Agenda item

Councillor Michael Armstrong, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Transformation, introduced the report

At the beginning of this term, ten Strategic Administration Projects were established to help deliver services more effectively and in new ways. The Projects were each to be driven by a Member of the Cabinet, working with a select team of officers, representing a diverse variety of disciplines within the Council.

The projects were:

In the last year of this Administration, it was intended that each Project would report back to Cabinet, to note the achievements attained and the progress made.

The Rainham Compass vision, agreed by Cabinet in June 2009, outlined the Council’s ambition for Rainham Village and the surrounding area.  Set around the 4 key points of Village, Enterprise, Community and Riverside it detailed ambitious plans to preserve and promote Rainham’s rich heritage while further strengthening the community and providing greater cultural, educational and economic opportunities for local people.

The vision brought together a number of projects and programmes developed through wide-ranging consultation and engagement with the local community and partner organisations to ensure that the community was fully engaged with and contributed to the transformative projects that reflected the aspirations of local people and transformed the quality of life in the area for the better.

Importantly it also took into account what local people had identified as desirable in their areas - such as improved environment, services and safety.  The vision was summarised in the Rainham Compass document which, for the past four years had provided a framework to guide future changes.  As such, the Rainham vision was an important part of Havering Council’s 20 year “Living Ambition” – to improve the quality of life for all of Havering’s residents and create towns and communities that were places of culture, commerce, community and beauty of which residents would be proud.

At the commencement of the Rainham Compass Programme, the Place Surveys and “Your Council, Your Say” survey indicated that the residents of Rainham had some of the lowest levels of satisfaction with Council services and initiatives in the Borough, with only 30 % satisfied with services and 28% feeling safe in their area. 

The report reviewed the achievements of the Rainham Compass Programmeto date in delivering on the 23 recommendations agreed by Cabinet in June 2009.  Key projects which had been successfully consulted upon and delivered included:

•         Rainham Village Transport Management System and public realm improvements

•         Rainham Library, learning and community centre - a new community and cultural facility for local people, due to complete and open May 2014.

•         Rainham Station Interchange

•         Rainham Primary School – integrated children’s’ centre and education provision

•         Rainham Hall Gardens restoration, creation of a community open space in the heart of Rainham Village

•         Orchard Village – the demolition of unpopular tower blocks and the creation of decent homes for local people

•         High quality employment space on Easter Park, a 30 acre business park owned by the GLA for over 1,000 local jobs

•         A new Tesco distribution centre on Beam Reach 5 - a 90 acre employment site owned by the GLA, creating 800 local jobs

•         The re-election of the London Riverside Business Improvement District to support business growth in the strategic employment area and

•         Wildspace – a new community park, reconnecting the Rainham community back to the river and the marshes and connecting people to green space

The first four years of the Programme had been highly successful in delivering and initiating a complex series of physical change projects which had improved the built and natural environment.  In taking the programme forward, the objective was to build on the successful delivery of key physical projects and the significant development of large brownfield sites and capitalise on this investment.  This would ensure that the economic growth fostered, with an even stronger focus on economic and housing opportunities for local people could be sustained - particularly through the development of the GLA owned brownfield employment and housing sites.

In particular, there would be a renewed focus on the creation of a new garden suburb at Beam Park, - a GLA owned 70 acre site spanning across Havering and Barking and Dagenham - to create a residential-led mixed-use development providing family homes for local people in line with the Council’s existing planning policies.

Overall the Compass Programme had delivered a steady rise in local residents satisfied with their local area, with 67% satisfied in 2013 compared to just 57% in 2011.  Further environmental improvements had seen a 22% rise in Rainham residents agreeing that the local parks and open spaces were clean and tidy - from 55% in 2012 to 77% in 2013.  Projects that were reshaping the public realm and creating new civic spaces had contributed to a 27% rise in people feeling very safe in Rainham, from 28% in 2009 to 55% in 2013.

Reasons for the decision:

Rainham Compass, in its first four years of delivery had successfully delivered major investment in its physical environment and infrastructure.  Most of these schemes had been completed, whilst other elements were at advanced contractual and development stages.

It was envisaged that the next phase of the Rainham Compass programme would focus on securing family housing and employment development opportunities along the A1306 and Beam Park and on Beam Reach 5 & 6 improving the housing and employment prospects of local people.  Work would also continue with TfL to improve the transport within - and through - the London Riverside and its communities and with a range of partners to ensure that the right level of community facilities were delivered to support the local community

Other options considered:

The Council, as part of its on-going management of the Programme, constantly sought to improve delivery with various options considered throughout the Programme.  These included various options considered as part of the initial scoping of the Programme prior to the original June 2009 Cabinet Report.

Cabinet:

1.            Noted the progress made to date on the Rainham Compass Programme.

2.            Authorised the Head of Economic Development and other officers and portfolio holders to work with the GLA and London Borough of Barking and Dagenham to develop proposals for a residential led mixed-use development on Beam Park providing homes for local people in line with the Council’s existing planning policies.