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Over three-quarters of young people in Barking and Dagenham will attend their first preference secondary school from September this year.

Figures show that out of 3,372 applications, 2684 (79.60 per cent) of 10 and 11-year-olds have been offered their first preference, far exceeding the capital’s average of 66.63 per cent. 

Councillor Evelyn Carpenter, Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement said: “I am delighted to see that such a large proportion of our young people will attend their preferred secondary school in September.

Today, the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham announces ‘Becontree Forever’ - a programme of art, architecture and new infrastructure to mark 100 years of the Becontree Estate.

The Becontree Estate is the biggest council estate in the UK and the most ambitious of the country’s interwar housing estates. The first of 27,000 houses for returning war heroes and working families were built on the four square-mile estate in November 1921, with the ‘Garden City’ houses and iconic ‘Banjo’ closes recognised across the world.

A Barking man has been fined nearly £1000 after CCTV cameras caught a male who was seen coming out of his car to urinate in the street.



On 24 August 2019, a man was seen relieving himself on Sunningdale Avenue, Barking and then returning to a blue Vauxhall Corsa, that belonged to Mr Raymond Kamara-Taylor.



Urinating in public is an offence contrary to s.67 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014.

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.

 

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 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.