What does inclusive growth look like? touring Barking & Dagenham with Darren Rodwell
- Clare Delmar
- May 22
- 17 min read
The push for economic growth continues to dominate government policy across multiple agendas, including climate and housing, and local government policy across London.
As with most growth agendas, benefits are rarely spread evenly. A rising tide may lift all boats, but there are many people and boats excluded from the harbour. Forgive my metaphorical stretch , but it’s the underlying variation that tells the full story about “growth”. Life expectancy is a salient and sobering example as nationally it has risen but the variation across the country and across London -- where healthy life expectancy varies by more than thirty years across the 32 boroughs -- tells a very different story and one that can and should be addressed through planning and policy.
So when I heard about Darren Rodwell’s approach to inclusive growth, built on his ten years as leader of Barking & Dagenham (B&D) council, I wanted to learn more. This is a borough with the lowest healthy life expectancy in London and high levels of deprivation. Where it has performed well is on planning and social housing delivery and community investment.
I asked Darren to explain what inclusive growth is and he generously offerred to take me on a tour of the borough to see for myself. So I took him up on the offer and this is what I saw:
· Lots of high-rise housing, all with landscaping and community spaces, with a variation in desin, look and feel and a mix of residents across ethnicity and income levels
· Two industrial zones and a freeport, which included two film production studios and two UCL R&D facilities CAVE and PEARL
· Several cultural spaces including a Women’s Museum
· A locally-serving university housed in the former civic centre, a renovated Grade II listed building
· The university backs onto Central Park, which has undergone substantial investment including a soil importation project in partnership with Thames Materials
· Accessible waterfront development along the rivers Roding and Thames
· A new town development at Barking Riverside
· A thriving market operating 5 days/week
I followed up the tour with a list of questions, which Darren answered almost immediately and in great detail. Below are my questions with Daren’s unedited responses. There’s a lot here but I think it’s worth sharing in its entirety.
Q: B&D has delivered high levels of growth in social housing both in the borough and as a proportion of social housing across London - how was this achieved? How is B&D exceptional in meeting and in some cases surpassing housing targets?
1. Strategic Political Leadership and Ambition
Barking and Dagenham set out with a clear vision to be London’s leader in delivering genuinely affordable homes, driven by the political leadership’s commitment to tackling housing inequality and providing security for local people.
Unlike many other boroughs, B&D made social and affordable housing delivery a core political and organisational priority, embedding it in all regeneration and planning decisions.
2. Bold Local Planning and Housing Policy
The council adopted ambitious local planning policies that required higher proportions of affordable and social housing on all major developments than the London Plan minimums.
Barking and Dagenham consistently pushed for Local housing allowance rents as the default affordable tenure rather than just London Affordable Rent or shared ownership models, challenging market norms.
Planning officers and councillors maintained a strong negotiating stance on viability assessments, ensuring developers delivered on affordable housing promises.
3. Innovative Delivery Models: The Community Rent Model (CRM)
The Community Rent Model is a pioneering approach creating genuinely affordable, long-term rented homes owned or managed by community-focused housing providers or the council itself.
The CRM sets a range of rents, aligned closely to local incomes, and reinvests income into maintenance, community services, and new affordable housing.
Legal agreements ensure homes remain affordable long-term, preventing erosion of affordability. This offers residents security and stability, while supporting sustainable delivery at scale.
4. Blended Financial Models: Unlocking Investment and Managing Risk
Barking and Dagenham’s success was also powered by blended financial models that combined multiple funding streams to make social and affordable housing delivery viable and scalable.
These models integrate:
Public grants and subsidies (e.g., GLA funding, Homes England investment)
Cross-subsidy from private development profits within mixed-tenure schemes
Council investment and borrowing powers
Philanthropic and social investment, including long-term low-cost loans or equity from impact investors
This financial blending allowed the council and its partners to manage risks, reduce dependency on any single funding source, and increase overall funding capacity.
It also enabled flexibility in tenure mixes, ensuring social rent homes could be prioritised without compromising overall financial viability.
