LEGACY IS ABOUT WHAT YOU LEAVE FUTURE GENERATIONS
The completion date for Drapers Field was 30/09/13, nearly four years after that date and nearly five years after the 2012 Olympics Drapers Field junior grass football pitch is still not ready for use. It has been unavailable for public use for even longer if you take into account the period when the Olympic Delivery Authority had use of the field. The council's new date of September 2017 to hand the pitch over to Greenwich Leisure Limited for hiring out looks very unlikely.
The Olympic Delivery Authority planning decisions team has told me(12/07/10 at 15.56 ) that under normal circumstances when the Olympic Delivery Authority no longer need to use a piece of land they would, in accordance with the contract, return it as it originally was or in an improved state.
However, the LBWF council said "we consider ourselves as landowners best-placed to manage and deliver a suitable scheme on Drapers Field after the 2012 Games. It is for this reason that the site is not being reinstated by the Olympic Delivery Authority".
The local Guardian newspaper reported 27/07/10 on the council meeting concerning the future plans for Drapers Field.
Speaking at a council meeting last week, council leader Chris Robbins said: “The Olympic Delivery Authority have agreed to negotiate some considerable sums of money to compensate us for the loss of this amenity.
“We would be able, through the compensation package, to completely refurbish Draper's Field...we could turn it into a very special park.”
He added: “There would also have to be a stringent agreement about how they [the Olympic Delivery Authority] hand it back. I don't want them to hand it back in a complete mess that we then have to pay to sort out.”
Well it is the council who have over seen this FAILURE. This is a bit rich from the council considering they insisted that they were the best people to reinstate it.
The section 106 agreement schedule 4 Sport England's Requirements point 2 states: construction of a new junior natural turf Playing Pitch including any drainage and pitch improvement works in accordance with "Natural Turf for Sport" (Sport England 2011) to meet the basic Performance Quality Standards as stipulated by Sport England.
The council has stated, 6th September 2016, "the junior pitch was created during the redevelopment of the site and needed time to establish itself. Unfortunately, this was unsuccessful and the area has become very compacted and has not been suitable for organised football to be played.
The council has had ground surveys carried out to determine what remedial work is required and has now commissioned a contractor to verti-drain, aerate, level and reseed the pitch. This work will commence on 27th September 2016 and will enable the pitch to be available from September 2017 for bookings."
This work has now been completed and appears to have been unsuccessful.
The temporary fence protecting the seeding spends more time down than up and is not protecting the seeding. Despite several calls to the council the fence is just left mangled on the floor as in the pictures.
The perimeter fence in Temple Mills Lane has a missing railing that allows 24 hour access for people to get in and do as much damage as they like.
There has been a fire on the decking.
Is someone deliberately running the field down or is it negligence or incompetence?
There is no evidence that any of the vandalism has been reported to the police or fire brigade.
Are the council still trying to get flats on Drapers Field?
Despite there being cctv at Drapers Field no one has been caught vandalising the fence .
Sport England have been notified and the council have had nearly 2 million pounds for drapers field reinstatement this was meant to be a Olympic legacy for drapers field .
Current problems on the field include damage to the decking caused by fire, due to issues with the water supply the junior pitch is very dry with bald patches and is full of weeds.
The Councils own playing pitch strategy shows a shortage of pitches in the area the document is on this site. The astro turf is very popular and the whole field is a pleasure for local people and visitors. https://static.walthamforest.gov.uk/sp/documents/july2011-wf-pps-playing-pitch-strategy.pdf
Don't you just love your borough.
Here are some photos showing the current state of the field.
