Dagenham Left in Limbo After Smithfield and Billingsgate Market Relocation Cancelled

Published: 20 September — The English Chronicle Desk | The English Chronicle Online

The once-promising future of Dagenham Dock has been thrown into uncertainty following the cancellation of a multi-million-pound project that was meant to transform the borough into a hub of wholesale food trade. What was once the site of the Barking Reach power station, spanning 42 acres, was earmarked for redevelopment into a state-of-the-art market complex to house Smithfield meat market, Billingsgate fish market, and potentially the New Spitalfields fruit and vegetable market. Instead, the land now lies dormant, locked behind gates, with its future hanging in the balance.

The City of London Corporation, which owns the land, stunned the local community when it announced late last year that the long-awaited project had been scrapped. Despite already spending nearly £230 million of the £741 million budget, the corporation blamed rising inflation and spiralling construction costs for halting the scheme. The news has drawn significant criticism, not least because it paves the way for the closure of London’s ancient food markets by 2028, leaving their replacements in doubt.

For Barking and Dagenham, one of London’s most deprived boroughs, the blow was devastating. Local MP Margaret Mullane, peering through the locked gates of the site, described the move as a betrayal of promises made to a community desperate for economic renewal. The project had been expected to generate 2,700 jobs, create a training “food school” for future butchers and fishmongers, and inject much-needed economic vitality into an area long associated with decline.

The borough, with a proud industrial heritage rooted in the once-thriving Ford factory, has faced decades of economic struggle. Ford’s heyday in the 1950s saw 40,000 workers on site; today, fewer than 2,000 remain. The cancellation of the wholesale market project has amplified local concerns about dwindling opportunities, unaffordable housing, and rising child poverty rates.

Council leaders, including Dominic Twomey, admit they are now at the mercy of the City of London Corporation, which has yet to disclose its long-term plans for the land. While the corporation insists the site is “perfectly placed” for future economic activity and could still be redeveloped, residents and officials remain sceptical, citing years of unmet promises, including the long-delayed Beam Park railway station.

The absence of clear direction has also reignited fears that Dagenham is losing its chance to reinvent itself. Although the Thames Freeport project and Ford’s engine plant provide some industrial continuity, the looming phase-out of diesel engines threatens to weaken the area’s economic backbone further.

Yet, amid the disappointment, there have been glimmers of progress. Eastbrook Studios, a vast film and television production facility built on the site of a former pharmaceutical plant, has opened its doors. Backed by Hackman Capital Partners, the studio is now one of the largest in London, hosting reality shows, dramas, and commercials across 12 sound stages. The venture could eventually create up to 5,000 jobs and inspire young people in the borough to pursue careers in the creative industries.

Even so, locals worry that the cancellation of the wholesale food market project represents another missed opportunity in a community that cannot afford many more. For many residents, regeneration is not about luxury housing or flashy projects, but about securing stable, well-paid jobs that can support families. As Mullane noted, without meaningful investment, Dagenham risks treading water rather than moving forward.

For now, the fate of the site remains undecided. The City of London Corporation promises future engagement with developers and insists that the land retains huge potential. But nine months on, Dagenham finds itself caught between broken promises of the past and uncertain visions of the future, waiting to see whether its long-held hopes of economic revival will ever be realised.