{"id":1510,"date":"2020-08-22T12:03:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-22T11:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.elainespires.co.uk\/journal\/?p=1510"},"modified":"2020-08-22T12:03:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-22T11:03:00","slug":"councillor-saima-ashraf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elainespires.co.uk\/journal\/2020\/08\/councillor-saima-ashraf\/","title":{"rendered":"Councillor Saima Ashraf"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today the Deputy Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, Councillor Saima Ashraf shares her thoughts about Dagenham.  Her pride in the Borough is evident throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Councillor Saima Ashraf – Deputy Council Leader<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love the history and community of Dagenham \u2013 and the great potential we <\/p>\n\n\n\n

have that is being realised for the benefit of all of us. There\u2019s a real buzz with <\/p>\n\n\n\n

the University of Coventry Campus at the Civic Centre.  The very first time I <\/p>\n\n\n\n

entered the Civic Centre is one of my best memories of Dagenham; it is such <\/p>\n\n\n\n

a beautiful building and I am really pleased it is now being put to great use as <\/p>\n\n\n\n

a place of learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen we have excitement of the film studios being developed in<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dagenham East; the re-location of the three historic markets of London –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Billingsgate, New Spitalfields and Smithfield –<\/strong> to the former Barking <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reach Power Station site at Dagenham Dock.  And there\u2019s quality new <\/p>\n\n\n\n

affordable housing and our excellent schools. But most importantly for me we have one  community \u2013 Barking and Dagenham, and this is home. It\u2019s where my<\/p>\n\n\n\n

children went to school and where I am fortunate enough to be Deputy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leader.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I asked Councillor Ashraf how she thinks the rest of the country sees Dagenham and whether she feels that view is justified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I used to say I lived in Barking and Dagenham, people would think <\/p>\n\n\n\n

about some of our darker political times. But not only has the area changed <\/p>\n\n\n\n

a great deal, we are also too quiet about our fantastic history and the many <\/p>\n\n\n\n

things we can be proud of such as the courageous women of Ford, the <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becontree Estate and our amazing green spaces. Our Borough is not as far<\/p>\n\n\n\n

from Central London as people think it is \u2013 but it\u2019s very green!  We have the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

most publicly owned green spaces in all of London.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cAs you know, The Banjo Book Two has just come out. But did<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you know that the term Banjo is peculiar to Dagenham?\u2019 I ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know this until I had lived here for a while \u2013 but I know a lot more<\/p>\n\n\n\n

now we have been making plans for next year\u2019s Becontree Estate <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Centenary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I ask Councillor Ashraf next what she misses about the \u201cold\u201d Dagenham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile I wasn\u2019t living in the area over 20 years ago, I love hearing all the <\/p>\n\n\n\n

stories about the community spirit,\u201d she says.   \u201cThe street parties, the town <\/p>\n\n\n\n

show and people\u2019s pride for the area. I know that spirit hasn\u2019t disappeared <\/p>\n\n\n\n

and the Summer of Festivals and the Becontree Centenary Celebrations <\/p>\n\n\n\n

which I hope will go ahead next year will showcase that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you wish they\u2019d bring back the Town Show?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was iconic but for many it had had its day, and people stopped going to it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we have to find ways to recreate the spirit it is fondly remembered for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what our Summer of Festivals is all about, and I like that we now have <\/p>\n\n\n\n

different events throughout the summer and across the Borough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are two famous dishes associated with the area. Do you prefer fish and chips or pie and mash?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFish and chips,\u201d she replies without hesitation.  \u201cAlthough I have got rather <\/p>\n\n\n\n

good at making pie and mash\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd finally, is it Dagenham Essex or Dagenham East London?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBoth \u2013 because I think both identities are important to the area; one is its past and the other its future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is a fabulous answer, Councillor Ashraf.  Thank you so much for taking<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the time to talk to me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today the Deputy Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, Councillor Saima Ashraf shares her thoughts about Dagenham.  Her pride in the Borough is evident throughout. \u201cI love the history and community of Dagenham \u2013 and the great potential we  have … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elainespires.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elainespires.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elainespires.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elainespires.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elainespires.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1510"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.elainespires.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1513,"href":"https:\/\/www.elainespires.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1510\/revisions\/1513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elainespires.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elainespires.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elainespires.co.uk\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}