Legacy in dust: the Olympic neighbours from hell?

ACCORDING to the slogans on those imposing hoardings, the London Olympic Games will be “Everyone’s 2012” – but that’s not how many of the residents of Leabank Square see things.

The people of this area of Wick, which lies just over the river from the Olympics site, are finding their neighbours’ behaviour antisocial.

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) promised to take steps to contain dust churned up by building work – but residents say the ODA isn’t doing enough to clean up its act.

The latest debacle runs thus: the ODA has threatened one Leabank Square resident with legal action over comments posted on a community blog.

The offending posts suggested that an ODA employee had been less than truthful about the extent to which it is cleaning up its Olympian mess.

Regardless of the rights and wrongs of the case, the ODA’s warning of possible legal action has done little to improve community relations and may have even escalated the situation. It has certainly attracted the attention of the media.

Similarly, last year, concerned that Iain Sinclair’s criticism of the 2012 Games ran counter to its own Olympics buoyancy, Hackney Council “uninvited” the author from an event at one of its libraries – resulting in a flurry of national and local publicity for Sinclair.

With a strongly-worded missive from its legal team, the ODA looks to have made a similar move.

More on local voices here.