Guardian (series) Wanstead and Woodford, UK 24th January 2007 www.wansteadandwoodfordguardian.co.uk/display.var.1144131.0.gardeners_come_out_blazing.php
By Carl Brown Gardeners come out blazing ALLOTMENT holders angry at being turfed off their plots to make way for the 2012 Olympic Games held an evening of protests. More than 80 plots, at Manor Gardens, off Waterden Road, in Stratford, will be bulldozed to make way for a concrete walkway and a big screen. The controversial plan is to relocate them at the Marsh Lane fields in Leyton. Many of the gardeners have had their plots for decades and many of these have been handed down from their parents. Last week more than 100 people attended a New Year feast and bonfire at the allotments to bring attention to the gardeners' plight. The Manor Gardening Society acting secretary Julie Sumner said: "We have got a fantastic resource here and if we can get more than 100 people out on a cold Tuesday night, then it shows how many people want to keep the allotments. "Allotments are something people all over the world recognise and they are also a genuine British institution." The Manor Gardening Society believes that keeping the allotments on the Olympic site will also benefit the Games themselves. It is currently developing a plan, along with Tak Hoshino from the University of East London, to retain the allotments in the Olympic park. Ms Sumner said: "This diverse community of Turks, Cypriots, Greeks, Jamaicans, Africans and Brits welcomes the potential for regeneration brought by the Olympic development. "Rather than being moved out of the way, they want to offer their contribution which seems to be entirely consistent with the Olympic and Government ambitions." Albert Dickinson, 79, has gardened his plot at Manor Gardens for more than 40 years. He said: "There is a community spirit down here, we all make an effort. If someone is on holiday we will help them with the plot. "And we are being forced to give all this up just for a fortnight's Olympic Games." The Manor Gardening Society is now intending to get an ecological survey carried out on the site to assess the environmental effects of moving the allotments. The London Development Agency (LDA) has submitted a planning application to the council to move the allotment holders to a site south of Marsh Lane temporarily. But this has caused controversy among campaigners, including the New Lammas Land Defence Committee, who believe the Marsh Lane site is protected, a claim the LDA disputes. An LDA spokesman said that the allotments cannot be retained at the Waterden Road site because the land will have to be lowered by six metres as part of the Olympic building work.
