Despite the efforts of local residents, there will be a basketball training venue built on Leyton Marsh pic: Ruth Edwards

Local residents have lost their battle with the Olympic Development Agency to stop the build of a basketball-training venue on Leyton Marsh.

On Tuesday the Waltham Forest Council planning committee voted in favour of the proposal, which means two 11-metre high court buildings as well as a drop off area, car park and a perimeter fence will be built on the land.

Last week EastLondonLines reported on a protest by Hackney locals whose borough boundary is marked by the edge of the marsh.

Residents claim the venue will deprive locals of cherished green spaces and could cause harm to local wildlife.  More than 80 people protested before the meeting on Tuesday night.

Councillor Ian Rathbone, who is against the venue, condemned the ODA’s “bully boy tactics” and also criticised the Lea Valley Regional Park Authority saying they were the “other villain in this piece”.

He said: “How dare they give away pieces of our land without proper full consultation.”

Leyton Marsh is deemed Metropolitan Open Land and as a result should not be built upon unless it complies with legal conditions. The ODA has justified its plans to build there due to the “very special circumstances” of one-off nature of the Games.

Local resident Virginia Draper, 28, who is in opposition to the plans said: “We are all extremely unhappy with the decision that was made yesterday evening. We do not agree that Metropolitan Open Land should be forsaken due to bad planning from the ODA.”

The ODA chose Leyton Marsh as the site for basketball venue after a previous choice had been deemed unsuitable for wheelchair access and therefore would not be able to be used by the wheelchair basketball teams competing in the Paralympics.

A spokesperson for the ODA said: “The ODA has worked hard to ensure public access is largely unaffected. We have done this alongside the landowner so that there is minimal impact caused to the area.”

Hackney residents at Leyton Marsh pic: Ruth Edwards

Local residents and councillors from Hackney are opposing an application by the Olympic Development Agency to build a temporary basketball-training venue on Leyton Marsh as they argue it will drastically effect the area.

The plan for the Olympic Games facility comprises of two 11-meter high court buildings as well as a drop off area, car park and a perimeter fence.

The ODA chose Leyton Marsh as the site for their venue after their previous choice had been deemed unsuitable for wheelchair access and therefore would not be able to be used by the various wheelchair basketball teams competing in the Paralympics.

Notices publicising the application were posted on and around the site and letters were sent to residents in Waltham Forest and Hackney.

However local residents told EastLondonLines that they felt not enough had been done to let people know about the proposal.

Many are concerned about the effect the plans will have, if accepted by Waltham Forest Council, on the site and the neighbouring nature reserve, which is a site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)

The land is deemed Metropolitan Open Land and as a result should not be built upon unless it complies with certain conditions.

Though the Olympic Delivery Authority plans to build here due to the “very special circumstances” of one-off nature of the games.

The venue is not due to be open to the public at any time between it’s proposed time span of March 1 until October 15 this year.

A planning committee at Waltham Forest Council is to be held on Tuesday, Feb 7 at 6pm.

To find out the full story watch this video.

(Video by Ruth Edwards and Daniel O’Donnell)

To view the planning application click here.

pic: Soha Ibrahim

A park in Deptford has been christened as London’s Best New Public Space – its third prestigious award in the span of a year.

Margaret McMillan Park was unanimously hailed by judges for its redevelopment project which has transformed a small green space that used to serve as a commuter shortcut into a meeting space complete with lighting and seats and an area designated for kids.

pic: Soha Ibrahim

The award scheme is jointly run by the Mayor of London, London First, the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and all London Councils. Previously, the park had been recognised by the Civic Trust and Local Government News.

Lewisham Council, in conjunction with landscape architects BDP, has transformed Margaret McMillan Park by installing new lighting, seating, plants and sculptures, along with new equipment in the children’s play area. Several large shrubs have been removed from the entrances and the main footpath has been straightened, allowing users to see across the park more easily.

pic: Soha Ibrahim

The park is part of a 3km long network of open spaces between Deptford and New Cross Gate which the Council has revitalised over recent years, and marks the start of a long-term programme designed to enhance walking and cycling routes in the north of the borough.

The Olympic Park, pic: EG Focus

London’s leading scientists have warned that high pollution levels in Hackney and Tower Hamlets could  jeopardize the health of Olympic competitors.

High pollution levels in the surrounding Olympic boroughs have become an increasing concern for competing athletes.

Competitors can breathe in up to twenty times more air than an inactive person, making them at risk to illness and impaired performance times.

Dr Ben Barratt, an analyst at London Air Quality Network said: “Hackney and Tower Hamlets pollution levels will be dictated by the weather. If there are long periods of warm sunny weather and easterly winds, then the athletes could be at risk.”