5. Strong Partnerships and Delivery Vehicles
The council worked closely with housing associations and its own development company,Be First, which played a critical role in land acquisition, development management, and applying blended finance effectively.
Be First’s commercial acumen and local knowledge ensured schemes maximised affordable housing outputs while maintaining quality and speed of delivery.
6. Robust Data and Evidence to Support Delivery
The Key Insights team provided a solid evidence base demonstrating local housing need, affordability pressures, and the social impact of housing policy.
Data-driven insights strengthened negotiation power and funding bids.
7. Exceeding London and National Targets
Combining leadership, ambitious policy, innovative delivery models like the CRM, and blended financial approaches, Barking and Dagenham consistently surpassed housing delivery targets—especially in social rented homes.
The borough became an exemplar for affordable housing growth in London and nationally.
Summary
Barking and Dagenham’s ability to deliver exceptional social and affordable housing growth comes from a strategic mix of strong leadership, innovative housing models, and smart financial blending. This approach unlocked new resources, spread risk, and ensured affordability and quality at scale — making the borough a standout in meeting and exceeding housing targets.
Q: During your time as leader, B&D invested in arts and culture as a channel for community connection and cohesion. Can you give some examples of this ?
As Leader of Barking & Dagenham from 2014 to 2024, I made arts and culture a cornerstone of inclusive growth, a powerful channel for belonging, identity, opportunity and pride.
I championed the belief that culture belongs to everyone and not just in theatres or galleries, but in libraries, parks, estates, schools and streets. Because everyone as culture and makes culture in the community.
Donate a Flag – A Visible Symbol of Belonging
The “Donate a Flag” policy invited residents to fly flags that reflected their identities or causes.
It made civic space a canvas for pluralism, visibility, and shared ownership.
Everyone, Everyday – Culture as a Way of Life
This borough-wide participatory programme empowered residents to co-create cultural projects, from festivals to public art.
It reinforced the principle that everyone is creative, and culture should be embedded in daily life.
Broadway Theatre – Education Meets Culture
Barking & Dagenham College was supported to take over the Broadway Theatre, blending education with live performance.
This partnership gave students real-world creative industry experience and revitalised a key civic venue.
House for Artists – Affordable Living, Shared Creativity
Artists were offered affordable housing in exchange for delivering free workshops and cultural programmes for the community.
It became a national model of culture-led housing and civic engagement.
The White House – Art in the Heart of Dagenham
You supported the transformation of The White House into a vibrant community arts centre.
Run by Create London, it hosted artist residencies, exhibitions, communal meals, and grassroots creativity on a residential street.
Becontree Radio – Broadcasting Local Voice
Launched as part of the Becontree Estate Centenary, Becontree Radio was a hyperlocal station made by and for residents.
It amplified local stories, music and dialogue — giving voice to the borough’s diverse communities.
Pen to Print – Writing Our Own Stories
This pioneering creative writing programme helped residents become published authors, poets and playwrights.
It grew into a nationally recognised platform for community storytelling and literary development.
Local History Week in Schools – Roots and Pride
You introduced Local History Week in schools to help young people explore the borough’s past.
It built intergenerational pride, civic identity and place-based learning into the curriculum.
Libraries as Cultural Living Rooms – and an Arts Council NPO
Libraries were transformed into creative community spaces, hosting live arts, exhibitions, digital making, and civic events.
In 2023, this work was recognised when the borough’s library service became an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) — unlocking new funding and cementing Barking & Dagenham’s national leadership in cultural library innovation.
Summer of Festivals – Culture in Every Corner
We delivered a borough-wide season of inclusive cultural celebration that made joy and identity public, visible, and shared.
Key events included:
One Borough Festival – Music, food, stalls and family fun celebrating community unity.
Roundhouse Music Festival – Showcasing live bands and grassroots talent in Central Park.
Heritage Days – Borough-wide explorations of civic and local history.
Light Up the Borough – A winter celebration of light and creativity across neighbourhoods.
Steam & Cider Fair – A family-friendly heritage event at Valence House Museum.
Barking Folk Festival – A major folk and acoustic music event in Barking Town Centre.
