Olympics December 2007 Update. Large areas of the Lower Lea Valley have now been taken for the Olympics and surrounded by tall blue fences. White Hart Field and small pockets of open space along Waterden Road and Arena Field, together with their trees have disappeared for ever. The skyline is now dominated by cranes rather than trees. Excavations on East Marsh, blue Olympics fence with Clays Lane flats in distance. White Hart Field- home to a fine collection of invertebrates is now lost behind the blue fence. Clays Lane residents have all been moved out and their flats and houses demolished. Clays Lane Travellers are being moved to a site at Major Road in Leyton. To construct their site, the LDA have destroyed the main open space and children s playground in the area. This is not likely to make for good community relations between Travellers and local residents. Some of the Waterden Road Travellers have been moved to Hackney Marshes. The rest are still on site, with major work going on around them. There is talk about some of them being moved to a new site in a couple of months and others remaining at the edge of the Olympics site for many more months. Arena Field is now lost for ever. The Lea Navigation towpath is dominated by blue Olympics fencing. A huge media centre with a multi-storey car park are to be built on Arena Field. The media (nor the Olympics family ) are not expected to use public transport to get to the Games! This huge building and its car park will continue to dominate this part of the Lower Lee Valley after the Olympics - as part of Hackney s legacy. There is talk of recreating a football pitch on what was Arena Field after the Games.
There is also talk of putting this on Mabley Green. The plans for the legacy presented in mid March 2008 do not include reference to this football pitch. The whole of the open space and Common Land of Arena Field looks about to be lost. East Marsh. There is a proposal to use some of East Marsh, specifically the area under the trees along the River Lea to relocate some of the insects and other wildlife whose habitats have been destroyed within the Olympics site. We have to congratulate the LDA for this attempt to ensure that not all the wildlife in the Olympics site is destroyed. HMUG has met with contractors working for the LDA to discuss their proposals. Hopefully this will add to the biodiversity of East Marsh and mean that some of the trees on East Marsh, threatened by proposals for the car and coach park, will be given a reprieve. Yet more drilling on East Marsh, close to River Lea. Allotments. The allotment holders have been moved from their allotments to Marsh Lane where open space has been taken for the allotments. For more information about the allotments and their treatment at the hands of the LDA see www.lifeisland.org It is claimed that the land taken is greater than that for which Waltham Forest gave planning permission. See www.lammaslands.org.uk. Travellers site on the Marshes. A new access road into the depot from the car park as well as the Travellers site have been built. The Travellers moved in early in 2008. Fencing marking out the edge of the new access road into Hackney Marshes Depot.
Trees Destroyed Trees which were destroyed were marked with a red cross. Big cone pine, bird cherries and sweet chestnuts marked up for destruction. The trees lost include wild and bird cherries, sweet chestnut, scots and big cone pine and a large number of evergreen greens which provided shelter and nesting places for birds. One tree- the smaller of the two big cone pines has been moved, and fencing has been placed round a blue cedar near the edge of the site. Three trees which the LDA promised to help Hackney Marsh User Group volunteers to move to safer places were cut down- the contractors claiming they knew of no such commitment.
One of the old buildings which have been demolished, leaving the rats which lived in them searching for new homes. The blue cedar tree at the edge of the site. The boundary was been moved bringing the cedar well inside the construction site Proposals for the Marshes. LBH produced a leaflet and set up a drop in session about their proposals for the Marshes. These focused entirely around the sports facilities. The leaflet failed to mention the wildlife value of the Marshes, its designation as a Site Of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation, the EU designation of the River Lea and immediate hinterland as of the international importance for bird migration and overwintering waterfowl. New Planning applications for Olympics. These mark the formal end of the farce of the Grampian conditions in original (2004) planning permissions which were supposed to ensure that all the environmental conditions were met before any work started. The new applications are huge and extremely difficult to get hold of, read, make sense of and respond to in the time available. HMUG paid 25 for the dvds and did submit a response to one of the applications. For this (and Hackney Council s comments) see Games Monitor website (www.gamesmonitor.org.uk). HMUG repeated objections to previous application about loss of MOS, trees etc, replacement of sports pitches on East Marsh. A major change in these new applications include building of a huge media centre and large multi-storey car park at the northern end of Arena Field- which we will be left with as 'legacy' after the Games. It is hoped that the media centre will ensure that some jobs remain in the Hackney Wick area. The multi-story car park is inappropriate: it will dominate the skyline of what is now Arena Field and have a negative impact on the local landscape. It will also encourage the use of private transport for the Olympics and in the 'legacy'. Impounding the river. The River Lea is being damned, at the southern point of the Prescott Channel. This will enable large boats to access the southern end of the Olympics site and will mean that the river ceases to be tidal. At the moment the river is tidal as far north as Lea
Bridge Road so the water level in the river changes, exposing the banks for wildlife. HMUG are concerned about destroying the tidal nature of the River Lea for the wildlife, as well as changing visual impact. An exhibition at Three Mills failed to deal with HMUG concerns about (a) how rubbish and pollution will be cleared along Hackney stretch of the River if there is no tidal movement and (b) impact for spawning fish and the wildlife such as kingfishers which feed on the fish. There seems to be little information or interest about the impact on the Hackney stretch of the Lea. Instead there are lots of noises supposed to reassure people but they give little sense that these issues have been seriously considered. Olympics Blight. HMUG are making a reord of Olympics blight on and around Hackney Marshes. Please contact us with any examples and photographs. Some examples: 1. Arena Field. The Common Land of Arena Field has now been lost for ever. The plans are to turn open space into a Media Centre with a road along the canal edge and a five storey car park (what Hackney planners call an eyesore!). What a legacy! The stretch by the Lea Navigation was churned up, some fencing removed, lots of red plastic fencing, and the hedge along the fence line hacked out. Where are the house sparrows now nesting? A huge mound of spoil from the tunnel works on what was the Stadium site. Arena Field - tracks of heavy vehicles and hedge hacked out 2. Main Marsh. Contractors doing work on water main came on site with their heavy vehicles when the ground was considered too wet and soft for football. The vehicles churned up the paths, leaving difficult terrain for bikes, buggies and wheelchairs. They left behind some of their fencing still on site weeks later. 3. Main Marsh. A very deep hole appeared on one of the pitches on North Marsh above the tunnels excavated for the underground cables. Now filled in. Footballers playing on pitches over the tunnels now need to look out for more than the ball! Work on underground tunnels for the cables stopped for a month because hazardous materials were encountered. 4. Hackney Marshes. Important nesting sites near Depot are to be destroyed in the middle of the nesting season. Another example of Olympics sustainability! 5. White Hart Field. Now fenced off and part of Olympics building site.
Common Land. In 1894 the Lammas/ Common Land rights to Hackney Marshes were acquired at great cost- for the people of Hackney for their recreational use in perpetuity. This was the result of a long struggle by the people of East London and Hackney Council who are the current caretakers of Hackney Marshes and charged with the duty of preserving them for future generations of East Londoners to enjoy. The whole of Hackney Marshes is registered as Common Land under the Commons Registration Act, 1965 as can be seen on Hackney s Common Land Register. The whole of Hackney Marshes (including the land now under threat) is designated and clearly marked out as such- in Hackney s UDP. Unusual big-cone pine and close up of a cone. The only example of this unusual pine tree in Hackney. One has now been destroyed.
Collection of evergreens now destroyed. Autumn colour of prunus behind.