Environmental Plight of Leyton Marsh: URGENT

Posted on 23 May 2012 by Caroline Day

Dear Cllr Chris Robbins, Leader of Waltham Forest Council,

In your email dated 27 April below, nearly a month ago, you invited me to contact you again if necessary.
Cllr Robbins, there are now three URGENT reasons why it is necessary to contact you again, and this time I am writing on behalf not only myself but also of the SAVE LEYTON MARSH campaign.

The three reasons are, in order of urgency:
1. Three dogs belonging to Leyton Marsh users have become ill within the last few days, after having drank from puddles on the Marsh, and one dog has been confirmed as suffering from chemical poisoning. Please contact the Waltham Forest representative on Lee Valley Regional Park, Cllr Bob Sullivan, as we have heard that LVRPA are taking this very seriously and have sent inspectors in.

2. Contaminated mounds. In spite of the statement in your email below to me that “The stripped soil is to be exported with documentation giving a written description of the waste”  the mounds of contaminated rubble on the southern side of the site have been there for nearly two months and have still not been removed off site by the contractors. (Please look closely at photos 1 and 4.) It’s become obvious that the rubble stockpile is not properly maintained to prevent contaminant run-off onto the surrounding area. The covering placed on the mounds is inadequate and frequently gets blown off in the wind, leaving the rain to lash onto the rubble, washing it and its contaminants down onto the surface of the Marsh. The mounds are larger than the meagre sheets underneath them and so the Marsh is unprotected from this leeching of contaminants.Neither is there a raised bund to retain water that runs through/off the pile. There are no other drainage channels and the rainwater is gathering in the ruts caused by the heavy lorries and plant and there are appaling conditions on the building site. (See photos 2 and 3.)
All this we believe contravenes the following ODA COCP Recommended Practice which should be in the construction contractor’s Method Statement:

“Control of earthworks
7.3.4 A certification scheme shall be operated for the control of any treated or acceptable excavated materials. Where excavated materials cannot be taken to the place of deposition immediately
materials shall be stored in intermediate stockpiles prior to placement at the receptor site (CZ). Each stockpile will be clearly demarcated, and will be protected so that the materials can not
become re-contaminated i.e. they will be placed on hardstanding and covered. Stockpiles will also be constructed in such a way as to prevent the possibility of the materials contaminating the surrounding area.
7.3.5 Potential pollution concerns through increased infiltration within open excavation areas will be assessed, and given due regard. Particular care will be undertaken when areas of soluble
contaminants have been identified and these areas will be addressed to ensure that contaminants are not mobilised and impact receptors.”

3. Presence of asbestos proven. What is equally worrying is that you Cllr Robbins have clearly not been updated by the Head of your Environmental Services, regarding the toxic content of the mounds. In your email of 27th April below you informed both me and Stella Creasey MP, that “no asbestos was identified.  In addition, the asbestos screening tests carried out on cement sheeting found in borehole 1 did not identify the presence of asbestos”. On 18th April however the 4-Rail Services had already reported to NUSSLI the contractors that chrysotile asbestos has been found as follows:

Results of Asbestos Identification Lea Bridge Road, E10 7QL
Report no : 4RS-JB-R190312-Rev02
Client’s reference number(s) : –
4-RAIL Services (4RS) reference number(s) : 111514/160312/01 – 111514/160312/03
Date sample(s) received : 16th March 2012
Date(s) of examination(s) : 19th march 2012
Issue date : 18th April 2012
Test Method
Samples were examined in accordance with the methods described in the HSE Document HSG 248 Asbestos: The analysts’ guide for sampling, analysis and clearance procedures and in-house test procedure 4R-E220. The results relate only to the items submitted for testing. Where samples have been taken by others, 4-RAIL Services do not accept any responsibility for the sampling.
4RS Sample No Client’s
Sample             No   Sample                                              Description                                        Asbestos Type(s) Detected
111514/160312/01 – Cement sheet debris fragment (<1m²), within excavated spoil / rubble heap. Figure 1. Chrysotile
111514/160312/02 – Cement sheet debris fragment (<1m²), within excavated spoil /rubble heap. Figure 2. Chrysotile
111514/160312/03 – Cement sheet debris fragment (<1m²), within excavated spoil /rubble heap. Chrysotile
Samples examined will be retained by 4-RAIL Services for a period of 6 months, unless otherwise specified by the
Client.
Analysed by :………………………. Mr. C. Isgrove, Laboratory Manager
Certified by

