We urge the Mayor and Newham Council to keep a Community Farm in Newham.
We consider our Newham City Farm to be a special place, a valuable asset and educational resource for the local community, for families, schools and people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
Without access to a local community farm, many of our young people, who do not habitually travel outside their local area of the inner city, do not get to see farm animals and to learn about them from firsthand experience.
The current farm has contributed to the happiness, well-being and education of members of the local community for over 40 years. It provides an outdoor place to go and meet including for certain members of our community who cannot as easily benefit from what other green spaces have to offer.
We are concerned at reports of funding cuts to the current farm, proposals to close it and to regenerate the current site into more general green leisure space with which the area is already well-served.
We consider that with careful funding, it should be possible to keep a community farm at the heart any green spaces regeneration plan.
The current farm, which already has fields and buildings including a new outdoor classroom, is already in a good location for walking access from a number of schools, including a special school and schools with resource-provision, it is close to Royal Albert DLR, cycle and pedestrian paths and bus routes with potential to create parking for visitors who need to travel by car. We call upon the Mayor and Council to make information openly available to the local community at the earliest opportunity and to make decisions on the future of the farm which take into account the views of the people they serve.