Young Mayor’s Takeover Day – A festival led by young people, for young people.
Winter Lantern Parade – Community-made lanterns lit up dark winter nights with hope.
Women’s Empowerment Month & International Women’s Day Festival – Celebrating women’s voices and creative leadership.
Black History Month Showcase – Arts and heritage events honouring Black communities.
Eid in the Park – A joyful interfaith celebration of Eid in open public space.
These events created collective joy, civic pride and new traditions for a growing, diverse borough.
Creative Industries – From Skills to Studios
You unlocked investment in Eastbrook Studios, soon to be London’s largest film and TV production site.
Importantly, this was paired with training pathways to ensure local people could access creative jobs in a growing sector.
Studio 3 Arts – Co-Creation and Community Power
You backed the creation of a permanent home for Studio 3 Arts, embedding radical, community-led arts in the heart of Barking.
Its programme championed marginalised voices, social justice and local participationin the arts.
A Whole-Place Cultural Strategy
Culture wasn’t siloed — it was embedded across housing, regeneration, education, health, and placemaking.
Barking & Dagenham became a London Borough of Culture frontrunner and maintained creativity through the COVID-19 crisis with adapted digital and outdoor programmes.
The result was a borough where everyone had access to creativity, and where culture-built confidence, connection, and hope.
Q: Barking Riverside is one of the borough’s more ambitious regeneration schemes, described as a healthy new town - what is a healthy new town?
Barking Riverside was designated a NHS England Healthy New Town in 2016. This recognition wasn’t just about healthcare facilities — it reflected a broader ambition to design a community that promotes health, wellbeing, and equality from the ground up. Here are the key features that make Barking Riverside a Healthy New Town:
Health in design: The masterplan embeds health and wellbeing into the built environment — from walkable neighbourhoods to green infrastructure.
15-minute neighbourhood principles: Everyday needs (shops, schools, healthcare, parks) are accessible within a short walk or cycle.
Abundant green space: 40% of the development is green or blue space, including parks, riverfront paths, and play areas.
Active travel prioritised: A network of cycling and walking routes connects homes, schools, and transport nodes, encouraging physical activity.
New river pier and Overground station: Improved access reduces reliance on cars and promotes cleaner air.
Barking Riverside Health Hub (opened 2022): A landmark facility co-designed with residents to bring together GP services, community health, social care, and voluntary sector support under one roof.
Preventative health focus: Programmes tackling obesity, isolation, and mental health are delivered in collaboration with the community.
Digital innovation: Use of data and digital tools to support personalised and preventative care.
Co-production with residents: Residents were involved in shaping services, facilities, and public spaces.
Community development model: Initiatives like participatory budgeting and local health champions empower people to take charge of their wellbeing.
Social prescribing: Non-medical support (e.g. fitness classes, volunteering, gardening) is integrated into healthcare pathways.
High-quality, energy-efficient housing: Designed for affordability, comfort, and sustainability.
Design against loneliness: Housing layouts encourage interaction, including communal spaces and co-housing models in some blocks.
Barking Riverside is a testbed for innovation in healthy placemaking, with outcomes tracked and shared nationally to inform other developments. In essence, Barking Riverside shows how aplace-based approach to health — combining housing, environment, transport, and services — can create a community that supports physical, mental, and social wellbeing for all.
Q: How has the borough managed to provide health and care to a rapidly frowing population driven by a housing programme growing at speed and scale?
1. Joined-up Local Leadership and Governance
The Council’s housing growth programme, which has been delivering thousands of new homes, is closely coordinated with the local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and social care providers.
They operate shared planning forums and health and wellbeing boards where housing, health, and social care leaders jointly strategise around local needs and resources.
This alignment ensures health and care infrastructure development keeps pace with new housing delivery.
2. Ultra-Local Partnership Working: The ‘Place-Based’ Model
Barking and Dagenham adopt a strong place-based approach where health, care, and housing services are co-designed at very local neighbourhood levels.
Local GP practices act as anchor organisations linking residents to council services and community groups. These practices work closely with social workers and housing officers to identify and respond to emerging needs early.
