Building a better Gascoigne

Residents are invited to take a virtual tour of a new development planned for the Gascoigne estate –on the corner of Gascoigne Road and St Paul’s Road, opposite St Joseph’s School.

The designs, commissioned by Be First the council’s pioneering regeneration organisation, are for almost four hundred, spacious, modern houses and flats on the site which is a stone’s throw from Abbey Green. The new homes would be built for the council, and the majority would be available at below-market rents. All of the homes will be connected to the local energy network, which means less carbon emissions and lower fuel bills too.

The plan also aims to radically improve the landscaping - planting new trees and creating new play areas and active green spaces for residents.

Be First is inviting residents to take the virtual tour and give their views here.

The Council’s regeneration organisation, Be First, has launched a creative competition for children at Gascoigne Primary School.

Be First is asking children to create a piece of art in response to the changes taking place on the Gascoigne estate. Here’s a great lockdown activity for your children with three great prizes.

There’s a different activity for each of three key stages with an Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition Tablet prize for the best entry in each group:

• Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS): Nursery and Reception
• Key Stage 1: Year 1 and 2
• Key Stage 2: Year 3-6
  
  

All entries will be published on the Be First website, and via our instagram account, and every entry will also feature in an exhibition at Gascoigne Primary School after the lock down has been lifted.

See here for more details.

Thank you to everyone who has responded to our survey and came to our consultation meeting.

We will be reviewing all the responses we received and using them to inform our design development moving forward.

If you didn’t get a chance to see the designs, you can see them here. And, give us your comments here.

Our survey closes on 29 March 2020.

We will be publishing further updates on this website in due course.

There's plenty going on this month on the Gascoigne, with demolition and building continuing fast.

We have now drafted designs for the next phase of housing on the eastern side of the estate. Our plan is for 222 new homes for the council on two plots, including 100 private rented flats at the southern end of St Ann's, and 122 affordable homes on King Edwards Road (opposite Boundary Road). It's vitally important that we get your views if the new development is to be a success. You can see them at our consultation event on 10 March.

And, at the same time we will be asking for your ideas about how we create great spaces to get together and great ways to get around.

We know that many of you want better connections to the town centre and for travel through the estate into the surrounding neighbourhoods to be easier. So, we want your ideas on everything from walking and cycle routes, to signposts and zebra crossings.

We also want to discuss how we use the public areas and green spaces on the estate. We're interested to know how we make them fun places, where everyone feels safe, and with a range of uses - quiet spaces, active places, eco-friendly areas and so on. Our ambition is that there's something for everyone to enjoy.

So, come along and give us your ideas.

• 2.30 -7.30pm, Tuesday 10 March
• Gascoigne Primary School (main entrance, Gascoigne Rd)

All welcome

A new era of quality affordable housing in the borough is truly underway, said Barking and Dagenham Council’s Cabinet member for regeneration this week.

Cllr Cameron Geddes was speaking after a site tour to see the latest phase of demolition get underway along Ripple Road on Barking’s Gascoigne Estate. It includes the iconic 12 storey tower block, Bamber House, overlooking the town centre.

Cllr Geddes, Cabinet Member Regeneration and Social Housing, was joined by Pat Hayes, Managing Director of Be First and Aaron Pearson, Operations Manager at construction firm, Willmott Dixon.

Cllr Geddes said: “Around 100 years ago Barking and Dagenham led the way in building affordable homes for ordinary Londoners and today we’re leading the way again. This year we will be starting to build over 700 quality homes on the Gascoigne Estate, and hundreds elsewhere in the borough.

“But it’s not just the start of the rebuilding of this estate it’s the beginning or a new era of quality affordable housing for working people of our borough.”

Pat Hayes, Be First’s Managing Director, said: “This year we will be pressing down hard on the accelerator to start building 3,000 affordable homes for the council and local people.”

Be First has teamed up with Willmott Dixon to provide time-lapse video footage of the work as it progresses. Monthly updates will be available to watch at https://yourcall.befirst.london/gascoigne

Many of Willmott Dixon’s team from the Aberfeldy Village regeneration work in nearby Tower Hamlets, as well as the recently completed Dudley House in Westminster, are now involved at Gascoigne Estate.

Chris Tredget, Managing Director for Willmott Dixon in London and East, said: “We are delighted to be bringing our regeneration skills to Barking and work alongside Be First to create a fantastic new living environment for hundreds of people on the east side of Gascoigne Estate.”

The plans for the Gascoigne estate include:

• attractive, tree-lined public spaces, including an entirely new park – the 5,000 square metre Gascoigne Square – with public art and striking designs in a mixture of traditional and modern styles;
• energy supplied by an array of rooftop photo-voltaic cells and connection to the district heating system, with energy savings expected to be 40% of CO2 emissions against the Building Regulations; and
• pedal power will also have a big part to play as Be First plans to install over 1,000 cycle parking spaces, recognising both the low car ownership levels in the area, the convenience of nearby public transport and an ambition to encourage active travel in the borough.

