Residents celebrate the opening of Beckton Meadows

Newham Council this week (25 July) formally opened Beckton Meadows, a stunning new addition to Beckton Parks, featuring over two acres of resident-planted wildflowers and grasses, a Butterfly Garden and the new Queen Elizabeth Memorial Pathway. 

The borough’s residents joined with Newham councillors and a host of other partners to celebrate the opening of the Meadows, wildlife and nature walks were led by experts from Butterfly Conservation and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and art activities helped participants learn about the benefits of the new habitat and how it will be managed.

Councillor Sarah Ruiz, Statutory Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Environment, Sustainable Transport, Children Services and Education, said: "Beckton Meadows is a beautiful example of our commitment to enhancing green spaces for residents. The meadows not only offer a serene retreat for everyone to enjoy, but they also play a crucial role in supporting biodiversity. It is great to see this vision come to life as we embark upon the first steps towards delivery of the Beckton Parks Masterplan. Beckton Meadows provide a sanctuary for wildlife and a space where our community can connect together and with nature." 

The meadows interact with the new Queen Elizabeth Memorial Pathway that provides a new accessible pathway through the park that branches off into playful routes to allow visitors to walk through the meadows. The Queen Elizabeth Memorial Pathway includes a new entrance to the park from Beckton Park DLR station, a play trail, seating and 30 new trees.

Supporting nature, the meadows features beautiful deadwood sculptures created from an ancient oak tree that will provide additional habitat for insects, a butterfly garden designed by Butterfly Conservation and planted by pupils from Ellen Wilkinson Primary School, educational signage designed by local artist Matt Ponting, and a wildlife bank including sandy areas designed as habitat for wild bees and other insects. 

Dr Stuart Connop, Associate Professor in Sustainability and Director of the Sustainability Research Institute at the University of East London, said: “Wildlife is in decline globally. With it, we are losing the benefits that nature provides us, like keeping our air, water and soils healthy, and pollinating many of our crops. Pollinators are particularly being hit hard. Research has shown that cities can provide spaces for pollinators to thrive away from pesticides that dominate our agricultural rural landscapes. Unfortunately, we manage many of our urban sites too intensively for pollinators to thrive. This rewilding project in Newham has been a great opportunity to collaborate with Newham Council, and local residents, to explore how we can manage spaces for people and wildlife.”

Designed through the development of the Beckton Parks Masterplan, Beckton Meadows has been created with funding from The Mayor of London’s Rewild London Fund and in partnership with the University of East London Sustainability Research Institute. In October 2023, over 50 residents attended a community seeding event to help bring the vision for the new meadows to life.

The celebration event also offered the opportunity to take home a free copy of the Beckton Parks Masterplan publication which outlines the plans for more exciting improvements to Beckton Parks in the years ahead. 

On 30 January 2024, Newham Council's Cabinet approved the Beckton Parks Masterplan, one of the most ambitious urban green space projects in London. Covering approximately 36 hectares across Beckton and Custom House wards. 

The guide to the Beckton Parks Masterplan complete with a fold out map is now available from Beckton Globe and Custom House Libraries, or can be downloaded from the website: www.newham.gov.uk/becktonparks

To watch a video of the event, visit the Beckton Meadows page on the Newham Council website.

To find out more about Newham parks and green spaces, visit the website: www.newham.gov.uk/community-parks-leisure/outdoors.