Multi-disciplinary teams include nurses, community health workers, housing officers, and voluntary sector reps who meet regularly to plan support for vulnerable residents.
3. Engaged Resident Groups and Community Networks
Local resident associations and community organisations are actively involved in shaping health and care service delivery.
These groups help identify gaps and priorities, support outreach (especially for older or isolated residents), and promote health education and social prescribing activities.
The council facilitates resident forums and workshops so voices from all neighbourhoods influence decision-making and service design.
4. New Health & Care Facilities Embedded in Housing Developments
New housing schemes include dedicated space for community health clinics, wellbeing centres, and care hubs, ensuring residents can access services within walking distance.
Examples include co-located GP surgeries and adult social care drop-in centres integrated into mixed-use developments.
This reduces pressure on hospital and acute services and supports early intervention.
5. Digital and Data Integration
Health, care, and housing providers share data securely to get a fuller picture of resident needs and service utilisation.
Digital platforms enable coordinated case management, with feedback loops involving residents themselves.
This supports proactive care, timely interventions, and efficient resource deployment.
Here are some concrete examples from Barking and Dagenham where health and care have been integrated effectively alongside the fast-paced housing growth — highlighting ultra-local working between the council, GPs, resident groups, and community partners:
Example 1: The Thames View Estate Regeneration
Context: Thames View is a large estate undergoing significant regeneration, replacing older housing stock with thousands of new homes.
Health & Care Integration:
The council worked closely with local GP surgeries to expand primary care capacity by refurbishing and enlarging existing GP facilities within the estate.
A new community health and wellbeing hub was built alongside new housing blocks, offering GP consultations, social prescribing services, mental health support, and adult social care drop-in sessions.
Multi-disciplinary outreach teams (including nurses, social workers, and housing officers) regularly visit residents in new homes to identify care needs early, especially targeting older adults and people with long-term conditions.
Resident Engagement: Resident groups formed ‘Health Champions’ to promote awareness of local services and encourage uptake of preventive health checks and vaccinations. The council funded these resident volunteers and organised regular community health fairs.
Outcome: This model helped maintain continuity of care despite a large influx of new residents, and supported smoother transitions for vulnerable people moving into new homes.
Example 2: Goodmayes and Goresbrook GP Networks Partnership
Context: These GP practices serve fast-growing residential areas with new developments underway.
Ultra-Local Working:
GPs collaborated with the council’s housing and social care teams to create a neighbourhood ‘triage’ system where residents with complex needs are jointly assessed.
The system includes direct referrals from GPs to housing support (e.g., for those facing homelessness or unsuitable housing conditions) and social care teams for home adaptations or personal care packages.
Community groups contribute through volunteer befriending services and wellbeing activities, linking isolated patients with social opportunities.
Data Sharing: A shared digital platform enables real-time updates between health and housing teams, ensuring coordinated support plans.
Outcome: Improved patient outcomes reduced unnecessary hospital admissions, and more efficient use of housing support resources.
Example 3: Be First’s ‘Health in All Policies’ Approach in Barking Riverside
Context: Barking Riverside is a major new build community adding thousands of homes on a brownfield site.
Integrated Planning:
From the outset, Be First (the council’s regeneration company) embedded health and care considerations into the masterplan, allocating space for health centres and community services.
Regular forums bring together the NHS, council services, local voluntary organisations, and resident representatives to plan how to scale health and social care services as the population grows.
Community engagement exercises invite residents to shape local service priorities and contribute ideas for improving access and inclusion.
Innovation: Use of mobile health units and digital health kiosks to reach new residents during the early phases of development before permanent facilities open.
Outcome: Residents benefit from accessible, community-rooted health services, fostering a sense of belonging and reducing health inequalities.
Example 4: Local Resident-Led Initiatives Supporting Health
Example: In the Marks Gate neighbourhood, local resident groups have partnered with the council and GP surgeries to run ‘Healthy Living’ sessions in community centres.
These sessions offer free advice on nutrition, exercise, mental wellbeing, and managing long-term conditions, often led by local health professionals volunteering their time.
The council supports these groups by providing space, small grants, and training, ensuring these grassroots efforts align with broader health strategies.
