A group of anti-capitalist demonstrators has set up camp at an Olympic construction site and is disrupting building work, reports Construction Enquirer.
The Occupy London group, which includes protestors who took part in the sit in outside St Paul’s Cathedral, has erected around twenty tents at the Leyton Marsh site where a temporary basketball practice venue is being built.
The protesters arrived over the weekend and are being supported by the local Save Leyton Marsh group who have blocked deliveries to the site by laying down in front of lorries. They claim the marsh is being destroyed by the construction work.
An Olympic delivery Authority spokesman said: “The basketball training venue is a temporary structure that will be removed within a month of the end of the Games, and the land restored to its previous state …The vast majority of Leyton Marsh is completely unaffected. The ODA is committed to building a basketball training facility for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and we regret that action has been taken which has delayed work on the site.”
The job started this month and is due to be completed by the end of May, and work has already been disrupted by the discovery of a Second World War bomb.
One local resident said: “Last Friday a determined bunch of people exercised their rights to use the Marsh freely with a six hour game of boules that resulted in £40,000 of cement being spoiled as the trucks carrying it were blocked from getting on site.
“Lorries containing hard core were prevented from entering the Marsh today and we are hopeful that if we are able to significantly delay building work from taking place we may be successful in halting this destruction of Leyton Marsh.”
Sources said Olympic Delivery Authority chiefs were planning to visit the site today (Friday) to talk to protesters.