This 4-Rail Services report advises that the contractors should provide protective gear including masks for the workers who should then “handpick” the pieces of asbestos out. The photos in the report points to lumps as large as house-bricks that need to be removed in this way. In the meantime the dust from this and any other activity relating to the mounds, goes into the air – only a metre away from the perimeter fence, the other side of which are unsuspecting users of the Marsh. And there is no warning to the public. Has this report been made available to you?

Having considered all of this the SAVE LEYTON MARSH campaign demands that:

  • the Council’s Environmental Officers commence an immediate investigation with Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, and other agencies including animal welfare bodies to identify, analyse and examine any toxicity of the standing water and mud around the inside the construction site, round the perimeter fence, along the length of Sandy Lane and areas where the grass is degraded.

 

  • Waltham Forest Council requires the contractors to safely remove the mounds of rubble from the southern side off the site, away from Leyton Marsh and any other land used by people or animals BY THE END OF THIS WEEK.

 

  • the contractors are required by Waltham Forest Council to improve and restore the surface of the land across the building site and surrounds and keep it free from ruts where rainwater can gather, and to solve the drainage problems of the rainwater run-off during this construction period and later during demolition.

It angers and disturbs SAVE LEYTON MARSH campaign supporters that there is currently no channel of communication whereby we, as users of the Marsh and speaking for local people living nearby, could ever have been informed of the impacts of this volatility in the hazards let alone the management of them, just as there is no forum at present in which you or your officers can be informed by us of incidents such as the dogs becoming ill.

Campaign supporters have had to undertake detailed document research in order to find out these facts. This should not have been necessary: the local councillors of Waltham Forest Council, once alerted, should have been demanding that the land of Leyton Marsh is properly protected, they should be finding out what the contractual and legal requirements are, and helping us to monitor them. Campaign supporters have attended councillor surgeries week after week to try to get these messages across, we have attended the Ward Community Forum, others have sent emails including to you too. Invitations have been extended and yet some Waltham Forest Lea Bridge Councillors still refuse to come and see for themselves what is happening IN THEIR OWN WARD. Have you been there yet?

We are already making demands, in the context of the plans for the Reinstatement Plan, for robust consultation to take place. The latest happenings in terms of the conditions of the environment NOW during the construction phase, underline the urgent need for that consultation. We demand to have immediate contact with THE PERSON WHO IS IN DAY-TO-DAY CONTROL ON THE BUILDING SITE. The hotline number given by the ODA is not monitored by them and people’s queries are not picked up. The benefit of direct contact for the contractor is that they will find out in advance when things are going wrong, and be able to avoid things getting worse.

Cllr Robbins, I began by stating the urgency of what has happened, particularly regarding the dogs who have suffered painful conditions – local people are frantic with worry about where they can now safely allow their dogs to exercise, their children to play. I will end by emphasising the criticality of what is happening now to the long term future of Leyton Marsh. What’s happening to the Marsh now can cause lasting damage, the Reinstatement Plan could be scuppered because of any delay in dealing now with the contaminated rubble.

We are expecting to see a speedy response to these serious points.
We would like to meet with you this week to discuss them, preferably at Leyton Marsh. Please let us know when you are available.

Regards,

Claire Weiss

Campaigning and lobbying link person
SAVE LEYTON MARSH

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Open Letter ‘Enough is Enough’ on Leyton Marsh!

