News from Barking & Dagenham – August 2023
Expensive cigarette butt
A motorist threw a cigarette butt out of the car window while waiting in front of a traffic light in Barking and Dagenham and was seen by a city employee. This first resulted in a £230 penalty notice. But the man tried excuses and let the matter go to court. It didn’t help that it was a non-smoking rental car and that the driver said he only smoked e-cigarettes. The judge added £825 in city costs and £92 in fees on top of the fine. In addition to his total costs of £1147, the caught driver has the annoyance of being called by his full name in public.
Cars confiscated as “tools of the crime”
Illegal waste disposal seems to be an endless topic. Now pictures are doing the rounds in Barking and Dagenham of small trucks that were used to transport waste. The town council has unceremoniously impounded two of these vehicles. And of course, matching pictures have been posted on the web as a deterrent.
Hangars for bicycles
The city administration is currently asking citizens where the best locations are for weather-protected bicycle shelters, known there as “hangars.” This brings back memories of the early 20th century when there were quite a few actual hangars in Barking. Handley Page had established the first aircraft factory on a site that later served as a Power Station and is now part of the Riverside development. His flying machines were all equipped with bicycle wheels, which brings us back to the “hangars” of our day.
Sponsors wanted for cultural center
The city is looking for a potent sponsor for an arts and culture center in Dagenham. The center is to offer studios for artists for 20 years, as well as a cultural and social program. The basis is a grant of £277,000 provided by Arts Council England to transform the old Woodward library into a cultural center.
Concern about ticket offices
Hundreds of ticket offices in stations, including 150 in London, are to be closed by rail companies to make up for losses they accumulated during the Corona period. A group of politicians from all parties are now running up a storm against it. The counters are often the last stop in the station for people seeking help. Also, discounted special tickets, for example for the blind, are only available at the counters. And disabled people in wheelchairs often cannot reach high enough to operate ticket machines.
