Stratford
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Council jumping the gun?
MACHINERY has been digging up small parts of a Stratford park, prompting fears that the land is being prepared for building work even before permission has been granted.
The London Development Agency (LDA) has applied to demolish a playground, community centre and sports pitches in Major Road to make way for travellers who are being forced off their Clays Lane home on the Olympic site.
The plans have met with fierce resistance from residents and the travellers, who do not want to move to the site.
On Friday November 24 a small digger was in use on the site.
A spokesman for the Save Major Road Action Group said: "The LDA and Newham Council are really upping their contempt for the community now.
"They have not even the decency to wait for the planning committee to decide and it's only just after the neighbour consultation ends before they descend like vultures."
The travellers had agreed to relocate to a site off Leyton Road. But the LDA dropped this option after objections from the site's owners Scottish Widows Fund and leaseholders P&O Property Holdings Ltd.
The Clays Lane community is now considering the possibility of seeking a judicial review to get the Leyton Road option put back on the table.
An LDA spokesman confirmed that soil sampling is taking place on the Major Road site.
He said: "We want to make sure we are ready if we are granted planning permission."
A Newham Council spokesman said: "The council has given the LDA permission to carry out tests on ground conditions at the site.
"This is separate from the planning process and is not part of the LDA's submission to the council.
"As with all planning applications, the views of local people will be taken into account when a decision is made on whether or not to grant the LDA's application permission.
"Residents and interested parties are invited to submit their views or concerns to the council's planning department."
5:00pm Thursday 30th November 2006
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