BRITISH Waterways has ceased to exist in England and Wales and in its place Canal & River Trust (CART) has at last been created to care for the waterways.

by Kevin Blowe

This is a piece I wrote for Peace News - an edited version appears in its next issue.

With weeks to go before the start of this summer's London Olympics, a sense of foreboding has descended on many of the people who, like me, live and work in Newham in east London, one of the poorest and most ethnically diverse parts of the capital. This anxiety, shared even by those who are enthusiastic about the spectacle of the Games, has been raised by the stories over the last six months about snipers in helicopters, missile launchers on tower blocks and RAF fighters in the skies during the Olympics and repeated predictions that it may be almost impossible to leave the borough during peak periods. People speak of feeling trapped by the arrival of an event that seems more like an invading army of occupation than a welcome visitor.

Solidarity with Simon Moore from attendees at Save Leyton Marsh Campaign's Defend The Right To Protest meeting: Photo: @copwatcher

5th April 2012

Re: The Olympic Delivery Authority’s (ODA) recent works on Leyton Marshes, close to London’s Olympic enclosure.

Dear Mr Hone, CEO of the ODA

I am writing to you in response to your recent letter addressed to “Dear Resident” in which you attempt to persuade local people that the ODA’s plan to construct a building on Leyton Marshes (classified as Metropolitan Open Space) is justifiable.

"I have tickets to one of the Basketball matches!" joked the judge hearing the application for an injunction by the ODA and LVRPA at the High Court against those protesting the construction of a Basketball Facility.

Peaceful Non-cooperation Halts Work on Olympic Site


Members of the Occupy Movement have set up camp, on Porters Field, part of Leyton Marshes in East London, where against stiff local opposition planning planning permission was granted by Waltham Forest to construct a number of Olympic practice basketball courts.

A short news item on the mystery of the Leyton Marshes invasion

London 2012 Olympic Land Grab: Leyton Marshes from Mike Wells on Vimeo.

As already featured on Games Monitor a newly formed campaign group, The Save Leyton Marshes! Group, has issued a Press Rlease stating its intention to seek a Judicial Review of Waltham Forest's decision to approve construction of a Basketball Training Facility at Leyton Marsh.

The statement, which is attached, included the following declaration:

A unanimous vote decided in favour of taking legal action to seek a Judicial Review of Waltham Forest’s procedures in approving the development, which is on Metropolitan Open Land within the Regional Park and therefore supposedly protected under national and regional legislation - as well as in Waltham Forest’s own Development Plan.

It was also agreed by unanimous vote that a Barrister should be instructed to issue the letter on behalf of the group. A Conference with Counsel is being arranged for Tuesday afternoon, so that the necessary documentation can be issued to Waltham Forest’s Legal Department by close of business

The Legal Case we are bringing:

The first step is to send a letter before action to LBWF, and on 29th February to issue a claim for Leave to pursue Judicial Review at the High Court, including a request for a Holding Order to prevent work starting during the progress of the case, and probably accompanied by an emergency Injunction to prevent the site being fenced off – which has been given permission from the 1st March.

There is also an option of making a formal complaint to the Borough itself, which could ultimately come to referral to the Local Government Ombudsman, and of making a complaint about the conduct of the Lea Valley Regional Park Authority who have not acted in accordance with their own governing Park Act providing for the setting up the country’s first Regional Park in 1967.