Leader: Buitekant and the Olympic beast

Protestors camp out on Leyton Marsh. Photograph: Josh Loeb

Indignation in East London at a land grab by Olympics bosses has resulted in probably the most significant action by members of high profile protest group Occupy London.

While the tents on the piazza at St Paul’s Cathedral attracted a lot of attention because of the splits they caused within the Church, the criticism of that encampment and its inhabitants was always that their objectives were too vague.

We knew they were against capitalism and the cuts, but what was the alternative they proposed?

The protest camp that has sprung up on Leyton Marsh is a wholly different creature.

Members of campaign group Save Leyton Marsh, outraged at a last minute decision by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) to commandeer part of the marshes for a basketball practice hall, invited the Occupy movement to back their cause.

Occupy London promptly positioned a tent blocking the entrance to the work site, and protesters took turns to sleep in it, thus halting the construction work.

Their aim could not be clearer: they want this monstrous plan to despoil natural parkland scrapped.

One camper told us they weren’t opposed to the Olympics, they just wanted the diggers and their crews to “jog on”.

As for an alternative, there must be one: how many basketball courts must already exist in East London that could be used by competitors wishing to train? Has the ODA properly examined whether it can use these? Why has the organisation rushed into tearing up a wildlife habitat?

The ODA is restricting, essentially privatising, land hitherto enjoyed freely by people of all backgrounds and classes.

The developers insist their basketball courts will be temporary, but Hackney residents are right to be sceptical.

Although it lies just across the border from the borough in neighbouring Waltham Forest, the area is connected to the Hackney marshes and other parts of the lower Lee Valley Regional Park.

Sunday football teams have already lost some of their best pitches permanently to the Olympics, and more are set to be swallowed up for a coach park in time for the events. The Leyton Marshes case is the last straw. If they are allowed to get away with this it will set a precedent, and who knows what else they might try?

The scandal at Leyton Marshes has caused a split within the local Labour party, with Hackney councillor Barry Buitekant criticising the decision by Labour councillors at Waltham Forest Council to give the ODA the green light.

Some newspapers have taken a dim view of this protest by Occupy London.

For many, the choice is clear.

It is between developers who want to appropriate public land and activists taking a principled stand and making a real difference. Though small, this is one of the greatest occupations of its kind yet.

More information: Save Leyton Marsh

Related:

Campaigners occupy Leyton Marshes to protest Olympic development

Hackney Mayor Jules Pipe appointed to Olympic Park legacy board