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Sat 4th Jul 2009
	00:00	Behind No Doors
	00:25	Volunteer Films
	00:30	Rooted
	00:55	Channel 4 and MediaBox Competition
	01:00	Charge

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Allotments vs Olympics

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Allotments vs Olympics

East London’s Manor Garden Allotments have survived over a century but now face extinction.

Located in the heart of the future Olympic Park, developers want to flatten this productive oasis to create a pathway for the London 2012 Games.

But determined plot holders are campaigning hard to stay. They believe the organizers who are touting the Games as the ‘Greenest Olympics ever’, are missing a golden opportunity to show off the allotments as a shining example of sustainability.

The allotments have existed on this site ever since Maj Arthur Villiers bought the land 'for the poor of Hackney' in the early 1900s.

Some plots have been handed down from generation to generation. Others have been taken on by a new generation of budding gardeners.

Manor Garden allotments

As Baroness Sue Miller, an ally in the House of Lords, notes: "What struck me when I went down there was what a community it is and that takes decades to build up... It's the kind of thing the government should do more to preserve."

And in this film that community is arguing that 100 years of history is of equal importance to four weeks of sporting prowess.

Thanks to the persistence and determination of campaigners, plot holders have staved off two eviction dates. But as bulldozers close in, can the gardeners persuade the authorities to let them stay?

For campaign information see the Life Is Land website

For the London Olympics development process visit Games Monitor website.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 23 April 2008 )

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Allotments vs. Olympics