‘Marshroots’ art attack is latest weapon in campaign to ‘save’ green space

Artists created works for the exhibition as part of a day of action on the Marshes last year. Photograph: Save Lea Marshes

Artists created works for the exhibition as part of a day of action on the Marshes last year. Photograph: Save Lea Marshes

Artworks celebrating the flora and fauna of Leyton Marsh are being exhibited at a Hackney cafe as part of the latest stage in a campaign fighting ‘over-development’ of one of East London’s most cherished wild spaces.

The timing of this exhibition of paintings is apt, coming around a year on from the removal of a temporary Olympic basketball training facility that was controversially built on Leyton Marsh amid protests from activists.

This area of parkland, a designated nature reserve, is part of a wider green lung known as the Lea Marshes that includes Hackney and Walthamstow Marshes.

Pressure group Save Lea Marshes, which organised a rally to ‘save’ the green space earlier this month, is opposed to Hackney Councils plans for new car parks on Hackney Marshes as well as other schemes it says amount to ‘commercialisation’ of Metropolitan Open Land.

Hackney Council’s leisure chief Councillor Jonathan McShane has sought to play down the car park schemes, saying the Town Hall’s plans would result in fewer vehicles using the Marshes than have done so in the past.

Now Save Lea Marshes is encouraging people to enjoy paintings by artists, campaigners and local residents that are on show at Springfield Park’s Spark Café until the start of November.

Jane Bednall, a local artist and long-time Save Lea Marshes campaigner, has been instrumental in managing the project, dubbed Marshroots Art.

She said: “The community-led nature of the exhibition celebrates what residents cherish about the Marshes.”

Ms Bednall will be selling two of her own paintings to raise funds for the Save Lea Marshes campaign.

For more information on the campaign see saveleytonmarsh.wordpress.com

The exhibition is at Spark Café, Springfield Park, E5 9EF until 4 November

Related: 

Leader – Save Lea Marshes’ suspicions well founded

Save Lea Marshes campaigners warn of car park ‘threat’ to green space

3 Comments

  1. Love 'Real' Hackney on Friday 20 September 2013 at 11:23

    Your publication needs to represent the real people of Hackney not the ‘Johnny come latley’ brigade. Just how representative of the community are these so called community/user campaigns. How many black people are on these groups? How many asian people? The gentrification of Hackney is fuelled by these so called groups to raise their property prices and alianate those who have had to live in poor housing, go to failing schools and are constantly regarded as second class. Save Lea Marshes and all the other splinter groups attached to it do not represent the thousands of young people and adults who utilise the marshes for recreation, sport and pleasure. I’m sure these non-representative groups would rather one man and his dog walking on the marshes as opposed to those who frequently use it in good times and bad.



  2. Save Lea Marshes on Friday 20 September 2013 at 20:17

    Save Lea Marshes are proud to have fundraised to put on the free Reclaim the Marsh celebration, which was open to all the community to celebrate their love for the marshes. Both young and old took part in painting their representations of the marshes. We think the result demonstrates the community’s love for the marshes. We’re also happy that Springfield Cafe is displaying the art work for all the community to see for free.

    Our campaign arose from the specific destructive development of Leyton Marsh for the Olympics in 2012. However, we decided to continue our campaign until such time that our marshes are safeguarded as green open spaces for all to enjoy for nature, recreation and sport, free from privatisation and private development. We encourage anyone who shares this goal to join us.



  3. julian cheyne on Friday 20 September 2013 at 23:13

    Far from not representing local people who use the Marshes for recreation and sport Save Lea Marshes argued strongly for exactly these people and other users when Hackney Council put up the idea of using the Marshes again for music events. In this it supported and was joined by local sports groups, football clubs, the FA and the Cricket Board. Far from wanting gentrification people in these so called ‘splinter groups’ are keen to ensure a future for the existing community, want to see its schools succeed and its people receive genuinely affordable housing. The argument seems to be that to argue for retention of open space is a tactic to raise house prices and the likes of Save Lea Marshes are tarred, without any evidence, as gentrifiers because they seek this result. So is this contributor suggesting we build on Hackney Marshes?



Leave a Comment





This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.