Photos by: Sam Strickland

Monday 23rd July is the day the Sheriff will enforce the Notice of Entry against tenants at Clays Lane. In his letter to tenants, Andrew Gaskell of the LDA says ‘we are grateful for the cooperation we have received to date’. However, this cooperation did not lead to any consultation about the closure date or information as to why that date was so critical. Indeed, we understand it may be related to the building of a scaffold to take down the power lines which cross the estate. However, if this is the case then we have to ask why this is a problem for Clays Lane tenants when the Travellers will still be occupying their site and the cables cross their pitches. The power lines will not be live so tenants will not be in any danger.

The first threats to evict residents at Clays Lane were made on Wednesday 20th June 2007 by Gareth Blacker of the LDA in a Press briefing. Some tenants have not yet received any offers while some are trying to resolve disputes about offers that have been made. The deadline is now set for 27th July although no official date has yet been given to tenants who still have to be served a notice of entry by the LDA. Only two weeks' notice is required by law. The LDA has failed to keep to its own preparation timelines which dated back to the autumn of 2004. Newham Council refused to grant decant status to residents until August 2006 while it used us as bargaining counters to get increased nomination rights to Legacy housing from the LDA and other Olympic boroughs are slow to process forms or, if they are not one of the four Olympic boroughs, refuse to assist at all. All of the original promises from the LDA and the Mayor of London made to residents have been swept aside.

Monday, April 02, 2007

After 100 years of history, today's the day that the Manor Garden Allotments at the heart of the 2012 Olympic site are finally closed. Or at least that was the plan. The London Development Agency wanted everybody (and their vegetables) off the land today so that the site could be levelled and transformed into the central concrete walkway down the spine of the Olympic Park. But, what do you know, the allotments have had a reprieve. Until July. It's only another three months, but that's better than bulldozing several acres of fledgling potatoes and carrots before they've even had a chance to grow.

Three years in the making, Chavez Ravine: A Record by Ry Cooder, is his first "solo" offering since 1987's Get Rhythm.

In addition, it is a concept album; but don't be afraid. It documents in mythical style the disappeared Los Angeles neighborhood of Chavez Ravine, a Mexican-American district that was fought over by real etate developers, urban planning activists and city government. It was bulldozed in a sleazy deal was cut and it was razed order to erect a stadium that would lure Walter O'Malley's Brooklyn Dodgers to L.A.

The future of 76 businesses [involving about 800 workers] hangs in the balance after London's Olympic planners received powers to force them to sell their land. The small businesses, which employ about 800 people, are yet to a agree prices for their plots on what is to become the 500-acre Olympic Park in Stratford, east London.

Compulsory Purchase of Land by LDA in Lower Lea Valley.

Summary of some relevant aspects by Anne Woollett

The London Development Agency ( Lower Lea Valley , Olympic and Legacy) Compulsory Purchase Order 2005.

A Chinese Government campaign requiring Tibetan villagers to rebuild their houses under strict official specifications is leading to poverty rather than boosting economic development, according to a report by the New York based Human Rights Watch.