Campaign group Save Newham City Farm on bid to reopen site

Mari Anne Thomas is among those backing the Save Newham City Farm campaign because it was the only place where her autistic son, Ashton, felt calm.

Now Mari Anne has to walk a different way with Ashton, 16, because it is difficult to explain why the farm is closed and would make him upset.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mari Anne said: “[The farm] was the only thing we had. Ashton’s a very big boy and there’s not many places we can take him on his own. 

“I’ve lived in Beckton all my life, all my children grew up here and visited the farm – I used to go with my son twice a week. Ashton doesn’t really like people, but there are horses and he loves them and he would stroke them.”

Ashton, who is non-verbal, became infatuated with the horses and would spend over an hour just standing with them, Mari Anne says.

Ashton (pictured) is non-verbal and autistic and used to enjoy visiting the farm twice a week, his mother Mari Anne Thomas said. Credit: Mari Anne Thomas / free to use

She added: “We don’t do anything now it’s shut. We can’t walk that way because [Ashton] will drag me there, you can’t explain to him that the farm is not open. 

“There’s other children like Ashton out there – I just can’t let this go.”

Newham City Farm first opened to the public in 1977 and was home to a variety of animals such as cows, horses and sheep. In September 2021, Newham Council voted to close the farm for good after operating for just under 45 years.

Alison McLucas (pictured) has been helping to lead the campaign Credit: Save Newham City Farm / free for LDRS to use

At the meeting, on September 7, 2021, Cllr James Asser “apologised to the people of Newham after admitting the farm had been run down to the point where it was no longer fit for purpose,” the Newham Recorder reported.

He said £7 million was needed to bring it to up to standard and two other organisations who took it on, tried to hand it back, the publication said.

The closure sent shock-waves through the community, and Save Newham City Farm claim the council never had any “community consultation” with local residents prior to the closure. With the backing of almost 50,000 signatures on an online petition, Save Newham City Farm are fighting harder than ever to reopen the farm on their terms.

Newham City Farm has been closed for just over a year Credit: Save Newham City Farm / free for LDRS use

Tafsia Shikdar grew up in Newham and began volunteering at the farm when she was 14 years old. When she turned 18, Tafsia landed a place at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an American university equivalent to Oxbridge.

She says volunteering at the farm helped her academic success and her career as a data scientist at Beyond Meat – a multi-million-pound LA-based company that has been making plant-based burgers and alternatives to meat-based protein since 2009.

Tafsia said: “The farm was a unique place to gain unique skills, especially for kids from Newham, who already have the odds stacked against them.

“It would be devastating for me and a shame for future generations if this much-needed community facility was prevented from being restored, to allow Newham to have a city farm as successful and sustainable as city farms in other London boroughs.

Tafsia explains that she referred back to her volunteering experience at the farm to help build up her MIT application. She added: “Unfortunately, accessibility to extracurricular activities is extremely lacking at underfunded state schools and in poorer areas.”

Alison McLucas, who helped create Save Newham City Farm, argues the council has left a lot of residents in the dark about the farm's closure and its future. She says a team of volunteers have been clearing the wildlife areas of the farm regularly and would like to work on other parts of the site.

She said: “The council says that it safely rehomed the animals many months ago but there are no signs [put up] outside the farm to explain to visitors who still arrive [and ask] what is happening.

“The farm was widely used by people across Newham and beyond, but communication about the community engagement exercise has been limited and so many affected by the closure have not had the opportunity to express their concerns, views or needs.”

Alison believes the farm should fall into the hands of a “charitable organisation”, like those which sustainably manage other city farms such as Surrey Docks, Stepney and Kentish Town.

Ann-Marie Ashton has fond memories of growing up in Newham with her family. She added: “I just couldn’t believe it, it’s just one of those things that has been there my whole life. It’s just that everyday stuff that as residents you need, you need to be able to rely on, that day you’re at your wits end at home with your kids and you desperately need somewhere to go.

“I just feel really sad, it’s almost like Newham [Council] is replacing those everyday services. The farm [closing] really sparked something in me, if we don’t fight for things that we want, the council just take things away.”

A Newham Council spokesperson told the LDRS: “We have been working with residents and community stakeholders to create a future vision for the Beckton Parks Masterplan area throughout the year.

“Since the start of this project in January 2022,  over 680 residents have been engaged via public events, online surveys, community collaborations, interviews and pop-up activities.

“The outcome of this engagement led to the Community Vision being developed which was launched at a community exhibition attended by over 100 people in July 2022.  The exhibition was displayed locally at libraries and within the parks, the vision was published online and hard copies distributed throughout the summer.”

The spokesperson added: “Co-design workshops are taking place on November 26 and  December 3 where we will work with residents to co-design the Beckton Parks Masterplan based on the principles in the Community Vision. Following these workshops, further consultation will take place in February 2023 with the Masterplan hopefully finalised in March 2023.

“The council will manage the delivery of the Masterplan through a phased approach and on a project-by-project basis depending on the final designs. This could involve applying for funding, preparing business cases, renovating buildings and presenting opportunities for external organisations to manage specific elements of the Masterplan.”