A herd of unhappy Newham residents will flock to Newham Council’s headquarters at 1000 Dockside, E16,
from 2pm on Wednesday 19th January, to hand deliver letters to all 60 Newham Councillors, imploring them
to help overturn the decision taken by Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz and her Cabinet to close Newham City Farm.

This controversial decision, shrouded in mystery and inconsistent information, was made in 2021 without
any public consultation or identification of local alternative provision. At a time of increasing mental and
physical health issues nationwide. this is particularly concerning given that the decision directly affects many
residents in a borough frequently quoted by Mayor Fiaz as being one with the most vulnerable residents and
highest poverty levels in the UK.

Ironically, Newham Council are promoting and encouraging community engagement and consultation
regarding parks provision via their ‘50 Steps to Health’ strategy. Yet still they chose to close the free to
access staffed site. Newham City Farm was considered by many female residents with children to be to be
one of few ‘safe’ open spaces within the area.

The budget was cut in April 2021 according to local Councillor James Asser who made the initial proposal, 5
months before the final decision at Cabinet. The Council, however, insists that the decision is not a financial
one and that there are no plans to secure money from the land or adjacent green space. Instead, the muchloved facility was allegedly closed due to safety concerns for both the visiting public and animals. We ask
‘How?’, as this must surely raise questions regarding Newham’s Councillors’ own roles as guardians and
operators of a site which has been enjoyed by generations since opening in 1977. Issues of underfunding
the site were certainly recognised by service users. Allegations of health and safety breaches and animal
welfare issues have, however, shocked, and saddened visitors, who were unaware of any of these problems
whilst the farm was open and offering an enjoyable visitor experience alongside community volunteering
and learning opportunities.

A petition to save the farm was started by long-time local resident and schoolteacher, Alison McLucas.
Although the petition is supported by approaching 50,000 signatures, this has not been enough to provoke a
regular and sincere dialogue with Council officials. Other local residents quickly came together to form a
Community Interest Company to support reopening the site with a revised business plan, community
support, and a renewed vision, but once again this has been barely acknowledged by elected representatives
who have frequently ignored correspondence or provided delayed and only limited responses, referring to a
‘Masterplan’ for the wider area which it has been admitted has no identified funding.

Alison McLucas said, “Many local families and schools were completely unaware that the facility had been
closed permanently until informed by our own campaign team. Despite our protestations, the Council has
continued to keep the permanent closure quiet with residents assuming this is due to Covid. Our requests
for signage or information at the site has been repeatedly ignored. After an early conversation with
Councillor Asser, we set up a Community Interest Company, recognising we had a diverse group of
experienced local community representatives who really could help the Council to reopen this much needed
resource quickly. Sadly, however, this has not been appreciated. We have resorted to hand-delivering a
letter to all elected Councillors and making this public to try and secure a more mutually respectful
relationship which we are still keen to develop despite the difficulties we have faced and the hostility we
have faced from them.”

Jenny Mwangura, Chair of the group said; “We were told in October that there would be a full consultation
process as part of the Councils ‘Beckton Parks Masterplan’. We were assured that it would be advertised in
parks and shared among schools, community groups and local residents. The sad reality is an online survey
which has been poorly advertised and is only accessible to those with digital access and those whose first
language is English which in a borough with such a diverse population makes no sense at all. We don’t
believe it was sent to groups or individuals with mental health and Special Educational Needs who previously
used the farm many of whom it supported. These are the very residents in need of facilities like Newham
City Farm and yet their opinions and needs are not being sought in an appropriate forum. These people have
been grateful to talk to our campaign team to express their frustration, but we are not being given a voice or
forum to support them. The team have had to step in and use charitable donations raised via our Go Fund
Me Page to promote the survey to residents.”

Kim Thompson who lives adjacent to the farm in Custom House and is mother of two non-verbal young adult
wheel-chair users said, “We heard nothing of the Newham City Farm closure. There were no notices or signs
to inform residents or potential visitors to the farm…For us, it was a lifeline, a great meeting place, education
centre and somewhere to walk in the fresh air, socialise with their peers and make friends with animals.
They absolutely enjoyed every minute of being there and mingling with the animals in a well-provided for
space…No need to wait around endlessly for transport as parents and helpers could wheel them there. The
paths around our Newham City Farm were in a far better state for accessibility than the surrounding areas in
Custom House and Beckton… A unique and wonderful thing about the farm was that they offered work
experience to special needs people…My son was offered a placement there from JFK, a neighbouring school
for young people with Special Needs.”

Maureen Parker, mother of a son with Down’s Syndrome, said, “My son, Tom, and I volunteered at Newham
City Farm for 9 years up to lockdown. I asked time and time again why the farm was not reopened with no
response. Tom misses the farm dreadfully, asking all the time when he can go back to work.”

David Green, a member of the SNCF CIC who has led many visitor attractions including a number with animal
offers acknowledged, “We know the Council have funding challenges right now but are concerned that
offers of help are not being explored and taken seriously. Avenues of community support have been
blatantly ignored. I know from my considerable work experience that such masterplans take years and often
fail to be delivered due to lack of funding or full political support. What happens in the meantime is a
generation of young people are deprived of resources. It is shameful and impractical that residents have
been told unofficially to go outside of the borough and visit other farms when the social deprivation of
Newham is well documented. At times of struggle, real leaders find solutions. You don’t just close a
community facility for years when you find a problem. Mayor Riaz claims to ‘put people at the heart of
everything we do’ and is proud of having the first Citizens’ Assemblies. It is time she genuinely involved them
in decisions of this nature in a timely way. Covid cannot be an excuse for failure to engage. It’s frustrating
that every house has received a leaflet promoting her party ahead of the elections, but their consultation
has barely been shared. The ‘litter’ that needed removing from our borough is the piles of rubbish from our
streets not the much-loved animals educating our children and providing companionship.”

With local elections rapidly approaching in May 2022, the Save Newham City Farm team is hand-delivering a
letter to each Councillor asking them to be transparent about whether they personally support the closure
or not. The group intends to make the results public to Newham’s residents before the elections, believing it
is a democratic right to know who genuinely supports this decision and that politicians should stand-up for
their communities not their personal political careers.

Many residents are understandably disengaged and frustrated with local politics. Fewer than 2,000 residents
voted for Councillor James Asser and the other Beckton Ward Councillors at the last election. Similarly, there
is significant local concern regarding Mayor Fiaz’s performance and policies, notably failure to tackle key
local issues including fly tipping and parking charges and closure of other community facilities such as
Stratford Circus and Balaam Leisure Centre. The Save Newham City Farm team formed to try to work with
Newham Council and offer support. It remains our intention to work with officials if they will facilitate this
opportunity and consider the benefits of partnership working that can be clearly demonstrated elsewhere
and enables City Farms in other boroughs to operate successfully.