Remarkable Riverside Development

On Tuesday 9th June, Year 6 visited Barking Riverside Development. Training and Development Officer Claire Coombe gave us a guided tour of the site. We arrived at the new station, via the Suffragette line.

Claire took us on a walk along the river, explaining that 20, 000 homes will be built in the next 20 years, there were already a few blocks of flats completed. She described how clean the Thames is now; today sharks, seals and 250 species of fish live in that section of the river.

Next, we visited the Uber boat station, this came at a cost of £7 million and the gondola to the boat was purchased from Holland. She also explained that the river had been dug out and the channel deepened to allow the Uber boat to dock.

Later, we looked at the homes being built, some of the penthouses next to the river are being marketed at a whopping £1.5 million! There is a unique waste disposal system being implemented; when you place rubbish in a bin, there is a chute attached that sucks it straight to the recycling plant! Some of the children said that they would like to live in the development when they are older.

Lastly, there was time for a picnic in the sun and to check out the amazing new play equipment that had only been open for 2 weeks. The children had a lot of fun on the slides, balance shelf, climbing fames and hammocks. “It was a very educational visit,” remarked Olivia. “It felt like we were in a futuristic town!” commented Aliza.

The next day back at school, Claire provided a follow-up workshop. The children acted in role as town planners and designed what they would like to see in the development. Later, they were architects and designed model using rods and connectors to hold a substantial load.