As a former bookseller I feel angry too (Paris booksellers angry at plans to ‘hide’ their stalls during Olympics,29 July). But the careless trampling on a community by the Olympics reminds me of the anger I felt when I joined others and campaigned to save the Manor Gardens allotments prior to the London Olympics. The fact that land had been given by covenant to the people of east London for allotments made no difference to the Olympic Delivery Board, the GLA or ministers. One-hundred-year-old apple trees, charming allotment sheds, beautiful ranges of vegetables grown by a very ethnically mixed allotment community made a living picture of the best of British life. Manor Garden allotments could have been a showcase of a diverse, healthy London. Instead it was all destroyed to build a cement walkway. The bouquinistes of Paris are equally iconic to that city. Let’s hope the Parisian authorities do not mistake “tidying up” for showcasing the real city.
Sue Miller
Liberal Democrat, House of Lords
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