BP1 / LLV IMPACTS + BEYOND Games Monitor [ Briefing paper on London 2012 Olympic Games ] Games Monitor, December 2015 (fifth edition) – replacing previous background papers and extensively revised Other papers in the series: BP 2 / Finance, profit + infrastructure BP 3 / Apparatus (state + media) http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk/contact_media_centre Games Monitor was founded in 2005 to raise awareness on issues around the London 2012 development process. We can be contacted at [email protected]. Questions on the background papers specifically should be addressed to Carolyn Smith [email protected]. CONTENTS 1. Loss of habitat and Common Land 7 1.1 Wildlife casualties and habitat destruction 7 1.2 Loss of Common Land, historic landscape and open space 8 Lammas Lands Exchange land (Hackney Marshes) Greenwich Park Wanstead Flats Leyton Marsh Drapers Field 2. Clearance of settlements, firms and local sport 13 2.1 Population displacements 13 Homelessness Gypsies and Travellers Clays Lane estate Students living on the Park Village estate Carpenters Estate, Stratford Manor Garden allotments River Lea bargees 2.2 International context of residential displacement 19 Erasure of Roma settlements, Athens 2004 Forced removal, Beijing 2008 Gentrification and resistance, Vancouver 2010 Clashes and inadequate infrastructure, Sochi 2014 Repression in the favelas, Rio 2016 2.3 Local economy: displacement of small businesses 23 2.4 Sporting losses and targets 25 Grassroots sport Cycling Football (soccer) Swimming Cuts to sports finance Sports participation 3. Contamination fears and impact of construction 27 3.1 Radioactive contamination and hazardous waste 27 3.2 Air pollution associated with construction 28 3.3 Impacts of construction on local residents 29 3.4 Sewage contamination 29 4. Policy evaluation 30 4.1 London 2012: the ‘greenest Olympic Games’? 30 Carbon neutrality Sustainability criteria (Stratford precinct) Wind turbines Air pollution associated with Olympic construction London’s air quality Locally sourced and seasonal food Bibliography 33 Dedicated to the memory of Katy Andrews 1958–2015 The wind searched in the forest grass and found a word, / it sounded like unsayable life / but it was a name the biggest stone gave / to the smallest twilight butterfly. / Too hard to remember says the wave. / Too fine to be said flickers the wind. (From Chickweed Wintergreen by Harry Martinson [Tarset: Bloodaxe Books, 2010]) ACRONYMS Common to all background papers. ABAC Association of British Athletics Clubs ACPO Association of Chief Police Officers AI Amnesty International AOTU Art on the Underground ASA Amateur Swimming Association ASBO Anti-social Behaviour Order ATCSA Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 BCCLA British Columbia Civil Liberties Association BOA British Olympic Association BOCOG Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games BTCV British Trust for Conservation Volunteers C6/C7 Sixth century/seventh century etc CABE Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment CARP Carpenters Against Regeneration Plans CBC Canadian Broadcasting Corporation CCHP Combined cooling heat and power CCTV Closed-circuit television CLM Consortium managing London 2012 construction: CH2M Hill (environmental evaluation), Laing O’Rourke (construction), Mace (project management) CLO Community legal observer COHRE Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions CPET UK Central Point of Expertise on Timber CPO Compulsory Purchase Order CSIS Canadian Security Intelligence Service CSJ Centre for Social Justice CTRL Channel Tunnel Rail Link DCLG Department for Communities and Local Government DCMS Department for Culture, Media and Sport DDOS Distributed denial of service DLR Docklands Light Railway DPU Development Planning Unit (UCL) ECJ European Court of Justice EDAW Consultancy, now part of AECOM, responsible for Olympic masterplanning EIC Environment Industries Commission ELL East London Line EU European Union FA Football Association FIFA Fédération Internationale de Football Association FOI Freedom of information GMB General Municipal Boilermakers and Allied Trade Union GLA Greater London Authority JPAT Joint Planning Authorities Team HCA Homes and Communities Agency HLF Heritage Lottery Fund HMUG Hackney Marsh User Group IOC International Olympic Committee ILO International Labour Organisation IT Information technology IWW International Workers of the World LBH London Borough of Hackney LBN London Borough of Newham LBTH London Borough of Tower Hamlets LBWF London Borough of Waltham Forest LCR London and Continental Railways LDA London Development Agency (1999–2012) LGTU London Gypsy and Traveller Unit LED Light-emitting diode LLDC London Legacy Development Corporation (2012–) LLV Lower Lea Valley LLW London ‘living