Conditions were overcast with an easterly wind blowing this morning so I headed to East India Dock Basin with a view to a spot of river watching hoping that the conditions would produce some tern passage. By the time I arrived at the DLR station it was obvious that something odd was going on, lots of people were milling around and a throbbing headache-inducing bass beat was coming from the direction of the Lea. I suspected that something was happening on the Pura foods peninsula so I headed for the north end of Bow Creek Eco Park to get an elevated vantage point. The southern end of the peninsula was a mass of people breaking up wooden fences to fuel the several fires that had been started, the three storey glass building was full of people and practically every pane of glass was covered in grafitti. Fortunately most of the people were staying close to the building and not venturing onto the flat gravel area where the Little Ringed Plovers are suspected of breeding. I immediately phoned the Lea Valley Regional Park emergency number and advised them to lock the gates on both reserves as the people attending this event clearly had no respect for property and no consideration for the local residents. The most worrying aspect of this affair is that whoever organised this event clearly broke into the site ignoring the notices of "rapid response security protection" posted on the gate, once news gets out that this is an easily accessable site I'm afraid that "travellers" will get wind of it and set up camp there with the attendent problems of fly-tipping, vandalism and anti-social behavior they will inevitably bring; watch this space.
No comments:
Post a Comment