Whalebone Ward is located to the north of the borough between Chadwell Heath Ward to the north and Valence and Heath Wards to the south. It is also bordered by 2 other London boroughs; Redbridge to the west and Havering to the east. Transport links to neighbouring wards and boroughs are good, with the major roads of Green Lane and High Road running through the ward east-to-west and Whalebone Lane South running north-to-south. The Ward is very close to Chadwell Heath Railway Station which lies just on the Boundary of the ward and Redbridge.
The ward has a current estimated population of 10,111 however Greater London Authority population projections show an estimated increase of close to 4,000 by 2028. Housing Tenure statistics from the 2001 Census show that Whalebone has the lowest percentage of council tenanted properties in the borough (12.09%), the highest percentage of Owned with a Mortgage properties (47.35%) and 2nd highest percentage of households owned outright (28.22%).
This is not typical with many of the borough's other wards which tend to still have fairly high percentage of council tenanted properties and a low percentage of properties owned outright.
The percentage of Working Age Benefit Claimants for Whalebone is lower than the borough average and has been close to 13% of the Working Age population since 2002, compared to the borough's figure of 20%, of the Working Age Population; the highest claims are for Incapacity Benefit at 4.9% compared to the boroughs figure of 8%. The Ward has the 2nd lowest number of Working Age Benefit Claimants in the borough just above Longbridge Ward.
Unemployment Rates are also below the borough average and have fluctuated between 2.8% - 3.4% since February 2004 compared to 5% - 5.9% for the borough. Whalebone also has one of the lowest percentages of Economically Inactive working age population.
Health statistics show that Whalebone has the highest average Life Expectancy in the borough at 79.3 years old and the joint lowest Standardised Mortality Ratio at 99.
Lee Anderson
Neighbourhood Coordinator
Roycraft House
15 Linton Road
Barking
IG11 8HE
Tel: 07772 229 187
Email: lee.anderson@lbbd.gov.uk|