Posted on 21 May 2012 by Caroline Day

21st May 2012

Dear [Chief Executive/Leader/Project Manager/Councillor/Member etc of]

[Olympic Delivery Authority]

[London 2012]

[ARUP]

[NUSSLI]

[Lee Valley Regional Park Authority]

[Waltham Forest Council]

[Environment Agency]

[Health and Safety Executive]

[British Waterways]

[Greater London Authority]

 RE: CONTINUED ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS AT LEYTON MARSH

An open letter, from the Save Leyton Marsh campaign, to you as the named authority with responsibilities as mentioned.

This letter is also copied to the local and national press, community, health and animal welfare organisations near to Leyton Marsh.

Respectfully,

SAVE LEYTON MARSH GROUP

SAVE LEYTON MARSH CAMPAIGN SAYS

 “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”

A dog who drank water on 18th May from a puddle at Leyton Marsh, next to the Olympic GTTV Basketball construction site, has fallen ill and a vet has diagnosed the animal as suffering from ‘chemical poisoning’. This appalling incident, the cause of which is not yet known, only adds to the fears of local people about Leyton Marsh, the now dreadfully damaged open access green space. Following the leasing of the land by the Lee Valley Regional Park to the Olympic Delivery Authority, and Waltham Forest Council’s highly unpopular and environmentally-nonsensical decision to permit a three-storey-high building to be constructed and then demolished on it, costly and unplanned special measures are now being sought to repair the damage and enable the land to be “reinstated” by 15th October.

Residents and Marsh users, through the Save Leyton Marsh campaign, have already complained about the following extremely alarming hazards and mismanagement episodes during the construction period:

On 14th March an unexploded World War 2 bomb found by workers during the excavation works was removed from the site, with no warnings made to people on the Marsh or local residents to stay clear. Workers remain on alert in case further unexploded ordnance is discovered.

On 18th April the building contractors were told to mask up and ‘hand-pick’ the chrysotile asbestos excavated on the site, so that the asbestos dust can blow away into the ‘ambient atmosphere’. There was and is no warning about this ongoing occurrence to people around the Marsh, who include babies in prams, joggers exercising vigorously, elderly people, local residents, dog-walkers and those in boats on the River Lea.

Contractors continue to drive lorries and plant onto the Marsh, via the unmade-up Sandy Lane that remains in use by pedestrians, dogs and horses. The safety management of the enforced sharing of the space is perilously lacking: there are no signs warning people of oncoming vehicles and the works to Sandy Lane itself involve the use of a mechanical digger whose bucket and claw swing out freely while families, joggers and ramblers have to look out for their own safety. This situation would not be tolerated on the public highway.

Waltham Forest Council says that the only people needing to be protected from these dangers are the future basketball player users of the finished buildings, and Council officers refuse to accept responsibility for the current health and safety of local people in the meantime.

The Save Leyton Marsh campaign says ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. The contractors must be forced to cease work and the authorities responsible must negotiate with local residents and Marsh users an agreed protocol of environmental, health and safety protection and management.

Before anything worse happens to people or animals and before further damage is done to the Marsh, the Save Leyton Marsh campaign is challenging the following bodies to act together to protect local people, animals and wildlife, and the Marsh environment:

Olympic Delivery Authority, London 2012, their developers and contractors ARUP and NUSSLI

Lee Valley Regional Park Authority

Waltham Forest Council

Environment Agency

Health and Safety Executive

British Waterways

Greater London Authority

WE ASK EACH AUTHORITY, COUNCIL, COMPANY, AGENCY:

WHAT ARE YOU DOING JOINTLY TO ADDRESS AND AVOID HAZARDS, PREVENT FURTHER DAMAGE AND REINSTATE THE LAND TO ITS FORMER CHARACTER?

This open letter has been sent also to urgently inform organisations neighbouring Leyton Marsh, including the Riverside Nursery, the Lee Valley Riding Stables, the Lee Valley Ice Centre and the Springfield Rowing Club, local vets and health organisations. Hackney Borough Council, the RSPCA, the Police Safer Neighbourhood Team, the Olympic Community Relations Police Team, local and national press will also receive copies.

