Barking goes all arthouse with a new cinema development

First Dagenham got the green light for a £100 million film studio, now neighbouring Barking is to have its first Arthouse cinema.

Barking and Dagenham council has given the go-ahead for the two-screen picture house, as part of the cultural regeneration of one of London’s most deprived boroughs.

The cinema will be run by Arthouse, which already has a site in Crouch End. It will be the first cinema in Barking for some years as the three-screen Odeon closed in 1998 and was demolished in 2001.

Darren Rodwell, leader of Barking and Dagenham council, said: “The plans will improve the borough’s health in terms of art and social life and the cinema will add vibrancy to the town centre.”