Improving public spaces together

Beckton, East Ham, Forest Gate, Green Street, Little Ilford, Manor Park, Maryland and Plaistow.

It is a community and artist led initiative that will deliver 18 public spaces projects in eight town centres across Newham. It is about shaping Newham’s places, getting involved in Newham’s decision making and getting to know your Newham neighbours!

Shape Newham is part of a range of approaches from the council to improve your surroundings, this one is specifically about physical ‘things’, we can deliver murals, street furniture, pocket parks and artistic interventions to enhance your local surroundings.

Local communities will choose the site for each project and help to shape the brief for each artist/designer. Decision making (link to decisions page) will happen at Shape Newham assemblies (link to section of opportunities page).

At assembly one (link to events page) the community will choose the priorities for that town centre and suggest possible sites for projects.

At assembly two (link to events page) the community will choose the sites for the project.

At assembly three (link to events page) the community will review concept proposals from artists and designers for each of the sites.

By having three regions we can host the assemblies nearer to where you live than if we met in one central location. There are six projects in each region, so in each assembly there are six projects that you will help to shape.

The town centres in each region are:

• North – Maryland, Forest Gate, Manor Park and Little Ilford
• East – Beckton and East Ham
• West – Plaistow and Green Street

Each region has been allocated a range of small, medium and large projects. Projects have been allocated to town centres based upon a number of factors. Towards the centre of the regions there are more projects, to connect up with the other regions. Additionally, the district centres are the areas that people use the most and therefore where we will spend more money.

A shortlist of sites was initially drawn up by the Team by going on “Walkabouts” with the Community Neighbourhood Managers from each of the eight high streets, along with Ward Councillors and Regeneration Officers. This helped identify potential sites which could have interventions to address one or more of the priorities that were identified in the Citizens Assemblies and Newham Priorities.

Members of the community are also invited to suggest additional sites at assembly one or through email to mail@shapenewham.co.uk. Suggested sites will be check by the Team and if suitable will be added to the shortlist.

At assembly two the local community will vote for their preferred sites to benefit from investment as part of Shape Newham.

Newham Council has six corporate priorities. These are:

• Bright futures – supporting children and young people’s aspirations, keeping them safe and removing barriers to success.
• Building Communities – a housing offer for residents that delivers more genuinely affordable homes in well-designed neighbourhoods
• Community Wealth Building a strong economy that supports local businesses, nurtures talent and provides opportunities for all
• An environment for all – an attractive borough which encourages active lifestyles, social integration and civic responsibility
• Quality of life – improving our health and social care system so it works for Newham residents
• An efficient and effective Council – making Newham Council work better for everyone

The priorities for Shape Newham in each town centre will be based on the corporate priorities. At the first Shape Newham  assembly the community will choose three Shape Newham priorities for their town centre. This will become part of the brief for the design team and artists working in that town centre and interventions will address the selected priorities.

The Social Broadcasts team have been recording interviews with Newham residents and local businesses/organisations to create a series of audio portraits.  These interviews have been a way to really listen to what people have to say about their neighbourhood and their relationship with where they live and or work. They have also run a series of radio workshops for young people to learn radio skills and record a live radio discussion show about their experiences of Newham.

Residents of all ages are invited to take part in radio workshops to learn radio skills and learn how to record their own interviews. Participants will be encouraged to record interviews with friends, family and neighbours so that even more voices can be heard. 

The interviews recorded by Social Broadcasts and participants of the radio workshops will be edited to create a community podcast for each area group. This will be played at a listening event (link to page) and will be available on the Radio Newham page of this website.

Yes please! 

You can send us your details by tagging us on social media @shapenewham, filling out a form on our website, sending us an email or even better coming to one of our events and telling us. 

See our Contact Us page for more.

Everyone is invited to come to one of our assemblies. Additionally there are a number of opportunities to apply for, from work experience to being on an interview panel. Visit our opportunities page for more information.

Please see our Events page.

For an email update subscribe to our email list, check our News Reel or follow us on social media.

You can live, work or go to school in the area. Our events are public so they are open to anyone, however we recommend you get to know the area if you want to come and take part. These events are designed for people who would like to Shape Newham!