(Disclaimer: Save Leyton Marsh in no way infers or implies that the chemical poisoning of the dog was caused by any actions of the authorities, companies or councils mentioned in this letter).

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IMPORTANT MEETING THIS WEDNESDAY!

Posted on 20 May 2012 by Caroline Day

This photograph was taken on 20th May. It clearly demonstrates that piles of exposed rubble remain on Leyton Marsh. On 15th May Mark Sorrel dismissed criticism of the spoil mounds by claiming they were all covered with plastic tarpaulin. This photo tells a different story.

There is a Marsh Users Forum Meeting on Wednesday 23rd May 6:30pm at the Lea Valley Ice Rink.

This is an open meeting co-ordinated by the LVRPA to discuss their plans for the £65k to ‘improve’ Leyton and Walthamstow Marshes.

Add your voice to demand that Leyton Marsh is properly restored and to preserving the marshes as open, green spaces as a haven for people and wildlife for posterity.

We will be demanding a legally binding document committing both the LVRPA and the ODA to the full restoration they have repeatedly promised. The state of Leyton Marsh presently is still completely unacceptable; there is considerable evidence it is also hazardous to health and guaranteed safeguards regarding the nature of works are not being adhered to.

Despite already creating ‘narrow paths’ (?!) through the Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation (SMINC), they clearly aren’t wide enough for the truck drivers who continue cutting the corner, eroding the precious plants even further…

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Lobby Your Representatives In Waltham Forest and Hackney re Leyton Marsh

Posted on 19 May 2012 by Caroline Day

Please lobby your local Hackney and Waltham Forest councillors and MPs to take action over Leyton Marsh.

This is an example letter from a local resident which outlines the lack of concern demonstrated over serious issues relating to the marsh by the very WF councillors who voted for the ‘development’:

Dear Councillor Ahmed

I wanted to take this opportunity to put in writing some of the points we raised during our discussion at your surgery this morning.  I do hope this will help.

1.  Ms Murray and I expressed our disappointment at the lack of councillor support for the Save Leyton Marsh Campaign.  As we explained the destruction of this valuable green space will have a direct adverse affect on your constituents and the failure of our elected representatives to even acquaint themselves with the basic facts of the case is the source of much concern and dissatisfaction. By continuing to ignore the situation you appear to be demonstrating a worrying degree of apathy to the welfare of local residents?
2.  The on-going work in the area around the basketball development provides a considerable risk to those using the field, not only from the materials uncovered by the digging – including asbestos – but also from the heavy goods vehicles being used to transport material to and from the site.  There appears to be no clear strategy to deal with these risks while what remains of the field is still open to the public.
3.  You told us that it has been some considerable time since you visited the area in question, so you have no direct understanding of the scale of the work or what is involved.  We urged you and your fellow councillors to remedy this situation, but visiting the area as soon as possible.  How can you begin to understand our concerns if you have not seen the scale of the devastation being inflicted on this once open, green space?
4.  We explained that our concerns also included the future of the field and asked you to get in touch with the LVRPA and the ODA and ask them for their unambiguous commitment to returning the area to open green space by 15th October (as stated in the original plans submitted to LBWF Planning Committee).  The failure of the LVRPA to give us this assurance in writing fuels suspicion that their plans for the area may include development linked to the Ice Rink or sale of the land for development.
5.  We provided you information of two meetings taking place this week – Monday 21st May and Wednesday 23rd May, but you told us that you had prior commitments on each of those days.  We then requested that you inform your fellow councillors and acquaint them with our concerns, passing on our request that at least one of you find space in your diaries to attend at least one of these meetings.   I would email your fellow councillors directly, but they have shown a distinct reluctance even to acknowledge emails from anyone involved in this campaign.  Perhaps you will have more success in persuading them to engage with this issue.

