Fish Island - Saved

3.43.35pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 31st Jan 2006

Thanks to the combined efforts of Fish Island Business Club and Liberal Democrat Councillor Ray Gipson, over a hundred local businesses on Fish Island have been saved.

The original outline plan for the Olympic site had earmarked Fish Island as a temporary coach and car park during the games. Fish Island is a thriving business sector of Tower Hamlets and the plans involved compulsory purchases and the relocation of over a hundred businesses.

Gavin Ridding of the Fish Island Business Club and Cllr Ray Gipson protested against this. At the time they were reassured by the London Development Agency that there would be further negotiations with businesses before any further action was taken.

However, in December 2005 many businesses in Fish Island received Compulsory Purchase Orders from the London Development Agency. This sparked outrage and many felt betrayed. An emergency meeting was called and the Fish Island Business Club passed a resolution to fight the CPOs. They engaged Planning Aid for London to develop alternative proposals for the Olympic site that would safeguard local business and jobs.

Their hard work and commitment paid off. On Monday 30th January the LDA issued a press release stating that they are releasing the majority of Fish Island and resiting the car and coach park.

Cllr Gipson said, "I'm a big supporter of the Olympics coming to London but I never understood why we should clear a busy industrial area just to have a temporary car park. We've fought against the proposals as we believed it was possible to keep our businesses and have the Olympics. We were right. I'm really proud of what we've achieved here. We've had absolutely no help from the Labour-run Council which I think is outrageous given the number of local businesses and jobs that were under threat."

Ends