East London Life

All of London’s eyes and ears will be on the new London Mayor, Boris Johnson; at the beginning of the week as he embarks upon a project, that is not only high profile but also dear to all residents. Mayor Johnson had his first meeting with the Olympic board on May 15th, which more than likely was in preparation for the arrival of the International Olympic Committee coordination commission which is arrived a weeek after for the annual inspection visit. The committee was in London for three days where Mayor Johnson met these high rollers in the Games. By all accounts, the Committee was impressed by what they had seen of of the preparation. Read the rest of this entry »

Not so very long ago, the Olympic planners promised us the “greenest games ever” in 2012. No one seems to believe them however, and with good reason. I have written several times about the proposed destruction of the Manor Garden Allotments, but I have never laid it all out at once, so here is a thumbnail guide to what the Olympic Planners, Lord Coe, Tony Blair and Ken Livingstone mean when they say “greenest games ever”: Read the rest of this entry »

Sunday, April 1st was to be a farewell party to the Allotments, the day before plot holders were to be officially evicted to make way for a concrete path for the 2012 Olympic Games. Fortunately there will be less good bye and more fighting on, as the eviction is canceled until at least until July.

Owing to the LDA’s inability or unwillingness to find any space to relocate the Manor Gardening Society to during the Olympic development, the Society, supported by Friends of the Earth, has launched a legal challenge, resulting in an injunction (temporarily) against the eviction.

So come down and raise a toast to celebrate and pitch in to help protect one of the most socially important green spaces in Hackney threatened by the short-term greed of Olympic planners and builders. Read the rest of this entry »

Paul Deighton, chief executive of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, has decided to simply ignore the enormous and ever-rising cost of the Olympic games, by basically stating that it isn’t his problem.

He insists that the original figure of £2 billion, all privately financed, is plenty sufficient, as long as you ignore the cost of actually building the facilities. As long as you only look at the moeny he will spend in the 16 days the games are actually happening, his budget looks fine, ample even, according to Deighton. Read the rest of this entry »

It seems that the London Development Agency doesn’t like publicity, as they decided not to show up to the meeting Sunday at Eastway Baths. There was a terrific turn out of plot holders, press and supporters at the meeting at Eastway Baths.

Plot holders were called to a meeting by the London Development Agency and arrived to find the LDA had decided not to show up. The LDA were due to explain the current situation regarding the failure to obtain a relocation site for the allotments and imminent eviction. The understanding by plot holders was that they would also be telling the Society about their plans to resubmit their relocation planning application and start an appeal.

The LDA cancelled at short notice due to the event receiving publicity.
[via Life Is Land]

Come and support the Manor Garden Allotments this Sunday at 10:30 am at the Eastway Baths Community Centre in Eastway, Hackney Wick.

Supporters will be gathering outside the Old Baths, 80 Eastway, Hackney Wick, London E9 5JH to back up the plotholders and bolster their morale in this traumatic meeting with the LDA. We hope to have a festive atmosphere and plenty of ironic cheering for the “London Destruction Agency” as they come to deliver what will possibly be bad news, but lets give them a chance - we may now be the centrepiece of a revised Olympic plan!

The LDA will be attending to announce their intentions following the failure of their Marsh Lane plan. As the morale of the plotholders has been continually worn down and many feel the situation is hopeless, the more outside support is demonstrated the better.Supporters are asked to gather outside with banners from 10.30 am.

Your author will be on hand to cover the proceedings and lend his voice. More information from Life Is Land

According to the BBC, there are some ambitious (read: another £1bn) plans to ‘transform’ the Lower Lea Valley into a ‘Water City’ as the scheme is named.

Derelict waterways from Canary Wharf to the Royal Docks and from Greenwich to Hackney Marshes are to be refurbished and turned into new green space at the heart of the massive gentrification project that aims to turn the entire East End into a giant shopping mall; not figuratively, but actually, in the form of Stratford City, a huge new shopping mall and office complex that planners see as the crux of the project: Read the rest of this entry »

The idea of the 2012 Olympics was ’sold’ to the people of London partially on the basis of cost, which was said to be £2.35bn ‘on the high side’.

Now it seems that just the cost of construction in Newham before the Olympics begin will be more than £3.3bn alone. The total cost for the games stands, right now, at £9bn, or almost four times the original cost statement, according to the Treasury and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Read the rest of this entry »

The continuing saga of the relocation of Travellers’ from Hackney Wick to make way for the 2012 Olympics has a new chapter now as Hackney councillors decided to give Olympic chiefs the go-ahead to build seven pitches for the Travellers on Hackney Marsh.

The Hackney Marsh Users Group (HMUG) protested the decision, citing promises made by the council that there would be no permanent construction on Hackney marshes as a result of the Olympics.

So, assuming this decision stands, there are now only seven families left out of the original twenty who as of now have nowhere to go once they are forced to move from Millfields Road in the summer.

After submitting the largest planning application in European history, the Olympic Delivery Authority has now opened the application to public consultation, timed to coincide with the end of the appeals period for Compulsory Purchase Orders relating to the games.

The first criticisms of the plans are starting to roll in as well:

The Green Party said the plans failed to break new ground in terms of sustainability, while the athletes’ village fell short of existing standards.

Passenger watchdog London TravelWatch said there were not enough details or concrete improvements for public transport.

The plans will be on show at Stratford shopping centre from 2pm to 7pm on Friday, February 23 and from 11am to 3pm on Saturday, February 24.

Comments can be posted to Head of Development Control, Olympic Delivery Authority Planning Decisions Team, Mailpoint 32B, 23rd Floor, 1 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5LN.

They can also be sent via planning.enquiries@pdt.oda.gov.uk, london2012.com/planning or fax 020 8430 6021 before March 19.

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