Finally could I raise the question of the attempt by Save Leyton Marsh group to hire a room at Lea Bridge Library.  As you know (from the Community Forum Meeting last month) this request was denied without any adequate explanation.  Despite assurances given by Councillor Akram at the meeting, we are still awaiting a response to the enquiries he promised to make on our behalf.  This delay is far from satisfactory and only serves to strengthen the view that our elected representatives just do not care what happens to this valuable community resource.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Maggie Cowan

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Waltham Forest Council: Answers to FOI Request

Posted on 18 May 2012 by Caroline Day

Warning: the following communication from Waltham Forest Council contains circular arguments, contradictions and outright untruths. Not suitable for consumption by persons suffering from high blood pressure.

Freedom of Information Request: Leyton Marshes ODA Basketball

Thank you for your request for information received by the Council on 20th April 2012.  In your request, you asked the following questions which have been answered below as follows:

1. Please provide, in detail, the restoration plans to put the site back to its state before it was built on. Please include steps on how wildlife will be introduced back into the area. How will this area also be maintained to ensure its back to how it was after the building work has been taken down?

Answer: Condition 1 attached to the planning consent requires a “scheme of reinstatement works detailing the size, species, location, phasing and timing of replacement planting that shall be submitted to and approved by the local planning authority prior to its implementation, and thereafter fully implemented in accordance with the said details.” The Local Planning Authority has not yet received the scheme of reinstatement.

2. What other land in the area was considered for this building work, apart from Leyton Marshes?

Answer: This information is not held by the Council beyond that set out in the Report at sections 8.16 to 8.22. The Council understands you to have a copy of the Report; if not, it is available on the Council’s website.

3. Why hasn’t London Borough of Waltham Forest withdrawn planning permission when the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) broke the law by excavating 35cm deeper on Leyton Marsh than the planning conditions allow?

Answer: On 5th April 2012 an application with the following description was approved (ref:2012/0359):  Non-material amendment to planning permission 2011/1560 – Excavation of 2,100 of material (equivalent of a 30cm depth across the excavation area) across the suite to provide a stable sub-base, with an excavation depth ranging from 15cm -60cm.  

The Council makes no comment on the premise to this question.  

4. Please provide documentation showing that the Leyton Urban District Council Act 1904 “that the marsh would be kept as an open space” has been superseded.

 Answer: The Council assumes that this request seeks information as to repeal of the Act.  If this is not the case you are invited to clarify your request.  The Council holds no such documentation which is not otherwise publicly available.  The Council understands that (so far as relevant to the other requests) sections 138, 139, 142, 144, 145 and 150 of the Act remain in force.

5. RE: 2011/1560 Agenda item 41: “whilst there are grounds to withhold consent with regards to a number of these policies, the exceptional circumstance has been considered as a material consideration in a finely balanced decision.” What is the ‘exceptional circumstance’ that allowed planning permission of this site to go through?

Answer: The Report (from which this quote) is drawn sets out the factors and circumstances before the Planning Committee when it made its decision. (N.B. This is a grammatically nonsensical and circular answer)

6. How is the community benefiting from this?

Answer:  The factors, including community benefits, considered by the Committee in making its decision are set out in the report.(N.B. There are none).

7. Given the history of Leyton Marshes, particularly of it previously being used a rubble site after the Second World War, why wasn’t a thorough EIA inspection carried out on the area?

A: The Local Planning Authority received an application for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) screening opinion on 26th October 2011, relating to development involving the construction of a temporary basketball training venue.  Based on the information submitted at the time it was decided that the development does not constitute EIA development. It was considered that issues regarding ecology and contaminated land could be dealt with at the planning application stage if necessary. 

8. What is the council’s response to asbestos being unearthed and an unexploded bomb being found on the land?

Answer: The Council takes this as being a request for details of the steps the Council has taken in response to the discovery of the asbestos and unexploded ordnance.  If this is not the case, you are invited to clarify the request.

Initial site testing, including the Ground Investigation Report by RSA Geotechnics Ltd (Jan 2012) had not indicated the presence of asbestos. A copy of this report is attached for your information.

In the sampling of two small soil stockpiles following deeper excavations, a total of 26 samples were taken. During this process numerous small fragments of asbestos cement sheet were noted. The stockpiles comprise predominantly granular soils with fragments of ash, clinker, rusted metal, brick, concrete and other inclusions.

