Thursday 7 March marked World Book Day 2019. This year in Barking and Dagenham the day marked the launch of a project by local Councillor Andrew Achilleos and Trees for Cities, a project which has now fully funded a book called ‘The Lost Words’ by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris along with teaching resources for every primary and SEND school in the borough.

Beam County Primary School in Dagenham is the first school in London to get the book as part of the project, and throughout the year Trees for Cities will be delivering the book across the city.

This week Cory Environmental Holdings Limited are submitting an application to the Planning Inspectorate to build a ‘Riverside Energy Park’ in Belvedere, Bexley. The facility will produce over 96 megawatts of electricity through the mass incineration of waste. Due to the scale of the proposal the final decision will be taken by the Secretary of State.

Jon Cruddas MP for Dagenham and Rainham has launched a petition against the plans which will undoubtedly have a severe impact on air quality in his constituency, particularly Rainham and the Beam Park development area.

This week the residents of Dovers Farm Estate Green received the result of last month’s hearing regarding their ‘Village Green’ application to protect their community green.

The residents have fought off two attempts to develop the green in recent years with the help of Jon Cruddas MP, the first proposal came from Havering Council themselves and the second by a private developer.

Last Sunday members of Jon Cruddas MP’s team visited Dagenham Farm, a thriving initiative supplying the local area with organic produce and equipping local residents with skills in cultivation and food preparation.   

Dagenham Farm is part of Growing Communities, a community-led organisation that creates sustainable urban farms.  Growing Communities has been based in Hackney since 1996 and expanded with the opening of Dagenham Farm in 2012.