Across the country, Local Dialogue has spent almost 25 years working on sites that deliver positive change for local communities. In a few areas, this work is highly concentrated and Local Dialogue is able to build a constructive relationship with the community which spans decades.
This is particularly true in Canning Town, a rapidly changing area of East London. Local Dialogue has continuously supported projects in the area since mid-2007, helping to deliver almost 2,000 new homes.
Our involvement with Canning Town began with our appointment by English Cities Fund (ECF), a leading public-private partnership, to handle consultations around the masterplan for the regeneration of Rathbone Market.
This masterplan proposed 652 new homes, shops, a new public market space, a public library, a community neighbourhood centre, and public realm improvements.
Through continuous engagement, including exhibitions, schools events, market-trader engagement, open-air screenings, food festivals, and Christmas light switch-on events, we worked with ECF over three phases and 12 years, to help embed Rathbone Market as a new community for Canning Town.
With Rathbone Market completed in 2019, Local Dialogue joined the team delivering a further 1,000 new homes, 500 of which will be affordable, on the site of a former retail park, just moments from Canning Town Station.
Branded Manor Road Quarter, Local Dialogue delivered an extensive programme of stakeholder and community consultation, resulting in the proposals - which include a 32 storey landmark tower and a new linear park - being granted consent by the London Borough of Newham in 2020.
Construction of the first phase of this transformative project began in October 2021 and Local Dialogue has continued to provide community engagement support, including organising a high-profile ground-breaking ceremony involving the Deputy Mayor of London for Housing, Tom Copley and Rokhsana Fiaz, Mayor of Newham.
We are currently supporting a Reserved Matters application for the second phase of development at Manor Road Quarter – and continue to focus on ensuring that the project is an exemplar, when it comes to inclusive community engagement (our project website is multi-lingual, for example) and delivering social value.
While Manor Road Quarter is ongoing, Local Dialogue is also working with Countryside Partnerships at McCabe Court, a building operated by One Housing. At McCabe Court we are supporting ongoing fire safety work to remediate cladding on the exterior of the building while residents remain in situ.This is one of a number of fire safety projects that we are currently working on across London.
Local Dialogue has a track record of building a strong rapport and long-lasting relationships between placemakers and local communities. Is our story in Canning Town one which we could replicate with you in London or elsewhere? Speak to us today about your project and how you envision your relationship with the local community.