13 samples were tested for, among other things, distributed asbestos fibres (to assess the feasibility of hand-picking of asbestos fragments to reduce the categorization of the material for disposal and re-use).

The result of the sampling and analysis is that the health risks to workers, engaged in working on and adjacent to the stockpiles, is negligible and that the risks to those off-site are too low as to be possible to calculate. The existing asbestos is expected to be managed according to the following broad process:

  Provisionally, to hand pick sufficient of the asbestos cement fragments and separately bag and dispose of it, such that the stockpile material becomes suitable for non-hazardous waste disposal or retention and re-use on site as appropriate. (N.B. No explanation of how the asbestos is identified).

  To tarpaulin sheet the stockpiles to be retained on site, in order to generally minimize any potential for neighbour nuisance through dust formation and wind-blown material arising. (N.B. Rubble piles were left without any covering for over 4 weeks).

  To dispose of some of the material off-site as appropriate. (N.B. Listen to Mark Sorrel on the recording of the meeting as he says that no material can be removed until tests on the soil have come back – work began on 1st March and results have still not been obtained on the contaminated soil on site).

  To instruct the project managers and site contractors to overcheck the works
method statement

  To re-use retained material, and to cover that material with topsoil and to
subsequently seed or turf that topsoil so that grass re-growth forms part of the
restoration works for the site. When the site is restored in accordance with the
Planning Permission, such that there is no visual change to the site, the site will be subject to final certification vis-à-vis the minor remediation discussed above.
In general, the marshes in this area remain relatively undisturbed so there will be a limited amount of exposure to the soil by users.

Unexploded ordnance has been found on development sites across London for many years and is an unfortunate fact of the city’s history. Procedures for such instances are well established and before work commenced the required surveys were undertaken and detected the presence of metal underground. As a result, a specialist consultant monitored the excavations and when the unexploded device was discovered, work on site was stopped and the device was disposed of in the prescribed manner under police supervision with no danger to local residents or users of the Marsh. (N.B. No marsh users or residents were evacuated when the workers were). A non-intrusive survey was undertaken prior to commencement of works, as is standard practice, and the report is attached for information.

9. What is the council’s response to the ODA breaking planning permission, and the law by digging further than they were permitted?

See the response to question 3 above. I trust that the above satisfies your enquiry.

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BAD ODA: Rotten Boroughs in Private Eye, May 15, 2012

Posted on 18 May 2012 by SLMAdmin

Thanks to Private Eye
 

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ODA Meeting: Why So Scared To Have Your Statements Be A Matter of Public Record?

Posted on 15 May 2012 by Caroline Day

FULL UNEDITED SOUND RECORDING OF THE MEETING

On Tuesday night there was a meeting of the ODA, LVRPA and local residents at a small nursery on Riverside Close, Hackney to discuss the ‘reinstatement works’ for the marsh.

To attend the meeting, residents were told they must submit their names, addresses and contact details to the ODA. However after most people had already done so, the ODA then said people could attend the session without doing so (they still tried to take peoples names on entry).

Shortly after the drop-in session began, Caroline tried to record the meeting with a sound recorder. She was told that she needed to give her name and could not record the meeting. However, residents and Save Leyton Marsh group put up a united front and demanded that anything that was said on an individual basis should be said to the whole group and be a matter of public record.

The ODA did not know how to respond. They took ten minutes to liaise privately and decide whether to be recorded. In the end, they came back into the meeting and said there would be a statements from the ODA spokespeople until 7.30pm and then the meeting would resume for individual discussions. The meeting unanimously refused saying everything that was said should be said publicly and with accountability so there should be an open public meeting for the whole session. Some of the ODA refused to give their names until Barry Buitekant and Ian Rathbone challenged this; they said they were councillors acting for the public and anyone acting in this capacity should provide their names.

The LVRPA refused to answer any questions after it was agreed the meeting could be recorded. Residents were absolutely outraged. What does this body have to hide?

