Games Monitor - Displacement

FOI: what did the LDA pay for compulsorily purchasing Clays Lane?

Julian Cheyne — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:30:18 +0100

I recently asked the LDA a Freedom of Information question to find out how much it paid for a number of sites, purchased under the Compulsory Purchase Order, and to whom this money was paid. The sites included the Clays Lane and Park Village housing estates, the Clays Lane and Waterden Road Travellers' sites, the Manor Gardens allotments and the Eastway Cycle Track.

Let the Bejing Olympics of Global Re-branding and Marketing begin!

Martin Slavin — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:50:31 +0100

Let the Bejing Olympics of Global Re-branding and Marketing begin!

'One World, Whose Dream? Housing Rights Violations and the Beijing Olympic Games'

Martin Slavin — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:26:06 +0100

The Beijing Olympics has displaced 1.5 million people since 2000, according to the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE). A new COHRE report, One World, Whose Dream? Housing Rights Violations and the Beijing Olympic Games, has found that the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to award the Games to Beijing has been a catalyst in increasing forced evictions and displacements in Beijing.

What happened to the relocated businesses? LDA FOI response

Julian Cheyne — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 01:55:55 +0100

According to the LDA the four Olympic Boroughs, Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest lost a total of 93 companies employing 1245 staff as a result of the relocation of businesses. A total of 209 businesses employing 4964 staff were relocated. 25 businesses closed completely with a loss of 65 jobs. A further 10 businesses employing 54 staff are not accounted for.

‘A prime opportunity for the property industry.’

Julian Cheyne — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:43:31 +0100

Recent reports in the Press (see attachment) reveal that businesses evicted to make way for the Olympics are still having to battle with the LDA over compensation. Looking back in time to reports published by the media can provide an interesting insight into the attitudes of the Olympic team (and how the media approached the project) and the difference between the rhetoric and the reality of the programme. One such report was contained in the Property Week Newsletter of 05.12.03 (see attachment) which included some particularly chilling assertions for the residents at Clays Lane.

Will the Athletes Village provide adequate community benefits after the Olympic Games ?

Martin Slavin — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:29:39 +0100

While recently reading the New Economics Foundation report 'Fools Gold, How the 2012 Olympics is selling East London short, and a 10 point plan for a more positive local legacy', I came across a reference to a report '2012 Home Games' published in 2006 by East Thames Group. East Homes, a part of the group, is a Registered Social Landlord which is "the largest multi-tenure landlord across east London and Essex, providing general needs accommodation and home ownership initiatives for the Group.”

Perjured evidence before a House of Commons Select Committee.

Julian Cheyne — Wed, 28 May 2008 02:04:58 +0100

It is said History is written by the winners. Committees from both the House of Commons and the Greater London Assembly Committees have held hearings into the Olympics. Apparently subjects are chosen on the basis of who makes the most noise. Amongst the topics discussed by the relevant House of Commons Select Committee has been the relocation of communities, be they residents, allotment holders, businesses or users, from the Olympic Park. The rule of subject choice also seems to apply when it comes to dishing out invitations to give ‘evidence’. Most people are left out of the magic circle and are unaware the opportunity might even exist. Not so those who run these programmes. They get to give their version of events as they either they get asked along or are warned the committee will be meeting and ask to go. It doesn’t seem to have occurred to either set of committees to track down those who were actually moved to ask them how they felt about their eviction and how it was handled.

Putin's power plays around the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics

Martin Slavin — Mon, 26 May 2008 21:04:32 +0100

In 2014, the Russian resort of Sochi will host the Winter Olympics. But already this mega-event looks set to cost Russian taxpayers more money than the combined costs of the last three Winter Olympics, and up to 4,000 local residents face evictions with compensation far below current market values.

Contaminated Dust at the Eastway, the HSE responds and the ODA upgrades its monitoring

Julian Cheyne — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:42:38 +0100

Further to my earlier article about contamination at the former Eastway cycle track the HSE responded after nine weeks (see email below). I remain astonished that it took nine weeks for the HSE to be able to summarise the monitoring being undertaken at the Eastway site. I would have thought the information would be readily to hand but apparently not.

The Surveillance Olympics

Julian Cheyne — Sun, 04 May 2008 23:15:58 +0100

Britain may not win many gold medals in the Olympics but we can be sure of one top place on the podium, in surveillance. For some time Britain has been outperforming other nations in the number of surveillance cameras that are trained on its own citizens. The 2012 Olympics will provide an excellent opportunity to further advance our claims as the all time best performer in this field.