wage’ LOAR London Olympic Association Right, dates from London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 LOCOG London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (2005–2014) LRO Legislative Reform Order LRRA Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act LTGDC London Thames Gateway Development Corporation LVRPA Lee Valley Regional Park Authority MDC Mayoral development corporation MGS Manor Gardening Society MLBG Marshgate Lane Business Group NAPO Formerly the National Association of Probation Officers NEF New Economics Foundation NLL North London Line NLLDC New Lammas Lands Defence Committee NMP Newham Monitoring Project NOGOE No to Greenwich Olympic Equestrian Events NRF Neighbourhood Renewal Fund NRMM Non-road mobile machinery NSNO No Second Night Out (homelessness initiative) ODA Olympic Delivery Authority (2006–2014) ODPM Office of the Deputy Prime Minister OLD Olympic Legacy Directorate, part of the LDA OPLC Olympic Park Legacy Company (2009–2012) ORN Olympic Route Network PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers RSL Registered social landlord SMEs Small and medium-sized enterprises SOCOG Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games TFL Transport for London TMA Team Member Agreement TMO Tenant management organisation TUC Trades Union Council UAV Unmanned aerial vehicles UCATT Union of Construction Allied Trades and Technicians UCL University College London UEL University of East London UPPs Pacifying police units (Brazil) US United States VANOC Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games WFSGI World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry 1. LOSS OF HABITAT AND COMMON LAND 1.1 Wildlife casualties and habitat destruction Much of the information in this section is sourced from statements by ecology consultant Annie Chipchase, a specialist on the Lower Lea Valley, and Anne Woollett, chair of Hackney Marsh User Group (HMUG). Other sources are stated in the text. Olympic proposals will destroy all the existing habitat, and thus the associated wildlife. Proposals to provide mitigation in terms of translocating species, and providing alternative habitat, are unlikely to be successful. Only legally protected species will be the focus of such work. The waterways of the Lower Lea provide a unique place for wildlife and people in a dense urban area. Destruction of these habitats for an elite sporting event should not be contemplated. Annie Chipchase (2005). Statement for the No London 2012 press conference, February 14 Location of the Olympic precinct could not be worse in terms of environment in the Lower Lea Valley (LLV). The river Lea system is designated a Site of Metropolitan Importance1 for nature conservation, and is an important passage and migration route for birds. The area also contains statutory Sites of Borough Importance: the former Eastway cycle circuit and Bully Point nature reserve, plus the Greenway and Old Ford Nature Reserve. These, with the Carpenters Road Nature Area, Arena Field and White Hart Field are Common Land and supposedly protected by legislation. London Development Agency (LDA), London 2012 and the Mayor of London’s office, backed up by a chorus of press commentary, portrayed the environment of the Lower Lea and Bow Back rivers as largely contaminated and polluted. ‘Remediation will be a massive challenge. There are considerable amounts of contamination,’ said Gareth Blacker, then LDA director of Olympic development (Romanowicz 2006). The environmental statement produced by masterplanners EDAW as part of the 2004 planning application described the waterways as ‘corridors of dereliction’. However, local residents have long enjoyed flora and fauna among its reedbed, scrub and grassland habitats, and birdlife nesting in the very many mature trees. Annie Chipchase described London 2012 proposals as a ‘kick in the teeth for the thousands of volunteers’, who, for more than 25 years, had contributed much time and labour to improving habitat. Species protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended), threatened by Olympic developments, included bats, common lizard, kingfisher and nationally scarce black redstart, which frequented the brownfield areas around Marshgate Lane. More common bird species frequently sighted in and around the Hackney Marshes – coot, moorhen, mallard, mute swan, green woodpecker, grey wagtail, great-crested and little grebes, dunnock, tits, sand martins and kestrel – had protection only in the nesting season. Disuse and neglect of the brownfield areas had considerable benefit for wildlife. Waterways and associated wetlands, former industrial sites and left-over parcels of land are important habitats. Extensive areas of sparsely vegetated or open ground are especially valuable for rare and uncommon invertebrates