“If you told someone you lived right next to a park and a lake in a flat overlooking the Thames, they’d think it’d cost £2 million.”

Teresa Pearce is evangelical about the wonders of Thamesmead and clearly delights in the community spirit in the many developments.

I bundle into her car for a tour with Councillor Danny Hackett and we are squeezed amongst remnants of her five-year-old granddaughter’s birthday party (medals, sweets and a bumper seat).

Danny, 21, is Bexley’s youngest ever councillor and represents the next generation of the areas’s political enthusiasts.

For the first stop, Teresa shows me the Abbey Wood Caravan Club Site in Federation Road where many tourists stay, surrounded by glorious woodland.

She says: “Sometimes you’ll be at Abbey Wood Station and you’ll come across loads of German backpackers and wonder why – this is the reason. It’s a really beautiful place.”

News Shopper: The 14-year-old was stabbed in Binsey Walk.

Teresa has lived in Erith for decades and raised her two daughters here. She recently had a short spell in Eynsford and seems delighted to be back in a more urban environment.

The grandmother-of-four tells me: “When people think of Thamesmead they think of concrete blocks but there are beautiful bits too.

“If you told someone you lived right next to a park in a flat overlooking the Thames, they’d think it’d cost £2 million. 

"But we've got this right here - we should start a open air cinema in the summer." 

News Shopper:

She laughs. "Although maybe not next to Crossness Sewage Works because it might smell."

The 60-year-old clearly still revels in the diversity of the place.

She says “You tend to get ponies everywhere, from the traveller site but the travellers have been here  longer than Thamesmead has.

“And there are swans – sometimes you get stuck in a traffic jam because there’ll be a swan standing in the road and no one wants to move it.”

However Teresa acknowledges the deprivation that continues to exist in the area.

She explains: “There’s a real range of issues in my constituency although it’s increasingly housing.

“There isn’t enough affordable housing stock.

“People often have to be evicted before they can be housed by the council. And there’s fuel poverty – often people just keep on heating one room because it’s cheaper but then you end up with damp.

“We also need to change the street lighting. It can feel scary at night because there are little nooks and crannies so if you are a victim of crime, there’s lots of places criminals can run away to.

“On the other end of the spectrum, once I was canvassing on an affluent street and a woman was complaining about the state of the roads.

“I couldn’t understand what they were talking about so when I asked her, she said ‘look at the mess on the pavements, look at all this cherry blossom!’ That shows a different side to parts of Erith & Thamesmead.”

News Shopper:

Danny joins in: “There are lots of places for kids to play in the developments in Thamesmead and I think the architecture’s beautiful, especially in the summer.”

Later we drop into community centre, The Link Thamesmead, in Belvedere Road , a colourful building nestled under the railway arches.

Teresa proudly shows me a bike workshop to help engage kids who are struggling at school as well as a performing stage and music studio, before she gets chatting to a constituent.

The MP tells me: “There’s a lot of creativity that comes from Thamesmead – in Britain’s Got Talent they often feature a dance group from here.

“I feel like I have the best job in the world.”