Call to halt allotment eviction

The Olympic Park will cover 500 acres

London's Mayor is being urged to halt the eviction of allotment holders on the site of the 2012 Olympic Park.

Manor Garden Allotments (MGA) in Hackney Wick, east London, was to be moved to Marsh Lane in Leyton but planners refused the application.

The Green Party wants evictions halted until an alternative site is secured.

Mayor Ken Livingstone said he could not guarantee a site would be found before the allotments close but some plots would be moved to a temporary location.

The London Development Agency (LDA) is due to take control of the land this month to allow construction work to begin.

The Manor Garden Allotments provide healthy local food, a strong sense of community and an oasis of calm in the middle of east London Darren Johnson, Green Party

In a written response the mayor said he was "committed to relocating selected plantings to a temporary location, prior to moving them to the permanent relocation site".

The LDA has been working with the MGA society for almost two years to find a suitable alternative site.

They are currently appealing against the decision to turn down the application to create allotments on Marsh Lane playing fields and have submitted a revised plan.

Darren Johnson, London Assembly Green Party member, said: "The Manor Garden Allotments provide healthy local food, a strong sense of community and an oasis of calm in the middle of east London.

"We need to provide more facilities like these, instead of turfing out allotment holders with nowhere else to go.

"No evictions should take place until a high-quality alternative site has been found."

The eventual plan is to move the allotments back to the original site once the Olympics have finished.