links across the borough.

Won't more people make it even harder to keep the streets clean?

As the borough grows we know that demand on all of services will grow with it, and our street cleaning service will be no different. We are working hard to modernise and improve our street cleaning service, and have invested in new equipment and staff to expand the service. Residents have an important role to play in helping to keep the streets clean as well, and we will continue to highlight this through our communications campaigns.

Shouldn't there be tougher consequences for people that fly tip and engage in anti-social behaviour?

We are determined to reduce the levels of fly tipping and anti-social behavior in the borough. The council’s Enforcement Team have been restructured to enable them to work in a more a targeted way. We will continue to use our social media campaigns to highlight the impact of fly tipping. We will also continue to work closely with the Police so they are able to direct their resources to tackle these issues.

Aren't CPZs making life harder for some residents? Do we really need them?

We understand that having access to parking is important to our residents. Brining in CPZs make it is easier for us to prioritise parking for residents who need it most. Alongside this we will also continue to push for the improvements to local cycling and pedestrian routes, which mean that residents will have to rely less on their cars, particularly for short journeys.

The borough's shopping centres and high streets need to be smartened up. What is being done about them? 

We agree that while many of our high streets and shopping centres remain busy, lively places, there is more that can and should be done to make them attractive places to visit. We are developing a plan for the future of Barking Town centre, to improve the market and help accelerate the changes to the Vicarage Field shopping centre. The council has recently agreed a deal to buy the Heathway shopping centre, which will give us much greater control and ability to improve the offer available.

Can't we have more shops, restaurants and cafes that we know and trust?

We want to do all that we can to ensure that residents and visitors to the borough can enjoy a wide range of shopping and leisure facilities. Clearly it will be for individual retailers to make choices about where they open new branches, but we are committed to doing all we can to make the borough an attractive place to invest.