Phase one: Demolition begins

The crowd cheered as a monster digger started to demolish the first 12 storey tower block and 500 balloons bearing the name of the new community that will be built on the Mardyke site – Orchard Village – were released into the skies.

Orchard Village was the name chosen by residents, who have worked closely with Old Ford Housing Association and were keen to bring about a fresh start to the community. It reflects the area to the North of the estate, which used to be an orchard that provided fruit for the Tiptree jam company.

Today’s event at the Mardyke Community Centre marked the beginning of Phase One of a six year regeneration programme over four phases that will see most of the existing properties demolished and replaced with modern low-rise blocks. Circle plans to build up to 555 new homes of mixed tenures including intermediate rent, shared ownership and private sale properties. Phase One will deliver 121 new homes to existing tenants, and residents will be able to move into their new, bigger homes from end 2010 to mid 2011.

Speaking at today’s event, David Williams, Executive Director of Strategy and New Business at Circle, said: “Today is a special day for the residents of Mardyke, who are at the heart of this exciting and ambitious regeneration programme. We see the renaming of the estate to Orchard Village as the start of a new beginning for the area. We want to create a place that people choose to live in, rather than leave behind, and we are working with our tenants to develop a long-term sustainable community that enhances the life chances of residents.”

Mick Fury, one of the longest standing residents at Mardyke, said: “Today is a very exciting day. When I moved to Mardyke it had quite a bad name and it wasn’t such a great place to live. Since Old Ford took over, the whole place has started to become a community again; the tough action on anti-social behaviour means that we have our homes and lives back and the renovations have already made a huge difference to people living here. The regeneration plans will make things even better and soon people will be queuing up to live on Mardyke.”

Cabinet Member for Housing at the London Borough of Havering, Cllr Michael Armstrong said: “Today marks the start of a new chapter in the history of Rainham. Like similar estates throughout the capital Mardyke had suffered a range of problems over the decades and became a place synonymous with anti-social behaviour. The planned developments on the site will present a new future of opportunity for residents and is part of Havering Council’s Rainham Compass strategy which aims to improve the area by building on its existing strengths and offering opportunities to local people in business, housing, employment and lifestyle.

The old 1960’s estate was originally built to house workers at the Old Ford Motor Company Factory in Dagenham. However, when the factory laid off workers, the estate slowly became dilapidated and had a notorious reputation for its crime levels and became known as one of the most disadvantaged estates in Greater London. Circle took over the estate in March 2008, after residents voted for a stock transfer from the London Borough of Havering.

Since the transfer the fortunes of the estate have already changed; extensive works have been carried out to existing properties, the estate has been cleaned up. The community joined together to address anti-social behaviour and laid the foundation for building a new community that has a sense of pride and enhances the life chances of residents. Now the regeneration is really gaining momentum with the demolition of the first of the tower blocks and along with it the last signs of decades of deprivation.

ENDS

Further information

For further information or photography / video footage of the event please contact the press office on phone 0845 234 0824 or email pressoffice@circleanglia.org

06/11/09 11:09