Outcome: Enhanced community resilience and prevention-focused health improvements, reducing pressure on primary care.
Summary of key local actors working together
Barking & Dagenham Council
Oversees housing delivery, social care services, and community engagement; coordinates cross-sector partnerships
Local GPs and Primary Care networks
Provide frontline health services, coordinate with social care and housing teams, anchor community health outreach.
Resident Groups and Community networks
Represent local needs, promote wellbeing, help shape service delivery, support vulnerable residents.
NHS and Social Care providers
Deliver health and social care services, co-located in new developments where possible, participate in joint planning
Voluntary and Third sector
Complement statutory services through social prescribing, peer support, and community development.
Q: Much of the innovation you introduced to B&D was underpinned and informed by robust data, and you developed a well recognised data-driven key insights team. Can you talk about this in more detail?
1. Borough Explorer: A Dynamic Data Platform
What it is:
Borough Explorer is an interactive, online data visualization tool developed by the council’s Key Insights team to provide residents, policymakers, and partners with accessible, up-to-date information about the borough.
Purpose:
The platform was designed to break down complex data into clear, visually engaging maps, charts, and dashboards, allowing users to explore key indicators on housing, health, education, employment, and community wellbeing at very granular levels — often down to neighbourhood or ward level.
Features and Benefits:
Multi-dimensional: Users can compare indicators side-by-side, spotting correlations and identifying priority areas for intervention.
Accessible: The tool was public-facing, empowering residents and community groups to better understand local challenges and opportunities, enhancing transparency and trust.
Real-time updates: It incorporated data feeds where possible to reflect the latest available statistics, supporting timely decision-making.
Impact:
Borough Explorer supported place-based working by helping councillors, service leads, and partner organisations target resources where they were most needed, align services with community needs, and track progress over time.
2. Social Progress Index (SPI): Measuring Beyond Economic Indicators
What it is:
The Social Progress Index is a comprehensive framework for measuring a community’s social and environmental performance independent of purely economic metrics like GDP. It assesses how well residents’ basic needs are met, how they can access opportunities, and the overall quality of life.
How B&D Used SPI:
Barking and Dagenham adopted the SPI framework to complement traditional economic and demographic data, recognizing that social progress — including health outcomes, education access, personal safety, and inclusion — is essential for truly inclusive growth.
The Key Insights team used SPI data to benchmark the borough’s performance against other London boroughs and similar places nationally.
This approach helped highlight specific social challenges, such as inequality in health or educational attainment, which might be masked by headline economic growth figures.
Applications:
SPI indicators informed priority-setting for investment in social infrastructure like community centres, schools, and health services.
It shaped policies aimed at reducing disparities between different neighbourhoods and demographic groups within the borough.
The council communicated SPI findings to residents to foster shared understanding of progress and areas needing collective effort.
Why These Tools Mattered in Barking and Dagenham’s Inclusive Growth Strategy
Evidence-based decision-making: Both Borough Explorer and SPI ensured that investment decisions and service planning were grounded in robust, multidimensional evidence — reducing guesswork and improving impact.
Cross-sector collaboration: The shared data language provided by these tools enabled better alignment between housing, health, education, and economic development partners.
Community empowerment: By making data transparent and understandable, the council invited residents into the conversation, increasing civic engagement and fostering local leadership.
Tracking progress: Regular monitoring through these platforms helped the council and partners celebrate successes and quickly respond to emerging issues in the context of fast-paced change.
Q: You describe your approach to development and regeneration as “inclusive growth” - can you describe what this means in practical and political terms?
Practical Terms -- Growth That Benefits Everyone
Inclusive growth means ensuring that economic development and regeneration don’t just add numbers to the housing stock or create jobs — they actively improve the lives of local people across all communities.
New homes are affordable and designed to meet local needs (family-sized, accessible, energy efficient).
Jobs created are good-quality, fairly paid, with real pathways for local people, especially those facing barriers.
Skills and training programmes are embedded alongside development projects, targeting residents who are currently excluded from economic opportunity.