There was a lengthy discussion with Mark Sorrell, who claimed that the group has harrassed him, evidencing the postings on Facebook which had been added by Mark Walsh who had later identified himself as a PC and had added a series of fake aliases to the site in order to get information.

Residents were not satisfied with the inadequate answers given to a series of questions related to both reinstatement and to the way the facility gained planning permission and was constructed.

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Beating the Bounds

Posted on 13 May 2012 by Caroline Day

[slideshow]

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Beating the Bounds 2012

Posted on 11 May 2012 by Charlie Charman

Beating the Bounds 2012
Walks around the Lea Valley Marshes

Sunday 13th May 2012

Once each year, sometimes on a legally designated or customary date, people still
walk around local areas of land to re-establish rights of common or mark significant
boundaries, such as of a Parish, Manor or an area of Common Land or public open
space. This often takes place during Rogationtide, in springtime, when prayers were
once offered asking for the fertility of the land. Willow sticks decorated with flowers
and ribbons are traditionally carried and important boundary markers hit with them.
Younger children are turned upside-down to have their heads bumped three times at
significant points ‘to imprint the location on their minds!’ – boys might also be hung
over bridges, and girls were “pricked” with pins. This year Rogation Sunday falls on
the 13th May and there are three Beating the Bounds walks to choose from!

Beating the Bounds of St. Saviour’s and St. Barnabas Parish in the Parish of Walthamstow. This is an Anglican procession setting off from St. Saviour’s Church in Markhouse Road, E17 at approximately 10.45am after Mass. It is a religious occasion and those participating might wish to attend Sunday Mass at 9.00am beforehand. The walk will end at approximately 3.45pm. Quite a long walk, not suitable for wheelchair users.

Beating the Bounds of Leyton Marshes in the Parish of Leyton.
This perambulation will follow the route of the Community Procession, revived about
17 years ago, around the former Lammas Lands of Leyton Marshes. Meet from 1.30pm at the Lee Valley Ice Centre car-park on Lea Bridge Road beside the bridge. Setting off at 2.00pm. About 4 miles, not suitable for wheelchair users, ending at the Hare & Hounds pub, Lea Bridge Road, approximately 4.30pm.

Beating the Bounds of Walthamstow Marshes.
This walk is organised by the New Lammas Lands Defence Committee and will be led by John Gilbert of the Walthamstow Historical Association. Meet from 1.30pm at the Lee Valley Ice Centre car-park on Lea Bridge Road. A 2½ mile walk suitable for all.

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Save Leyton Marsh Group: Our Response to the Olympic Delivery Authority

Posted on 10 May 2012 by Caroline Day

Our Response to ODA letter of 30th April (signed by Chief Executive Dennis Hone)  sent to local residents:

