[Community_garden] 100 Year old Community Garden to be bulldozed and paved over for Olympics

[Sharon Gordon]

News from allotments (community gardens) lists in the UK:  (3 separate
posts)
****************************************
Details from petition creator
100 year old Manor Garden Allotments lies in the middle of the Olympic Park
site. These beautiful, productive vegetable gardens are due to be demolished
to make way for a four-week footpath during the 2012 Games despite the land
being given in perpetuity. A campaign is underway to protect the allotments
and encourage a more imaginative Olympic development which includes this
special place with its healthy, green lifestyles  and vibrant community.


*************************************************
From:  "M Talbot" <mtalbot at onetel.com>
13 Jan 2007 10:37:53 -0000

Hi all,

Forgive me for introducing this slightly off topic item but I would like to
ask for your help. As part of the London Olympics, Manor Gardens Allotments
will be bulldozed and concreted over to make room for a path.

We, my allotment colleagues, think this is not only heartless, because it
would destroy a long established community, it's also an opportunity missed.


For a fraction of the money, the allotments could be enhanced, new fencing,
paths, sheds, a little help with maintenance, to become a showpiece for
overseas visitors. This could demonstrate the UK's commitment to supporting
local growing of veg, fruit and flowers, giving fresh air and exercise to
the (mostly) retired and fostering community spirit.

A petition to the Prime Minister has been set up on the Internet,
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/manorgardens/ . We are asking everyone who
supports this idea to sign it. Would you, please? And/or email the Mayor of
London at mayor at london.gov.uk .

Regards,
Maren

****************************************************
From: "Allotments 4 All" <notify at allotments4all.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2007 15:47:27 +0000

This issue has been brought to my attention, and I thought we as a community
should offer our support.

Extracts from the press release:

Quote
David Mackay, Author of the original Stratford City plan and lead Architect
for the Barcelona Olympic Village and Port - flagged up as the most
successful Olympics for regeneration recently - wrote, 'Unfortunately London
has lost this opportunity by deciding to agree to cover the existing
recreation facilities with the silliest architecture seen for years with no
real concern for a legacy. So far as Legacy is concerned we are being asked
to look at the Emperor's New Clothes - so delicate that nobody can see them.
If carried out, and with only five years to go, the Olympic legacy is more
likely to be like a Hollywood set for a ghost town or an abandoned Expo
site.'

The eviction date is set to be 2nd April at the latest.

Manor Gardens, bequeathed to be allotments 'in perpetuity' by their original
owner the 'Right Hon' Major Villiers, sit in the North central section of
the Olympic Park. The LDA plan to remove them to make a footpath to the
stadia and now to house a screen, destroying in the process a century of
devoted cultivation and a close-knit community rooted in this irreplaceable
site. Old timers, Tom and Albert, have been growing veg and keeping fit here
for 54 and 58 years respectively, taking over from their fathers. 10 year
old Boris, whose parents are members, nags them to come to the plot and
wants to hand his plot down to his son. Members trust in the permanence of
the site led one plot holder to scatter his brother's ashes on his plot.

However this diverse community of Turks Cypriots, Greeks, Jamaicans,
Africans and Brits welcome 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 them to be entirely consistent with
the Olympic and Government ambitions. They believe to remove the allotment
gardens would be to rip out the 'healthy heart' of the Olympic Park area as
well as to fragment the community.

Even if the Manor Gardening community could be protected by relocation there
is growing opposition from people local to the relocation site on Marsh Lane
fields. If planning permission is granted it would only be for seven years
after which the Society may be moved again. Yet it would take at least
twenty years, plus the right conditions, to re-establish our current food
production levels and to create a similarly viable community.

As plot holder Armagan and her friend Cavide said, 'We could make the London
Olympics different from all other Olympics. Having the allotments in the
Olympic Park and preserving them for the Legacy Park would send out the
message world wide that the UK really does care after all.'

But do the LDA and the Mayor care about local grown initiatives even when
they are successful examples, like Manor Garden Allotments, of the
Governments own strategies such as the London Food and the Biodiversity
Strategies?

Writer and supporter of the campaign to incorporate the allotments, Iain
Sinclair says, 'We don't want it (the Olympic Park) imagining for us. We
don't want it over-imagined. We want to imagine it for ourselves. Please
preserve the soul of the place as represented by the beautiful Manor Garden
Allotments.

A petition has been set up, which I hope you will take the time to sign,

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Incorporate rather than
demolish Manor Garden Allotments within the 2012 Olympic site.

Thanks for reading.

Dan

To unsubscribe from these announcements, login to the forum and uncheck
"Receive forum announcements and important notifications by email." in your
profile.

You can view the full announcement by following this link:


http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,91/topic,27048.0

Regards,
The Allotments 4 All Team.