Meeting with Matt Scott

“There is massive deficit in public amenities - a lack and there should be more. Especially noting the huge amount of developer activity that builds housing units of variable quality and safety and neglects social infrastructure - transport, GP, post office etc…”

“So, if you look at the council cooperate plan strap line from 2012 it talks about constructing 50,000 homes, so... those housing units are going to go somewhere and predominantly they are going to go here in the borough. The land that this development near Valance House used to be a vastly contaminated area, which was worth not very much but now is worth billions… and then If you look at the council’s inclusive growth strategy, then one of the challenges is how, what will you achieve in terms of growth; because growth varies in proposition. There will be physical growth as you construct the schemes, there maybe some economic growth. BREXIT is quite uncertain. Social, in terms of inclusive, well usually not. Usually that doesn’t happen and people who are either homeless or otherwise, who will be resettled in the Midlands or north west for example. So there is a real challenge in terms of the pressures from the housing market...”

“It is divisive and a form of social cleansing and gentrification. There is a lack of scrutiny on planning issues and a failure to provide a duty of care to residents. Especially looking back to the fire which devastated 20 homes similarly to Grenfell”.

The interview made it quite clear that there are number social issues throughout the borough and the councils approach to tackle these issues through development is not the right answer, as it does not provide inclusive growth to the extend predicted. Companies such as; Be first and Barking Riverside often market their concepts to the public but fail to deliver an accurate report at the end of construction. Furthermore, public engagement programs which are hosted in the vicinity of the development often compromises community project. Matt explained on one occasion, a small gardening club in the Thames ward required some piece of land for temporary use, he contacted the developer of Barking Riverside asking to occupy for a small piece of vacant phase 4 land. He then stayed that;

“On numerous occasion the developer just ignored my requests and simply pushed responsibility of the matter around various bodies in the organisation”. This meant that the public engagement is superficial to the extent provided in their delivery of the project. After out meeting, he introduced us to Lye Owengo, who is a mental health supervisor at GLA, and overlooks the vast number of mental health programs in the borough. Lye, as a resident of Barking and Dagenham felt that the social issues are being undermined through the focus of development. He stated;

“There is a huge demand for funding in the community projects and mental health awareness. The council has provided some arrangements in regard to tackling metal health issues in the borough, but majority is managed by charities and community engagement programs.“

I conducted a survey in East Street market, an historic asset of the borough that has been present for over 200 years. There, I questioned locals, street vendors, shoppers and security guards in terms of how they felt in regard to the development in the city centre and what their view was regarding the Barking Riverside Project. In 2012 there were concerns that the development in the town centre will compromise the East Street market, the street vendors took off to protest against the construction of high-rises22. However, after numerous talks between the council and the street vendors, a conclusion was made that there will be no impact on the market, nor are they going to be resettled. I informally questioned 12 people and received a variety of responses from the public, though will only be providing 2 conversations. Survey Questions:

Q1) Area of Residence. If in Barking and Dagenham, which ward? Q2) Age Q3) Ethnicity Q4) If you are from Barking, do you identify as someone from London or Essex? Q5) Favourite place in the Borough of Barking and Dagenham? Q6) What do you think about the public amenities in the borough? Is there a lack of it or should there be more? Q7) With the Barking Riverside project going on, what do you think about the general development across the borough? Q8) Do you know if the development is going to affect you in anyway or is affecting you already? Long term and Short term. Q9) With the development in progress across Barking and Dagenham, should more be done to aid schools, creative arts and community centres than commercially develop the borough? Q10) What exists in the rest of London that doesn’t exist in Barking and Dagenham? Nasir from northern Punjab, is a market vendor (selling knock off sneakers) at the East Street market in the heart of Barking Town Centre for the last 14 years. He stated that: “I welcomed the development, as it brings more people into the market and allowed me to sell more stuff” and “though I don’t feel that much has changed since the protest, at least I was listened to and am able to keep my place here”. He further mentioned that there some small issues such as; pollution and redirection of routes to the market due to shipments to the construction sites, though only temporary. One of the major concerns Nasir had was the impact of demographics in the town centre; he stated that “if only a little bit of housing is affordable and majority is privately sold then it would mean that the type of stock I sell will need to change”.

Continuing on the market, I talked to a couple from Bangladesh running a small food truck who have worked in the market for the last 2 years. I spoke to them in Urdu, as English did not seem applicable for them; I questioned on how they felt living in the borough, what they liked or disliked about the borough and what they had to say in regard to the upcoming development. They said that they are happy where they are, and due to the large diversity of people, they felt right at home. The wife stated that; “there is a lot of communities here, but the majority of what I have seen are mainly from Pakistan and Bangladesh”. Questioning their opinion on the development; they both agreed that it is good for the borough and may drive homelessness away from the streets. Furthermore, the had concerns in regard to the shopping centre, they felt that project may undermine their business as well as the market space. It seems that the perception of majority of people in the market was that social issues were being handled well by the local authority but statistics show that over 6531 people are homeless in the borough and waiting lists for social housing is an estimated 7000 households.