With news that London is now odds on favourite to win the 2012 Olympic bid work has already started on the site.
The site near Homerton Road and Stratford High Road has seen builders arive Monday morning and starting to demolish buildings. When Su Crawford spoke to them and asked them what they were doing she was told, “It’s for the Olympics, this is going to be the site”
She is trying to organise a demonstration later today ( Monday 6th June ) and will be trying to stop or slow progress on the construction.
There are expected to be ongoing demonstrations and local resistance to the building, what some have seen as part of the ” new fascism”. Privatisation, local and national government corruption are filling the pockets of property developers in the guise of community regeneration ( see Liverpool’s Pathway for instance ). Londoners may have noticed their fares spiralling out of control as ordinary folk fund the business communities schemes.
For the past 20 years ‘urban regeneration’ has been an excuse for corporate chains to turn every high street into an identical area whilst getting public funding (regeneration grants ) and ousting small businessess and the poor.
In a very good article on the No 2 Olympics website Kevin Blowe exposes the main myths surrounding the Olympic bid including the notion that the Games will help the regeneration of east London.
Read his article on the No To Olympics 2012 website here.