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Welcome to the November edition of the Save Lea Marshes newsletter! We hope that you are enjoying the last days of Autumn. Trees have remained quite colourful until late this year. Despite the dullest October for decades, November has had some beautiful sunny days. We hope you got out on the marshes this month. The cows are back on Walthamstow Marshes, which is always lovely to see.
There's no other name by which this bulldozer of a Parliamentary Bill should now be known. It has been clear for a long time that Part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill is an absolute disaster for wild habitats and the species that call them home. One of the best explainers of the Bill and its potential impact is this short video from Protect the Wild. The House of Lords introduced some significant amendments to the Bill, two of these would have prevented the most destructive aspects of the legislation. There was also an attempt to sneak an undemocratic retrospective piece of legislation in. Amendment 250 was introduced by Lord Banner and would have removed the public trust over recreational land in circumstances where the land was sold by local councils without public consultation, in breach of the requirements of the Local Government Act 1972. Thankfully, this move was defeated. Unfortunately, when the Bill returned to the House of Commons the Government whipped its MPs to vote against Amendment 130 (40) drafted to protect sensitive habitats and rare species from destruction, and Amendment 94 (38) which would have protected globally rare chalk streams. The Bill now enters its 'ping pong' stage - going back to the House of Lords before returning once more to the House of Commons. It's not too late to show you care about protecting wildlife and stopping a cash-to-trash planning system, it's still possible for you to contact your MP , particularly important is to ask them to support Amendments 130 (40) and 94 (38).
With the Planning and Infrastructure Bill currently going through Parliament, national protections that once safeguarded biodiversity and open green spaces are at risk. Locally, threats to our Metropolitan Open Land are far from over. There are proposals for developing the Thames Water Depot for a secure facility for children and nearby Lammas Road and Rigg Approach for housing, all land within the Lee Valley Park. The Waterworks Centre remains closed to the public and still at risk of possible future development.
In 2017, Save Lea Marshes launched a CrowdJustice campaign to stop the LVRPA selling off the Waterworks Centre and surrounding land for tall blocks of flats. Appointing a solicitor and raising money so quickly enabled us to demonstrate to Waltham Forest Council that we would fight any attempts by the LVRPA to take away our precious open green space. The Council did not change the land designation to facilitate the development, and we think that was a direct result of quick action, so thank you to everyone who donated back then.
As there is a limit to the length of time we can keep a campaign page open, we’ve created a new CrowdJustice page led by Celia Coram and transferred all remaining funds to this page. It enables us to keep working with our solicitors and be ready to respond with a legal challenge when precious Metropolitan Open Land in the Lee Valley Park comes under threat again. We welcome new donations to continue the fight.
Leyton Orient has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Waltham Forest Council to rehome their new stadium somewhere within the borough. This is a concerning move. Other football clubs, such as Spurs, have been enabled to take over previously public green space for their exclusive private use and profit, most recently at Whitewebbs Park (thankfully this is subject to a well-backed legal challenge). If the current stadium is redeveloped for housing as planned, this is likely to mean another set of high-rise towers on the east side of the marshes. We explore this further in our latest blog.
On our Christmas list is Contested Commons by Katrina Navickas. Described as 'a gripping overview of increasingly restrictive policing and legislation against protest in public spaces', it tells the long history of contests over Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, Cable Street and Kinder Scout, as well as sites in towns and rural areas across the country. Navickas reveals how protesters claimed these spaces as their own commons, resisting their continuing enclosure and exclusion by social and political elites. It's available at our favourite Pages of Hackney for £20.
That's all folks! We may or may not have a festive edition of the newsletter, depending on whether there are any 'Christmas crackers' - planning applications lodged over the Christmas holidays - submitted just in time to coincide with people's winter break. If there are, we'll make sure we take time off tucking into our nut roasts to let you know!
Caroline, Julian, Celia, Peter and everyone at Save Lea Marshes