Scheduled Allotment Destruction by Olympics

[Chickpea]

The Manor Gardens allotment site in London is due to be demolished in a few weeks' time to make way for a footpath serving the London Olympics site. The footpath will exist for only 4 weeks. The allotments have been there for 100 years.

I'm proud that Britain will be hosting the Olympics in 2012. I'm looking forward to it and I hope it will be a great success. It's an opportunity to show the world what is great about Britain. Not an excuse to demolish some of the great things about it. I'd like to see the footpath go around the allotments, with big banners put up saying:

"LOOK AT THIS! BRITISH PEOPLE LOVE TO GARDEN! WE FORM SMALL COMMUNITIES WHICH HELP EACH OTHER! THIS IS WHO WE ARE! WE'RE PROUD OF THIS!"

If any ishers feel strongly about this, as I do, please, take a few seconds and sign this petition:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/manorgardens/

I'm reproducing this in a few relevant, targeted places because I think it's important, so apologies if you see it around and about. On the other hand if you know any other groups who would be interested, or have your own blog or website, and you want to publicise the issue and the petition yourself, that would be great.

Also I'd be thrilled if this was put on the Ssish front page, as the Lower Shaw Farm capaign was, or if this thread was made sticky or something.

[Millymollymandy]

I've made it a sticky although I think you can do that yourself when you post something new.

I don't touch the main website though!

Anyway I'll go and sign the petition because I think it is atrocious.

[Millymollymandy]

Bum, I can't cos I'm not resident!

[Martin]

absolute disgrace! I'm of the "who wants an eco-disaster celebration of steroids fest?" persuasion!

[the.fee.fairy]

I started a petition about this a while ago...
look for stratford allotments

[Boots]

I'd support it too Chickpea, if I could. You know, I think it is high time someone set up an international petition site, that governments and committees all over the world could opt in to - for matters of an international nature. After all - we do share the planet.

I'm of the "who wants an eco-disaster celebration of steroids fest?" persuasion!

Well, of course you are Martin. I spose you missed the fact that Olympians are drug tested while you were smoking your happy weed, saluting the sun and floating about through tee pees in search of weird tea and people who appreciate wind.

[Martin]

I think you'll find that MOST sports these days are marred by steroid use - it's taken as "a given" that you can't reach the pinnacle of some sports without them! It now appears to be a battle between two lots of chemists - those who can dope people up, and then get it cleared out of the bloodstream before the checks, and those who try to thwart them!
I would also question use of the word "sport" - to me that means "recreation" - something that amateurs do for FUN, and with the utmost sportsmanship - which appears sadly lacking in "sport" these days!
Sorry, never could see the point in the whole sorry charade - TV will, of course, pay slavish devotion to it, the few programmes that I watch will get submerged in interminable "overruns" of blessed olympics
Mind you, there may be hope for me yet as a competitor - with the oddest of pastimes being accepted as "sports", it's only a matter of time before they come up with "curmudgeoning"

[farmerdrea]

OOoooo! I read this one out to the family this AM (as we had been watching a DVD of The Good Life yesterday - Talking to Trees to be specific, so the concept of an allotment was fresh in the minds of our children, who chimed in to the conversation)... boy did I start something! Didn't realise how het up my DH was about the Olympics, which (and I agree with him) have got so out of hand with regard to the $ involved, so it seems to be more about potential revenue and less about "goodwill" and sportsmanlike competition anymore.

Anyway, I think it's horrible that "they" would even consider demolishing that allotment. At the very least it should be incorporated as a feature of a long-standing British tradition if they must make a footpath through/near the area...

I do hope they just leave it alone.

Good luck to you in getting it stopped!
Andrea
NZ

[Chickpea]

Somebody suggested to me that the s-called "vital footpath" necessitating the demolition of the allotment may all be a ruse, so the council can sell off the land to developers once the Olympics are all over. Now that's sneaky. My brain just isn't cynical enough to think up things like that.

Somebody else said that nobody pays any attention to online petitions, so I looked up some other ways to protest about this.

Tessa Jowell is Minister For The Olympics. Her contact details are:

House of Commons Phone number: 020 7219 3409
House of Commons Fax number: 020 7219 2702
Constituency Phone number: 020 8333 1372
Constituency Fax number: 020 8333 1372

Constituency
Dulwich and West Norwood Labour Party
264 Rosendale Rd SE24 9DL

You can email the Department for Culture Media & Sport at:
enquiries@culture.gov.uk

Or leave a comment on this webpage:
http://www.culture.gov.uk/global/ContactUs/

[pskipper]

I've signed!

[red]

- with the oddest of pastimes being accepted as "sports", it's only a matter of time before they come up with "curmudgeoning"

well yes.... whats that dancing about with a ribbon thing? and synchronised swimming for goodness sake... but like you say perhaps now its more the sport of 'getting away with drug taking'

and yes I suspect the land will not be returned to allotments.. by some mad chance......

grumble grumble

[pskipper]

It's worth checking what the status of the land is, providing they are not temporary allotments the council is obliged to provide replacement land.

[Martin]

and then there's always the "political" angle.............ever since the 1930's, when Hitler used it as a platform for Nazism, the Olympics have been used in many ways for political ends - it is an obvious soft and easy target for anyone with " terrorism" on their minds - it'll be yet another excuse to tighten our shackles!

[gunners71uk]

meeeeeeeeeeeeeee signed tooooooooooooo

[quercusrobur]

Heres a copy of a post I've just put around sme of the Permaculture lists;

Good news for the Manor park allotments campaign;
"Wednesday evening brought bad news for the London Development Agency
who’s bid to acquire land related to the Olympics was turned down by
planners at Waltham Forest Town Hall. The LDA was applying for planning
permission for allotments on Marsh Lane Fields where they want to
relocate the existing Manor Gardens allotments, currently located within
the proposed Olympic Park."

Full story here;
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/02/361776.html

However as the article says its not over yet, with the LDA very likely
to appeal against the decision...

Sign the petition here to save Manor Gardens allotments from Olympic
'development'.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/manorgardens/