Local cyclists enjoying the Lea Valley in June 2005
The same view of the Lea Valley in 2012
Whilst the politicians and the business people and the sports people are all head over heels, I and a good many others are not so happy with today’s news. I was born at one end of the Lea Valley and have lived at the other for most of my life. I have cycled up and down it many a time and enjoyed many happy times taking in the flora and fauna, not to mention the peace and quiet the valley has to offer local city-dwellers and visitors alike. I am sad that riverine landscapes and marshland habitats are to be lost. I am sad that well-used existing grassroots open-to-all facilities will disappear in order to make way for open–only-to-some ‘centres of excellence’. I suspect that compulsory land purchases and aggressive building schedules will mean that we have but a few short weeks in which to enjoy the Lower Lea Valley before public access is withdrawn and lost forever.
The London 2012 web site is showing ‘unavailable’ at the time of posting. The irony of the that statement is sadly pertinent.