Integrated Service Delivery
Regeneration isn’t just about buildings but about the wider social infrastructure: schools, health services, green spaces, community centres, transport links.
Planning these alongside housing creates sustainable neighbourhoods where people can live well, stay healthy, and build strong social connections.
Cross-sector collaboration ensures health, social care, and housing services are coordinated around residents’ real lives.
Local Leadership and Resident Empowerment
Inclusive growth is grounded in deep local engagement:
Residents, community groups, and frontline workers are involved from the start in designing development plans and services.
This builds trust, ensures developments reflect local aspirations, and enables communities to take ownership of change.
It also means addressing inequalities by listening to underrepresented voices and ensuring resources reach the most vulnerable.
Political Terms -- A Commitment to Fairness and Social Justice
Politically, inclusive growth rejects a ‘trickle-down’ economic model that assumes benefits will eventually reach everyone. Instead, it commits to actively shaping growth, so it lifts all communities, reduces inequalities, and fights poverty.
This means prioritising investment in deprived areas and targeting interventions where they’re needed most.
It also means challenging market failures in housing and labour markets, such as unaffordable rents or exploitative employment practices.
Cross-Party and Partnership Working
Delivering inclusive growth requires a political culture of collaboration beyond party lines.
In Barking and Dagenham, we fostered cross-party consensus around inclusive growth principles because it’s about building a shared future for the borough.
We also worked closely with NHS partners, housing associations, businesses, and the voluntary sector to deliver outcomes that no single organisation could achieve alone.
Long-Term Vision Over Short-Term Gain
Politically, inclusive growth demands patience and sustained commitment.
It prioritises investments and policies that may take time to deliver but build lasting, resilient communities.
It rejects short-term opportunism or quick fixes that leave structural inequalities unaddressed.
Q: What is your advice to local authorities and community leaders on working with commercial developers?
1. Power of Influence — Setting Clear, Firm Expectations known as a “Master vision”
Define a strong local vision and policy framework that developers must align with. This includes clear priorities on affordable housing, quality design, social infrastructure, local jobs, and sustainability.
Use local plans, supplementary planning documents, and community benefit agreements to set non-negotiables upfront — don’t wait for the planning application stage to make your demands.
Ensure political leadership is united and consistent in messaging to developers; strong leadership prevents developers from playing different stakeholders off each other.
2. Power of Partnership — Building Collaborative Relationships
See developers as partners rather than adversaries but hold them accountable to shared goals.
Create early and ongoing dialogue platforms involving council officers, elected members, developers, local residents, and community groups — fostering transparency and trust.
Engage in co-design processes where possible, so local voices shape development proposals from the outset.
Encourage developers to invest in community capacity-building — for example, supporting local training schemes or social enterprises linked to the development.
3. Power of Leverage — Using Your Assets and Influence to Maximise Community Benefit
Recognise your unique local assets — whether that’s land ownership, planning powers, or market knowledge — and use them strategically to negotiate better outcomes.
Leverage funding streams and public investment (e.g., infrastructure grants, land assembly, forward funding) to unlock value that can be reinvested in social infrastructure or affordable housing.
Use legal tools smartly, including Section 106 agreements, Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), and other mechanisms to secure tangible benefits.
Be prepared to walk away if the deal doesn’t deliver for your community — sometimes the strongest leverage is demonstrating you won’t accept poor-quality or unfair developments.
Why the Power of 3 Matters
Together, these three powers create a balanced approach: influence shapes what you want, partnership makes delivery smoother and more inclusive, and leverage ensures you get the best deal possible for your residents. This framework helps local authorities and community leaders go beyond adversarial relationships to build genuine, productive collaborations that deliver inclusive growth.
Bonus Tip: Embed Data and Evidence at Every Stage
Use robust local data and insight (like Barking and Dagenham’s Key Insights approach) to make your case stronger and more credible when negotiating with developers.
Demonstrate how proposals align (or don’t) with local needs and priorities, making the conversation evidence-based rather than purely political.
Thanks to Darren Rodwell for the time, thought and energy he brought to this interview.
Clare Delmar
Listen to Locals
22 May 2025
