June 4th, 2007 by admin
Lifeisland. Habitats and land around the allotments are already being disturbed. Wildlife, no longer safe on these churned earths, are rushing to the join their neighbors on the allotments to seek refuge. Our Plan B proposes that the allotment site, alongside other areas in the Olympic park could be left, as islands of life, while the bulldozers, buildings and transformations work around them. They will become reservoirs, or ‘Noah’s Arks’, of the natural and cultural bio-diversity that already exists in the area with its self-managing systems. Lifeislands will preserve and integrate these living, natural and knowledge-based resources for future generations.
PRESS RELEASE IMMEDIATE 4TH JUNE
Will the House of Lords be in step with the nations ‘Grow Your Own’ fervour when Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asks them to consider keeping the allotments in the Olympics?
Amid new concerns about the quality of the Olympic Park design with Foreign Office Architects withdrawing from the project, Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer will raise the issue in the House of Lords on 4th June of these 100 year old historic allotment gardens due to be bulldozed, its close-knit community evicted, on July 2nd to make way for a four week footpath to the ‘green’ Olympics.
The Baroness will ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will make the Olympic site an exemplar site of sustainable development; and whether any features of the current design recognise the features already on site that could be exemplars of sustainable city living. Lord Davies of Oldham (DCMS)
The Olympic authorities concern about diminishing time to deliver the games limits debate yet it has taken them almost two years to attempt to find a relocation site for Manor Garden Allotments. The Planning Committee of Waltham Forest Council will decide on July 12th, amidst fierce local opposition, if permission will be given to temporarily place the allotments on Open Public Land in Leyton.
Manor Gardening Society believe that if the Government are serious about encouraging us to eat local produce, to keep fit and eat healthily (Gordon Brown promised to build eco-homes with allotments), if they are serious about the environment and biodiversity they should be demonstating those commitments on the world stage of the Olympics by showcasing the allotments. With the full support of David Mackay, lead architect of the Barcelona Olympics, plot holders, working with the Lifeisland campaign group of artists and architects, have created a PLAN B for how the Allotments could enhance the Olympic and Legacy Parks.
Due to the delays and the looming eviction date the plot holders have turned to the law for protection and asked Friends of the Earth to support them in taking legal action to prevent eviction before a decision is made to retain them or a suitable relocation site is obtained . The Judicial Review hearing will take place on 14th and 15th June.