Three Games, three eviction stories. In September 2009 Planning Theory and Practice Magazine published, in its Interface section, three articles on displacement caused by three different mega-events, the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The publication is attached.

A sizeable proportion of the Games' massive budget has been spent dredging waterways, to help move materials to the Olympic site. The plan was for up to a thousand tonnes a day to go by barge. But the amount of business so far is only a trickle compared with what was promised.

In a long running story already reported on Games Monitor the green credentials of the 2012 Olympics have come under further strain as the Olympic Delivery Authority continues to refuse to fit polluting non road mobile machinery (NRMM) with exhaust after treatment. While the rest of the UK has complied with European air quality standards London has failed to do so.

The LDA has now provided the information I asked for, see below*. Ms Adams says 'If it is helpful, I address each aspect of your request below for the sake of clarity.' That is certainly useful and, 'for the sake of clarity', would indeed have been helpful first time round! Still, let's not be churlish and thank the LDA for providing the information requested.

In a mealy-mouthed response to my request for information about the costs of acquiring several pieces of land in the north of the Olympic Park the LDA says ‘The Commissioner in that Decision Notice required the LDA to disclose to you the “withheld information”. That term is not specifically defined…’ The LDA then goes on to argue, in its letter of 26th September 2008 (attached), that the information withheld related to the leasehold of the Clays Lane estate and the freehold of the Park Village estate “and not in relation to the other pieces of land requested by you on 15th September 2008”.

The 2012 blog continues to churn out the same misleading information. A recent posting by a local resident reminded me of the experience of going through the compulsory purchase inquiry and having our estate and community dismissed by the LDA. I tried to post a comment but, not for the first time, that was disallowed. Like a true colonialist operation the ODA claims to listen to ordinary people and to practise inclusion, but its own publicly funded website refuses to allow a proper debate.

Holding the Equestrian Olympics in Greenwich Park is a bad idea, and it may never have got off the ground if the bid company: a) had not over-estimated the size of the Park; b) had carried out rudimentary environmental research; and c) had done a cost-benefit analysis against comparative sites.

Having won the bid, the organiser, LOCOG, is determined to go through with its plans despite the problems posed by holding such a major event in a fragile World Heritage Site. Its determination is rooted in the fact that equestrian is in decline; an iconic setting in an urban location might help to promote it, and the International Equestrian Federation has made it clear that, if Greenwich Park is not used, then the prospects for the sport in future Olympics are in peril. Hence the pressure to take risks.

The LDA has been told in a ruling by the Information Commissioner to supply details of how much it paid for a number of sites, including the Clays Lane estate, purchased under the Compulsory Purchase Order, and to whom this money was paid. The original request was made in July 2008, see attachment ‘LDA FoI response on cpo statements’. Curiously the complaint was upheld because, despite claiming an exemption, the LDA failed to offer a reason why it should apply.

Olympic Games displace people through eviction. They also result in higher land values and the consequent displacement of poorer residents through rises in rents and higher house prices. A recent report by Dr Georgios Kavetsos of the Cass Business School has confirmed that this process is underway in the vicinity of the 2012 London Olympic Park.

Pan American Games. Rio 2007.