We have now drafted designs for the next phase of housing on the eastern side of the estate. Our plan is for 220 new homes for the council on two plots, including 98 private rented flats at the southern end of St Ann's, and 122 affordable homes on King Edwards Road (opposite Boundary Road). It's vitally important that we get your views if the new development is to be a success. Please come along to our drop-in session and tell us what you think.

4-7pm Wednesday 22 January 2020 Gascoigne Community Centre, 124-128 St Ann's, Barking IG11 7AD.

Demolition is now underway on the west side of the Gascoigne Estate, making way for the delivery of more than 200 new homes in Barking over the next two years.

Barking and Dagenham Council leader Cllr Darren Rodwell and Managing Director of Be First Pat Hayes joined together with Wates Residential Operations Director, Adrian Fennessy and construction site representatives on Friday to view progress at the site on Abbey Road and celebrate the significant step forward for the scheme.

The £55 million project will see part of the 1960s estate redeveloped into a modern, environmentally friendly community, including 201 new homes, of which 60 per cent will be affordable, with rents starting from £137 a week (2020 prices). The plans include 89 one-bedroom, 88 two-bedroom and 24 three-bedroom homes, while a new children’s play area will also be built to provide open space for local people to enjoy.

Mindful of the environment, the designs include plans to install electric car charging points and more than 360 new bicycle parking spaces. The new homes will also contribute to a 40 per cent reduction in carbon emissions thanks to a connection to the forthcoming Barking Town Centre District Heating Network and the installation of solar panels.

Building work is expected to be completed in spring 2022.

Cllr Darren Rodwell, Barking and Dagenham Council Leader, said: “It’s a great start to the New Year – we’re now making visible headway in rebuilding a better, greener Gascoigne estate. It illustrates our determination to build top quality, affordable homes for local people not just in this part of Barking but across the entire borough.”

Pat Hayes, Managing Director of Be First, said: “We’re starting 2020 with a resolution to dramatically increase the rate at which we build new affordable homes for local people, and the redevelopment of this part of the Gascoigne estate is just one of 15 projects we expect to get off the ground this year.”

Paul Nicholls, Managing Director for Wates Residential, said: “We’re delighted to have begun the first stage of demolition on this exciting flagship project, delivering more than 200 homes for people in Barking.

“Together with our partners, we will deliver new high-quality homes and create a lasting legacy for the whole community through our investment in education, skills and training because we believe that everyone deserves a great place to live.”

The Gascoigne Estate West project is being delivered by national developer Wates Residential after it won a place on the pioneering Be First Development Framework last year.

As part of the project, Wates Residential will increase investment in education, training and skills opportunities, delivering a borough-wide legacy.

Commitments include recruiting a minimum of 20% of local work force and addressing the skills shortage with a wider education programme that will run through local schools.

Wates Residential will also promote job vacancies to those who currently face barriers to employment, in addition to providing work experience placements and careers advice sessions, and a number of apprenticeships in key traditional areas including bricklaying, and carpentry, as well as in business administration.

The planning application for the latest stage of redevelopment of the Gascoigne Estate was submitted to the council this week.

Be First, the council’s regeneration company, submitted the latest designs for more than 200 new homes, which would be built on Abbey Road on the western side of the estate, on Monday (5 August 2019).

More than 40 per cent of the new homes would be affordable and all would be situated in attractive, green public spaces, with a children’s play area and energy supplied through a sustainable energy system.

Mark Stallard, project manager for Be First, explains: “We’ve listened carefully to what local people had to say about our initial proposals, and have refined them to reflect some of their concerns.

“We believe that our proposals will provide much needed new homes for local people in an attractive green setting.”

The consultation, which took place in June and July this year, resulted in a number of changes, including:

• more children’s play space and extra amenity space for resident’s use at roof level;
• additional trees and improvements to the Abbey Road landscaping to make it a better place to walk through and live near;
• enhanced brickwork details on the building facades;
• improved the layout of some of the family homes; and
• a slight widening of the proposed bus route between Boundary Road and Abbey Road.

The Council is expected to consider the application over the summer, and to make a decision in November.

We’re holding a consultation event to get feedback from local people about our plans for the western part of the Gascoigne estate.

Our plans include over 200 new quality homes, of which over 40 per cent will be affordable, together with attractive public spaces and sustainable energy systems.

We want the views of local people before we finalise our plans and submit a planning application.

So, if you would like to get involved and see our vision for a better Barking and Gascoigne estate, please come to our exhibition on:

• Thursday 27 June from 3pm to 8pm
• Friday 28 June from 2pm to 5pm

at the Boathouse Studios, 62 Abbey Road, Barking, IG11 7BT.