An Open Letter to the ODA

  • You wrote to residents to address concerns that have been “expressed about these works in recent weeks”. These concerns have been expressed from the very beginning; in fact since some residents and councillors first became aware of the plans back in December. Councillor Ian Rathbone raised 11 questions at that time to which he has only just received a reply. Why has it taken you so long to address fundamental questions relating to the development, especially as you were prepared to lodge hugely punitive injunctions against people before answering their basic questions about the development?
    Furthermore the multitude of issues of concern, including those raised by Cllr Rathbone, were spelled out in the 115 letters of objection to the ODA’s planning application, and of which the ODA will have been fully aware.
  • Why did you send this letter and a previous letter out to far more residents than the original ‘consultation’ letter which was sent to a mere 250 residents?
  • Your agreement with LOCOG was that you would have finished work on the development by 7th June and yet in your letter you say work is due to be “completed by early July”. Have you re-negiotated your agreement? What other aspects of your stated objectives can we expect to change?
  • In response to statements and actions by Save Leyton Marsh Group, you claimed repeatedly in the media that the site would be “restored to its original condition by 15th October”. We knew this would be impossible since Leyton Marsh is a habitat and took years to establish itself as such. However, you now insist “reinstatement works” will “begin to restore Leyton Marsh to its original condition”. So it appears you have stopped asserting Leyton Marsh can be restored to its original condition. Please provide us with details of these reinstatement works that should have been published as part of the planning conditions back in February.
  • You claim that the “vast majority of the land” remains open to the public. Is this based on the wholly inaccurate map included as part of your letter which labels Walthamstow Marshes as ‘playing fields’ and does not provide a to-scale depiction of the basketball facility? This map is frankly an insult to local people, many of whom live directly opposite the facility and others who walk the marsh everyday and know exactly the extent to which the land has been confiscated from them for your private use and desecrated.
  • You refer to “recent unlawful disruptive action” to stop work, yet the actions taken by local residents and their supporters were of a peaceful and lawful nature. It was only through the imposition of a costly injunction that you were able to criminalise previously lawful protest on Sandy Lane. Whilst claiming you have “no issue with peaceful and lawful protest”, all information about our campaign, that the judge gave permission to be attached to the fences, has been ripped down and bailiffs have been covering their identity to film residents, including local Green Party candidates that came to visit Leyton Marsh.
  • You state that you “regret” that you “had to involve the courts and police”. In fact, you never at any stage attempted an alternative approach. On not one occasion did your Authority attempt to engage our group in dialogue and when in an attempt at mediation, Waltham Forest police arranged for a group of us to meet and talk to you, you refused to enter into any dialogue with us. Your use of extremely costly injunctions has been at tax payers’ expense and has not reflected the democratic will of the people. It has been a blatant attempt to intimidate people into giving up peaceful protest in order for you to build an unnecessary and unpopular facility which will not benefit local people at all.
  • You declare that your concern has always been “the safety of the public, our staff and contractors”. We have seen very little evidence of this. The Ground Investigation Report done on behalf of the contractors in January stated that lead and potential asbestos were present in the ground; you have since acknowledged presence of the latter, yet none of your (non-unionised) workers were aware of such hazards when we spoke to them nor have ever worn the protective clothing recommended in the report. Piles of dangerous rubble have been sitting on site for weeks. If you had adhered to the planning conditions set out in the planning permission granted by Waltham Forest, there would only have been a “15cm skim of topsoil”and no such mounds of rubble would exist. Mark Sorrell also assured residents directly that there would only be this shallow skim of topsoil when he met with them, at their behest, back in January. Yet you have dug far far deeper than claimed in the planning application. Consent was given on the basis that no environmental impact assessment or full site survey was necessary due to the shallowness of the excavations. Yet the ground investigation report conducted before the Council meeting, as we have documented, stated the intention to go up to 50cm to lay concrete foundations on our marsh.
  • It is wholly dishonest to claim of the rubble stockpile that ‘the delay in removing material from site was due to the unlawful activities of protestors’.  It was excavated without planning approval weeks before protests started and should not have been there at all. When approval (an unlawful use of a Non-material Amendment) was granted on 5 April, work on site started again almost immediately. Yet the stockpile remains there over a month later, and as your letter admits, the statutory bodies have not yet approved any plan for its disposal.
  • Your assertions about the lack of alternative venues are simply a case of too little said too late. Many training venues for London 2012 do not meet the 30 min travel time ‘requirement’ of the IOC. Paralympic athletes have no need to be close to the Olympic Park since they are performing in Greenwich – as local residents we can assure you that this does not take 30mins or less to travel to. Why were the original sites outlined in the Bid documents rejected? Once again, you have had months and can only provide inadequate answers.
  • You say you will give details of the reinstatement plan that you are only now “finalising with the LVRPA” (this should have already been published as part of the planning conditions) as part of a ‘drop-in’ session at Riverside Close Nursery on 15th May from 6.30pm – 8.30pm. None of us in the group have ever been invited to a ‘drop-in session’ where you have to provide your name, address and contact details in advance (and are then sent the location, published here, in secret). We wonder why you think you need this information and what exactly you will intend to do with people’s private details.

Through our campaigning, we will continue to hold your dishonest, undemocratic and unelected quango responsible for its gross actions on Leyton Marsh.

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