Endurance athletes, such as cyclists and long distance runners are more likely to be affected, as they are exposed to the high levels of pollution for a longer period of time.

Dr Frank Kelly, professor of environmental health at King’s College London, said: “If endurance sporting events are held on a day when London’s pollution is high, some athletes may not perform to their best ability and some may feel temporally unwell.”

Kelly went on to explain, that air pollution has a “powerful” effect on an athlete’s airways, causing them to “constrict and become temporarily inflamed”.  If pollution levels do not decrease again, then he states the effects will be only be temporary, and the athlete’s lungs should return to normal within 18-24 hours.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, has been criticised for not taking enough action to reduce the pollution level in time for the summer games. With just over five months to go, the Mayor has yet to devise a pollution policy specifically for the Olympics.

The London games have no plans in place like its predecessors, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which saw the Chinese Government issue a blanket ban over half the cars in the city and shut down polluting industries, estimated at a cost of £6bn.

Simon Birkett, Founder and Director of Clean Air in London, said: “The Mayor should ban the most polluting diesel vehicles from the most polluted parts of London during the Games and keep an inner scheme in place as a legacy.  The longer he delays, the more disruption he’ll cause.

“We were promised the greenest Games ever.  London should deliver it by leading the world in tackling air pollution as we did after the Great Smog of 1952.”

However, not all people are as concerned over the risk Hackney and Tower Hamlet’s pollution levels will impose. Lewisham Olympic hopeful, James Ellington said: “I’ve been born and bred in London and have never experienced any hindrance. I don’t think that Hackney’s or Tower Hamlets pollution will affect anything.”

MacMillian Park, Pic; GLA

East London has once again been recognised for its contribution to making London a great place to live in, after scooping two awards in Tower Hamlets and Lewisham at the ninth annual London Planning Awards.

St Paul’s Way Trust School in Tower Hamlets and the Margaret McMillan Park in Lewisham were both awarded for their excellence in urban planning and design.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “Once again we have seen yet another stunning crop of entries that showcase the best in urban planning, architecture and design.

“They demonstrate a wonderful ambition to make our city an even better place to live, work and study.”

The London Planning Awards are jointly run by the Mayor of London, the Royal Planning Institute, and London councils. The purpose of the awards is to give credit to the organisations and professionals who have contributed to improving the quality of life in the capital.

St Paul’s Way Trust School won the award for the Best Built Project – Community Scale Scheme.

It was designed by London-based architectural studio Astudio, and constructed by Bouygues UK. It took 36 months to complete and cost a total of £36 million. It is part of the Building Schools for the Future programme.

In 2010, the school’s innovative design was nominated for a World Architecture News Award.

Richard Haynes, the director of Astudio told EastLondonLines: “This project was a unique opportunity to have a vast impact on the lives of many students.  We were lucky to have headteacher, Grahame Price, and a client group that supported the vision and positively encouraged us to deliver a ground breaking learning environment.”

The scheme was funded by the Tower Hamlets Council, Partnerships for Schools and the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation.

St Paul’s Way Trust School is situated in a deprived area of Tower Hamlets. The school was designed to serve as a multi-functional building, with facilities including a library, auditorium, and a sports hall.

The Margaret McMillan Park in Deptford, won the award for the Best New Public Space. The park was recently redesigned by award-winning design practice BDP, and landscape and maintenance contractor The Landscape Group.

Neil Farmer, Business Development Manager for the Landscape Group said: “The Landscape Group are pleased to be associated with a scheme that has been so successfully received by the local community. The award is a tribute to the vision and planning by both the client and lead designer BDP.”

The park was refurbished in 2010 to become more accessible and inviting to people from the local community. It was transformed to integrate the existing equipment within the new design, which includes custom-designed wooden sculptures by sculptor Richard Lawrence.

It has also won numerous awards for its design, including the Urban Green Space category in the Local Government News 2011 Street Design Awards.

Pic: John Sutton

Local residents can recycle their Christmas trees this festive season from December 28 onwards.

Council recycling authorities for Hackney, Lewisham, Croydon and Tower Hamlets will be setting up recycling points and dates on which residents can give their real trees for reprocessing.

Lewisham Council residents are provided with 12 tree recycling points: Talbot Place (Blackheath), ​Hilly Fields Park, ​Forster Memorial Park (Whitefoot Lane), ​Deptford Park (Scawen Road), Northbrook Park (Baring Road), ​Chinbrook Meadows (Amblecote Road),  ​Manor House Gardens (Old Road), ​Mountsfield Park (George Lane), ​Telegraph Hill Park (Pepys & Kitto Road), ​Mayow Park (Mayow Road), ​Sydenham Wells Park (Wells Park Road) and ​Beckenham Place Park (Old Bromley Road).

