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46
home and the wish is there, disclosed or unrevealed and possibly
not even admitted, that they might one day leave Dagenham.
The causes of failure are two—the size of the district and the
uniformity of the population. Neither of these two factors alone
would necessitate failure, but coupled, court it. A smaller area,
adjacent to a stable community, would be merged and become
part of the town and in time would lose its identity in that of the
town. The fact that this town provides in the main for the one
standard of population is the other chief factor against its
success. The layout, more particularly in depriving the district
of a shopping centre round which the chief activities of the town
would be centred, so providing a heart to the town, is not the least
important factor contributing to the instability of the district.
As matters stand, are there any steps which might be taken
in improving the situation and to brighten the hope of the future?
The main objective must be to maintain a stable communityand
to achieve this, to keep the residents here. One of the chief
means to this end is to establish the family entity. If the children,
on growing up, leave the district, there will be little left to keep their
parents here. On the other hand, to have their children here
will be a powerful factor in keeping the parents in the district.
Already this estate is favoured over some of the others in the
concessions made toward accommodating the children of the
tenants. A further step should be for the London County Council
to offer accommodation to the daughters of their tenants who
marry men employed in the district. The accessibility of his
occupation will keep the worker here—the older people will remain
because of the daughter. Another step towards obtaining stability
would be an endeavour to house locally those employed locally.
For the sake of the new town creatcd, a large number of houses
should be offered to the employees of the local factories who have
come here after doing work of a similar nature elsewhere. The
effects of housing some 3,000 of these in the estate houses would
prove of immense value. Firstly, it would tend to diminish the
general feeling of instability and to do this alone would effect
some security. It would result in those wages earned being
spent in the district. If the houses offered were those previously
occupied by tenants who, on financial grounds could not afford to
remain, it would raise the general standard of wealth. There
would be fewer defaults of payment of rents which, as presumably
the finances of the housing estates are dealt with separately now,
fall on the backs of the remaining tenants.
A third step should be the building of a shopping centre to
make the heart to the town. Preferably, but not of necessity,
this should be central for the area. At the present moment.