UK: Londoners fight to save Newham City Farm from closure threat
Residents up in arms about local council’s decision to recommend 44-year-old amenity be shut for good
By Patrick Barkham
The Guardian
Sept 7, 2021
Excerpt:
East London residents are fighting to save one of the oldest city farms in the capital after Newham council recommended its closure.
The cows, horses, goats, sheep, rabbits, guinea pigs and even a kookaburra at Newham City Farm have been enjoyed by generations of schoolchildren and local residents since the farm opened in 1977.
But the farm, which is in a park between two schools in the Custom House area of the borough, never reopened when the coronavirus lockdown ended, and the Newham council cabinet is being advised at a meeting on Tuesday to permanently close the free facility.
More than 4,000 people have signed a petition to save the farm, with residents saying it provides urban children with rare opportunities for close encounters with animals as well as providing therapeutic services for people with special needs.
“It’s the jewel in the crown for local residents,” said Karima Turay, whose 17-year-old son has volunteered at the farm since he was 14. “We are the poorest ward in one of the poorest boroughs in the country and Custom House is synonymous with crime and being ‘poverty stricken’ but we have great things like more greenery than most other places in London and the farm. To have it taken away – it’s the final kick in the teeth for us.”
