Stratford

[the.fee.fairy]

Has anyone read about the allotments in Stratford?

The council is in the process of compulsory purchasing all of them...to provide paths for the olympic village.

Stupid councils...

[Shirley]

No!!!! That's ridiculous. Is there anyway to stop it?? Alternative routes to the olympic village?

[Martin]

all in the name of the farcical "steroid fest"............

[Andy Hamilton]

Has anyone read about the allotments in Stratford?

The council is in the process of compulsory purchasing all of them...to provide paths for the olympic village.

Stupid councils...

ALL OF THEM! right we need some suggestions on what to do about this, that is outragous.

[Muddypause]

Wait a minute. The Olympics are going to be in London. Surely the Olympic Village is going to be nearer than Stratford. That's 100 miles away.

[Shirley]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4789733.stm

The plight of urban allotments is to be investigated by the London Assembly.
Its environment committee will look at whether allotments, which appear to be increasingly popular with eco-conscious Londoners, are disappearing.

Chairman Peter Hulme Cross will visit Manor Gardens Allotments in Stratford - due to be bulldozed to make way for the Olympic Village for 2012.

The waiting list for an allotment in Camden is 10 years long. In Haringey the list is so long its been closed.

It is thought concerns about food safety have helped to swell demands for home-grown produce.

Last year the Green Party on the assembly suggested the mayor's plans for a big increase in high-density housing with no gardens might boost allotments' popularity even further.

The London Assembly says allotments make a "valuable contribution" to quality of life in the city and must be protected.

[Martin]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratford,_London

[Shirley]

http://www.england-in-particular.info/p ... se1-4.html

[Muddypause]

Oh, that Stratford.

[Han&Matt]

Is it possible to compile an online petition? Send it to the MP for Stratford/chairman etc? If you write a brief 'this is who we are and what we think' and send it to the local/regional press you may find it makes a mark? I've heard of plenty of 'save our allotment' plights that have been resolved in favour of the environment - though I guess it would require the allotment holders at Stratford to be fighting the cause also...

I hear that allotment lessees can be given compensation of up to £3k if their alootment plot is taken away (I guess there are special circumstances for this). This is a cynical reason for folks renting multiple plots in family names on sites earmarked for development... and a bribe to ease the wheels of the take-over.

It makes me so sad.

[bazil]

dont want to get all conspirational.......but this sort of thing is gonna happen sooner or later......self suffish is bad news for the economy....the economy relies on ppl buying useless stuff to keep it strong....if ppl start making thier own useful stuff the economy would go to bits........possibly

[Martin]

http://www.petitionthem.com/ - set up your own online petition for free!
For a "one off" like the blessed steroid olympics, I cannot see the justification in such enormous building works - if festivals can have 200,000 occupying a few farms for a week, and the cows can return to the land shortly afterwards, why the hell can't we do it for this?
Personally, I object to the blessed thing on all counts - it's got clutter all to do with "sportsmanship" - that died circa 1955 - now it's "win at all costs, use drugs and get away with it if you need to". It will give us weeks of TV that nobody watches, but will ensure that the few watchable programmes are lost to it!

[Wombat]

dont want to get all conspirational.......but this sort of thing is gonna happen sooner or later......self suffish is bad news for the economy....the economy relies on ppl buying useless stuff to keep it strong....if ppl start making thier own useful stuff the economy would go to bits........possibly

you really thinks it's that organised and pre-meditiated?

Nev

[bazil]

dont want to get all conspirational.......but this sort of thing is gonna happen sooner or later......self suffish is bad news for the economy....the economy relies on ppl buying useless stuff to keep it strong....if ppl start making thier own useful stuff the economy would go to bits........possibly

you really thinks it's that organised and pre-meditiated?

Nev

not really in that case but you get the gist of what im saying.....i dont understand the economy very well...but i think it does involve ppl having to buy lots of stuff in stead of making it themselves

[den_the_cat]

its not just the allotments, they're demolishing huge swathes of factories and businesses to make way for the new developments and giving the tenants/owners too little cash to move elsewhere in the area, so jobs are being lost etc etc too.

I'm sure the olympics are good for regeneration and for some parts of the economy but loads of people also loose out by it, and so far all the petitions and legal action I'm aware of have failed miserably.