Longbridge Ward
Labour councillor Rocky Gill holds regular surgeries for Longbridge ward residents.
These take place at Sweet Spot Dessert Parlour, 19 Faircross Parade, Upney Lane, Barking, IG11 8UW
On the third Thursday of the month between 7 and 8pm starting on 18 June 2026.
You can also email Rocky Gill at rocky.gill@lbbd.gov.uk
Your Labour Councillor in Londbridge Ward is Rocky Gill. On this page you can keep up to date with what he and your Labour Community Team are doing on your behalf across your ward.
Following the local elections, we’re delighted to confirm surgery details for residents in Longbridge Ward.
Labour councillor Rocky Gill holds his regular surgeries for Longbridge ward residents at Sweet Spot Dessert Parlour, 19 Faircross Parade, Upney Lane, Barking, IG11 8UW
These take place on the third Thursday of the month between 7 and 8pm. So the next surgery is on Thursday 16th July.
You can also email Rocky Gill at rocky.gill@lbbd.gov.uk
We’re committed to improving environmental standards across Longbridge ward, taking strong action to tackle fly-tipping and keep our neighbourhoods clean and green.
We will continue investing in our highways and pavements, making sure roads and footpaths are safer, smoother and better maintained for everyone, including children, the elderly and those with disabilites.
We’re campaigning for further investment into Barking Hospital to strengthen local healthcare, while also improving children’s play areas in our parks so families have better spaces to enjoy.
We’re aware that the recent spell of seemingly never-ending rain has had an impact on some of the roads across Longbridge ward, with a recent increase in some potholes. Councillor Rocky Gill has reported many of these to the relevant Council teams this week to be dealt with.
We’re out several times a week across the ward, and report anything that needs attention of the highways team as promptly as we can. But if you spot anything in the meantime, please do get in touch.
We are aware that many residents will have views about last year’s use of Barking Park for the High Lights music festival. The organisers are planning on brining the festival back this year from 22-24th May and 30-31st May.
As part of the planning process, the organisers are holding a meeting to allow residents to ask questions and for the organisers to gather feedback on the events.
The second in a series of three resident meetings will take place on Tuesday 24th February from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at Barking Learning Centre, 2 Town Square, Barking, IG11 7NB.
It’s our understanding that this will be a hybrid meeting – so you can attend in person or via Teams.
If you would like to attend, either in person or online, please RSVP to community@percolatemusic.co.uk
Labour volunteer teams have been out across the ward extensively over the last few week listening to residents. A number of residents have asked about applying for postal votes for the elections in May.
Voting by post is the safest and easiest way to make sure your vote counts. The quickest and easiest way setup postal voting is by applying online via the Government’s website here.
You can also download, print out and fill in a paper postal vote application form. This should then be sent to your local Electoral Registration Office.
Electoral Registration Officer, Ground Floor North, Town Hall, Barking, 1 Town Square, IG11 7LU
Your Labour Community Team can help with lots of things, but unfortunately we can’t help you complete or return these forms. Do ask a friend or neighbour if you need help.
The long awaited barriers near the lower numbered platforms are open in Barking Station. The refurbishment of the station has opened the barriers to create increased capacity before Christmas, which is excellent news.
The lift is currently undergoing the final tests before opening to the public; this should happen over the next few days.
The rest of the station will begin to open over the spring and early indications are that the station will look amazing with an open and vibrant feeling throughout.
Your Labour MP Nesil Caliskan and Labour Councillors have been campaigning for speedier renovation of the station.
Cycling is being encouraged the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It’s cheap, it’s healthy and its good for the environment!
Not only is the Labour Council widening and improving the cycle lanes, we are also providing cycle hire opportunities across the borough though the introduction of Voi bikes.
Please give the rented cycles a try and let us know what you think.
The Leftley Estate is blessed with lots of green spaces and the Labour Council work hard to keep them trimmed and litter free! These green spaces enhance the look of our streets and are also good for the environment.
If you see litter in these areas, or they need trimming please let us know and we will contact the relevant teams.
Your Longbridge Labour Councillor and candidates for 2026 have been out extensively this week, speaking to residents across the ward.
We are very keen to contact as many residents as possible to ensure excellent communication is maintained across the ward.
Please feel free to contact Councillor Rocky Gill if you have any issues in your immediate area. In the meantime we will continue to work on your behalf by reporting fly tipping, broken streetlights, dirty streets and so on.
You can click the ‘surgery details’ button above for contact details
Fly tipping is a major problem in Longbridge ward. We are not alone in that it is certainly a problem not only in Barking and Dagenham as a whole, but across the whole country.
In Barking and Dagenham, the council spend thousands and thousands of pounds a year picking up fly tipping; more than 95% of reported fly tipping incidents are collected within 24 hours.
Where possible, the council does prosecute offenders and they are always grateful when residents pass information on to them which helps with a prosecution.
Please remember to report all fly tipping as we rely on this to direct our teams to the correct places. The link to report fly tipping is here.
We had several teams of volunteers out along Longbridge Road today, as part of our year-round door-knocking sessions.
These are a really valuable way for us to hear from you about any issues we might have missed. We were pleased to see the blocks looking tidy and the green spaces looking pretty clean.
If we missed you, we would have left a leaflet. But you can always get in-touch with your Longbridge Labour Community Team using the ‘surgery details’ button above if you have any issues you need our help with.
The Labour Community team were out in force in Longbridge Ward last night talking to residents in Shirley Gardens. We were able to talk about some of the traffic calming and road safety changes being made on Longbridge Road which we hope will have a wider benefit to the connecting streets, like Shirley Gardens.
The team are out regularly in Longbridge Ward, listening to residents. If we missed you, we’ll have left a leaflet. Do feel free to get in touch.
Many residents will have noticed that the steps to Upney station have been in a sorry state and potentially dangerous on dark or wet nights. Your Labour team have campaigned for them to be repaired and made safer.
We’re delighted that the repairs have now been completed.
We were out in Longbridge ward this weekend listening to residents. Some of the issues which came up were parking and fly-tipping.
We reported two cases of fly tipping for the council to remove during the week.
You’ll often see Labour Councillors out litter picking to supplement the Council’s team. If you see fly tipping locally, we encourage you to report it as soon as possible via the Council’s online form.
The first litter picking event with students at Eastbury School was a great success. The staff and students at the school are positive and proactive, and we plan to continue this initiative on a monthly basis from September.
In addition to this, we are working with girls at Eastbury School to discuss VAWG (Violence Against Women and Girls).
We held a workshop earlier in July to discuss the impact of safety issues both at home and outside the home in Barking and Dagenham.
As a result of the discussions, the school plans to initiate the roll out of the White Ribbon Campaign which encourages men and boys to sign up to say that they will actively speak up when they encounter any behaviour which is detrimental to girls / women.
This is part of a local campaign which we hope will grow over time. Many thanks go to the leaders and students at Eastbury School for their support in this.