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East end artist David Bailey’s photograph of the Dagenham Idol will be one of the star exhibits at a new pop-up gallery in Barking this summer. The picture of the prehistoric figurine – believed to be one of the first known examples of figurative art in Europe – will be displayed as part of a […]

Barking Abbey School pupils were jumping for joy this week as they were put through their paces during a PE lesson in a new, state-of-the-art sports hall.  The hall is part of a £17.9 million expansion which allows the school, which is a specialist sports and humanities college, to accommodate 90 more students each year. 

A team of ‘critical friends’ made up of 25 architects, environmental experts and town planners has been appointed by Be First, Barking and Dagenham Council’s pioneering regeneration company, to act as design champions for the borough. Their appointment to the Barking and Dagenham Quality Review Panel comes as the borough emerges as one of London’s

Local residents are being urged to help shape the next phase of development of the Gascoigne estate, Barking. The council’s regeneration company, Be First, is holding a consultation event next week to allow local people to give feedback on the latest plans for the western side of the estate.  The exhibition sets out the designs

Some of the last remnants of the 1831 London Bridge will be protected and restored as part of £1.8million heritage project by Be First, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The last pieces of the old bridge, which was sold to an American developer in 1967 and relocated to Arizona, will be restored by Barking

As part of its commitment to build a better Barking and deliver 169 affordable and shared ownership homes on a former car park at Linton Road, Be First has announced there will be a series of pavement and road works in Cambridge and Linton roads during the summer. Starting on Tuesday, 18 June, there will

The sound of horses’ hooves will be mingling with the folk music around Barking this weekend, thanks to a heritage feature presented by Be First. As part of the National Lottery Heritage Funded, Barking Town Heritage Project, a Victorian style horse and carriage will be on display in the town centre, to coincide with the

Councillors approved plans to build over 500 homes on a new look eco-friendly Gascoigne estate at a Barking and Dagenham Council planning committee last night (3 June 2019). The development, in the heart of Barking town centre, will feature eleven new buildings and 526 flats, of which 65% will be affordable rent or shared ownership,

Plans to build 95 new affordable homes on the site of a poor quality building in Upney were approved last night at Barking and Dagenham Council’s planning committee tonight (3 June).  The development at Sebastian Court, which being managed for the Council by Be First, the Council’s regeneration company, will provide a mixture of one

Barking and Dagenham Council’s regeneration company, Be First, will build even more council homes in the borough over the next five years than previously projected. The extra homes, detailed in its 2019 business plan, will mean Be First will build 3,088 council homes by 2024 – 880 more than the original target set by the council when the