They will accept trees from December 28 to January 27. For further information, residents can contact Lewisham recycling at 020 8314 7171 or recycle@lewisham.gov.uk

Croydon Council has also set up 17 recycling points for each of its areas:  Addiscombe (lower Addiscombe Road), Broad Green (Homebase, Purley Way), Coulsdon (Lion Green Road car park), Coulsdon East (Grange Park, Canon’s Hill), Fairfield (Oaks Road/Commbe Road car park), Heathfield (Addington Park car park), Kenley (Kenley Residents’ Association, Oaks Road green), New Addington (Central Parade car park), Norbury (Granville Gardens car park), Purley (Woodcote Village green), Selsdon Recreation Ground (Woodlands Gardens), Shirley (Monks Orchard Green and Green Court Gardens), South Norwood (Sainsbury’s, Whitehorse Lane), Upper Norwood (Secret Garden, Westow Street), Waddon (Homebase, Fiveways, Purley Way and Wyevale Garden Centre, Waddon Way).

Residents can drop off their trees for reuse between January 2 and January 9. Croydon recycling can be contacted on 020 8726 6200 or streetscene@croydon.gov.uk

Tower Hamlets Council residents have been provided with an easy doorstep collection of Christmas trees for recycling. The council advises residents in blocks of flats to contact their housing manager to find out about local arrangements.

Those living in houses can leave their trees on the boundary of their property. Collection begins from January 2 and will go on until January 20.

All councils recommend that real Christmas trees given for recycling must not have any decorations or tinsel.

Matthew Gonshaw's wild bird egg collection pic: The Metropolitan Police

A man from Tower Hamlets has pleaded guilty to stealing hundreds of rare bird eggs.

Matthew Gonshaw, 49 from Bow, was given a four month sentence after being charged with ten offences at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, including the theft and possession of golden eagle and osprey eggs. 

Over 700 eggs were discovered at his home address, along with climbing equipment, camouflaged clothing and illegal detailed maps of nesting spots of rare birds.

Mark Thomas, an RSPB representative, said: “Stealing the eggs of eagles and osprey is amongst the worst wildlife crimes possible in the UK.

“It is clear the current powers available to the court have had very little impact on this individual, who has been jailed three times previously.”

The Metropolitan Police Wildlife Crime Unit worked with the RSPB to bring a case against Gonshaw. The Met was first alerted to his illegal activities in June after Gonshaw was arrested in Scotland for stealing the eggs of wild birds.

Police Constable Stephen Rodgers, of the Met’s Wildlife Crime Unit, said: “This is one of the most serious cases of wildlife crime I have had to investigate.

“Gonshaw’s actions directly jeopardise Britain’s wildlife and his obsession with collection eggs threatens some of our rarest and most precious species.

“We hope that this result here at court sends out a clear message that, together with our partners from the RSPB, we will work to protect Britain’s birds for future generations.”

Among his collection, Gonshaw also had kite, peregrine falcon, dotterel, redwing and merlin eggs.

All of the organisation's trees are sustainably farmed pic: Brent Flanders

If you buy a Christmas tree from Caring Christmas Trees before Wednesday, you can help homeless people in Lewisham rebuild their lives.

Caring Christmas Trees donates all the profits from the sale of their trees to charities across the UK. All trees bought in south east London raise money for the Jericho Road project, a homeless charity run from Kings Road Church, Catford since 2001.

The charity offers advice and support to homeless people and rough sleepers in the area, offering help with benefits, housing and drug advice. The charity also takes groups away twice a year on activity holidays.

Your contribution will help reduce rough sleeping in Lewisham, help ex-offenders integrate into society, help the mentally ill in the area maintain stability in their lives, and help former addicts to stay clean.

Recently, the project has expanded to include low support housing, sleeping 26 people within six houses in Catford. Rent is kept low to encourage residents to seek work and look for a stable way of life.

Every penny of profits made by Caring Christmas Trees stays in the community and helps local people. Susan Smith, administrator for the organisation, says this is why customers are choosing to buy their trees from the site year after year.

“The profits raised stay in the local are. People who hear about us love the idea – they were going to buy a Christmas tree anyway, and ours cost the same amount and are exceptionally good quality, and they help people”, she said.

So far, 306 trees have been sold in south east London, and 3801 have been sold across the UK. All trees are Nordman Firs, grown in Scotland’s sustainable tree farms. The British Christmas Tree Growers Association, from who the trees are sourced, says: “the trees are as near to 100% carbon neutral as you’ll ever get”.

