Welcome from Matt Carpen

Hello, and welcome to our second Stakeholder Newsletter of 2023. As we head into the summer months, there’s a lot of activity happening at Barking Riverside.

This July has seen the launch of our summer events programme, the ‘Summer Sessions’. Taking place for the next two months and ending in September, Summer Sessions aims to provide amenities for residents through an exciting range of activities and events, while leveraging our unique riverside location. It’s already proving to be a talking point around the area, and we invite you all to come and experience it for yourself.

Health and wellbeing is certainly a topic close to my heart, and I’m proud of our recent work to improve the services available to both residents and staff. June witnessed the first of our monthly Drop-in Clinics, where residents can speak to a doctor without booking an appointment, and also access several community services. As we continue to explore avenues to support residents’ health and wellbeing, this work is of paramount importance, and I’m delighted to see it initiated.
Our partnership with Park Health & Safety, the onsite occupational health clinicians, is also something I’m very pleased with. As they continue to offer staff valuable resources to help with both their physical and mental wellbeing, I hope everyone working on the Barking Riverside site knows they have support readily available.

Onto transport, specifically cycling, and I’m excited to see so much positive change happening. Just over a year since the Barking Riverside station and Barking Riverside pier launch, Station Square is establishing itself as a true transport interchange hub, and it’s seeing more vital improvements happening as the months progress. With cycleways now being delivered in and out of Barking Riverside, and the local cycling hub also moving right next to the train station, we’re taking practical steps to make cycling more accessible.

We have exciting updates from the construction side too. The infrastructure team has done some incredible work in delivering high-standard public realm spaces and infrastructure. This work includes key progress on Linear Park and Road 14, and the creation of the Serpentine—a bespoke wildlife habitat for the local water vole population. The work never stops though, and there’s still much more to come.

Finally, it never ceases to amaze me how much has happened at Barking Riverside in such a short amount of time. It’s incredible to think back on the progress over the last few years, with such key milestones achieved. Our last article shows comparative before and after images of the site—you’ll be as amazed as I am!

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our partners, colleagues and friends for their continued support throughout 2023. We hope you have a great summer, and look forward to welcoming you to Barking Riverside in the near future.