Barking and Dagenham Council is holding a Q&A session to discuss the future of two Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) and is encouraging residents to come along and have their say.

 

PSPOs help to deal with antisocial behaviour in a specified area and the two that are due to expire are in Barking Town Centre and Broad Street, Dagenham.

 

This March, Barking and Dagenham residents are being invited to take advantage of a variety of free online events to mark the achievements of women past and present as part of Women’s Empowerment Month.

Now in its seventh year, the month-long programme of events celebrates the contribution that women and girls make to the borough and draws on the official themes marked by International Women’s Day and The United Nations International Women’s Day.

Local creative organisation Sew London is helping residents to upcycle and reuse their unwanted clothing and textiles by running recycling sewing, arts and craft workshops, helping the environment by diverting waste from going into landfill.

Organiser Kemi Oloyede has run workshops on easy, fun ways to upcycle household clothes, helping families to save money and get creative. Easy upcycling ideas include turning old pairs of jeans into shoulder bags and creating sofa cushions covers from scraps of material.

A Cash & Carry in Dagenham that has repeatedly broken coronavirus rules and been doubling up as a substandard hotel has been told to close down by Barking and Dagenham Council’s enforcement team and police officers.



Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Heathway Cash & Carry, 241 Heathway, Dagenham has received a number of warnings for breaches of Covid regulations but continued to flout the rules.

As part of the council’s B&D Working Together initiative to support local people into employment, training and upskilling, a Customer Service Traineeship Programme is being offered to the borough’s residents aged 19 – 24 years-old.

The free 6-week Traineeship Programme will help residents to develop the skills and tools needed to successfully pursue a career in customer services and also includes a work placement within a council department for hands-on experience.

A Dagenham woman has been ordered to pay more than £1,500 for failing to clear a grubby garden strewn with rubbish. 



Barking and Dagenham Council had received a number of complaints from neighbours about the smell coming from the household waste, which littered the front garden of Patricia Newell’s home on Treswell Road. 

A Dagenham driver has been ordered to pay almost £1,500 after throwing a cigarette end out of the car.



The driver of Shyra Knight’s car was spotted by an eagle-eyed Barking and Dagenham Council enforcement officer last February committing the offence on Ripple Road, Barking.



Littering falls under Section 87(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and carries a fine of £150.

A man in Dagenham will have to stump up almost £2,750 after keeping his neighbours awake with late-night karaoke sessions.



Jason Harvey, 50, of Wood Lane, played music so loud that when Barking and Dagenham Council enforcement officers visited, music and singing could clearly be heard through the walls next door.



Harvey was issued with a noise abatement notice by the council in February 2019, however he ignored it – racking up a further 155 complaints relating to loud music and late-night DIY.

Residents are being invited to join an online session about the coronavirus vaccine roll-out in Barking and Dagenham.



Two local GPs and the borough’s director for public health will join council leader, Councillor Darren Rodwell, and Councillor Maureen Worby, Cabinet Member for Health and Social Integration, for a one-hour question-and-answer session in a bid to dispel any myths and address any concerns people might have.

Throughout the pandemic, Barking and Dagenham Council’s enforcement team has been on the frontline providing advice to businesses to ensure they stay open as well as enforcing where needed.



Last week was no different and officers visited 2,200 local businesses to make sure coronavirus rules were still being followed. This round of visits also included checking in on 822 non-essential shops to make sure they were closed, which they were.