Thames Freeport - Britain's Trading Future

[ 109 ] For almost 100 years, Ford and the borough of Barking and Dagenham have been synonymous. A pillar of the UK’s industrial past, the car maker provided secure employment for thousands of residents, many of who lived on the Becontree — Europe’s largest council housing estate. However, over the years, the site fell increasingly silent as production moved to foreign shores. As part of its regeneration, many of the borough’s disused industrial sites have been given a new lease of life, offering much needed homes and new job opportunities. A site on which over 10 million cars were produced will soon house more than 3,000 homes while, nearby, a 440-acre brownfield site, Barking Riverside, has become one of London’s most important housing projects with 10,800 homes planned, in addition to a promenade, bars, restaurants, wildlife reserves, a marina and a new Overground station. Barking Riverside will also be Thames Clippers’ newest stop across the river network, bringing commuters and leisure seekers directly to Barking Riverside from Battersea, via central London, and giving residents access to Greenwich in 20 minutes, Canary Wharf in 35 and central London in 45. All thanks to the River Thames. And the site of a former power station will soon make Barking and Dagenham home to London’s three iconic markets — Billingsgate, Smithfield and New Spitalfields — creating a 21st century, wholesale food location for the borough, London and the UK. Thames Freeport ushers in an exciting new chapter in the shared history of Ford and Barking and Dagenham, bringing new employment opportunities and investment into one of the capital’s fastest growing boroughs. The borough has ambitious plans to push its green agenda, and Thames Freeport will play a big part in helping achieve this by reducing its carbon footprint, making better use of the Thames and the unique rail and freight opportunities offered, as well as supporting net zero technologies and creating sustainable industry and jobs for the 21st century. As the “London part of Essex and the Essex part of London”, Havering Council is ideally positioned at the heart of multiple economic corridors to contribute to the growth agenda. Havering is working with its private sector partners to bring forward a scheme that would establish Europe’s largest data centre as well as an advanced manufacturing facility for the export of prefabricated data centres. These co-dependent initiatives could have a significant economic impact within the Freeport Outer Boundary, contributing over £6 billion in additional investment and creating thousands of new jobs, as well as contributing significantly to the Government’s Sovereign Data agenda. Work will form part of ongoing engagement among partners and with Government to identify appropriate levers as part of the wider opportunities within the Freeport geography. From Ford to films — Barking and Dagenham understands business Havering — where London meets Essex CGI of the Barking Riverside Uber Boat by Thames Clippers pier, due to open in 2022