Newham Council’s £1.5m public spaces town centre improvement programme, Shape Newham, has passed another milestone with the granting of planning permission for five creative projects in Plaistow, Beckton, East Ham and Forest Gate. The projects will be installed between April and October this year.
The go ahead for four projects was given by a meeting of the Local Development Committee on 8 March, means that these town centres will benefit from the following:
- Beckton: a new bandstand in Kingsford Square outside Beckton Globe will create opportunities for its neighbours to use the pedestrianised space for activities in the future
- East Ham: an installation of “I Love it Here” art panels on Pilgrim’s Way, designed by Newham resident Sabba Kahn, reflecting on what some local residents’ love most about the area
- Beckton Globe and Forest Gate Youth Zones: murals designed through collaborative workshops with artists working with groups of young people to improve the entrances
- Approval for the fifth project, Plaistow was given on the 13th March: This is an uplift to Plaistow Broadway shopping parade and its adjacent car park. The project is themed around clouds as a tribute to Luke Howard, who was a former resident of Plaistow and was the first person to classify the different type of clouds
The first Shape Newham project was installed last month in Manor Park. The Murmurations installation decorates the windows of Manor Park Library and was designed by Newham residents Elizabeth Clough and Sophie Rigg.
Director of Community Wealth Building, Dave Hughes, said: “Newham is a great place to live and we want to make it better. The Council is committed to working with residents using a co-design and co-production approach. This approach has been demonstrated successfully in the Shape Newham programme with communities choosing the locations of projects, influencing briefs and participating in the creation of designs. Shape Newham is actively supporting Community Wealth Building by commissioning local artists and suppliers to deliver projects. By delivering the Shape Newham Programme we are moving towards the vision outlined in Pillar 5 of the Towards a Better Newham Strategy which explains our goal of creating accessible and inclusive high streets so they become the beating heart of our neighbourhoods.”