Trees can be bought in various sizes, from 4ft to 8ft, with prices ranging from £35 to £59. Home delivery costs an extra £6.95. To check your postcode is catered for, click here.

You can also collect your tree from a number of pick up points in Catford, Deptford and Beckenham at a time to suit you.

Volunteers are vital to Caring Christmas Trees in Lewisham to help make sure distribution days run smoothly.  Last year 350 trees were sold and distributed from the Kings Road Church. This year, the charity plan to sell over 400 trees and recruit 80 volunteers who are willing to give up three hours of their day.

To volunteer with the Jericho Road Project please contact dave.barlow@kingschurchlondon.org or call: 0208 690 4646.

Trees should be ordered by Wednesday December 14 to avoid disappointment and ensure delivery in time for Christmas! To read more about the charity, or to buy a tree, go to www.caringchrismastrees.com.

Jon Snow and Bishop Challoner Catholic Collegiate School students pic: The Otesha Project UK

Year nine girls from Bishop Challoner Catholic Collegiate School launched a bid to be Tower Hamlets’ first official Fairtrade school after joining forces with local charity Otesha.

The new status will mean pupils will wear sweatshop-free uniforms and use Fairtrade sports equipment in PE lessons.

They will also have ethically-sourced food in lunches and vending machines, and learn about Fairtrade issues in class.

The bid came about in March 2010 when a group of year nine girls surveyed other students and staff about their knowledge of Fairtrade and the barriers that might prevent people from buying those specific goods.

They approached representatives from Otesha’s ‘Change Projects’ programme, which works with young people to help give workers in poorer countries a better deal for the products they grow and sell, and which are used every day by the UK.

Following their efforts with the charity, in 2011 they were shortlisted for the Shelia McKechnie Shout Out Award for young campaigners and invited to the awards ceremony where they met Channel 4 News presenter, Jon Snow.

They took part in workshops to aid their understanding of how Fairtrade impacts on producers, and won a bursary.

Edd Bell, Otesha’s Change Projects Co-ordinator said: “This is a huge achievement by these students. We’re so proud of them, and we’d really like to help other London schools go down this path, too.”

Spurred on by their success with the charity, the pupils designed, planned and presented a proposal for a school-wide Fairtrade policy at a meeting arranged with the governors and head teacher, who gave a resounding thumbs up to the bid.

Rhiannon Scutt, in-house Sustainable Development Coordinator said: “Empowering the students like this is definitely the way forward as it is the students who want to lead this change.

“The enthusiasm of the girls to help the school achieve Fairtrade status is infectious. They have so many good ideas and are willing to give up their own time.”

Following their successful pitch to the board of governors, a Fairtrade Action Group was formed, and plans are currently underway for a series of events to raise funding to implement the changes and awareness amongst the local community.

There will also be a stall at the forthcoming parents’ evening, where they will be served Fairtrade refreshments and be invited to help out with the project.

Caitlin, Bishop Challoner pupil, said: “I think Fairtrade is important because it helps people have a better life by being paid correctly for the work they do.”

Fellow student, Ellie, added: “Working on Fairtrade is such an eye-opener. It has shown me how to help the world, which is what I really want.”

pic: Arusha Basu

Groups such as Greenpeace, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Green Party along with more than 800,000 members from Wildlife trusts slammed George Osborne’s autumn statement last month as a “backwards budget” and a “formula for failure.”

If you were to look back to the last general election, the irony is rich – David Cameron’s original promise made in May 2010 was to be “the greenest government ever.”

Chris Huhne may have been quick to swoop down and rescue Osborne, but the Green Party was equally quick to quip that the Chancellor was “colour blind when it comes to the green economy”.

But setting aside all the usual political point-scoring and carefully constructed responses, we are yet to see someone from the Coalition say specifically  that they are – or will be – doing more in the future towards protecting rural and urban England as well as cut down on carbon emissions in London.

The Green Party has a right to be angered by the broken promises of the Coalition. The Conservatives ran with slogan  ‘We’re green too’. It  won them green votes, but they have not kept their promise.

The coalition is biased towards big business. This has become evident all the way to the borough-level, where councils are willing to overlook environmental concerns while giving way to commercial interests.

For almost a decade, there have been plans to build an incinerator for waste reduction in Croydon and to prevent waste  from going to landfill. Despite continuous debate and opposition to a technology that has for long been proved to be archaic and harmful to the environment, the plan has gone forward to being approved by  Merton, Kingston, Sutton and Croydon.

When even regular councillors were excluded from the meeting to discuss the South London Waste Partnership, it became evident that on the whole, only commercial and private interests were being served.