DEMONSTRATORS gathered on the town hall steps last week to celebrate victory after councillors voted by five to three against a controversial scheme to move a set of allotments on the Olympic Park to a new site in Leyton.

The campaigners, who were being filmed as part of a BBC documentary on the run-up to the Olympics, expressed their delight at the news, along with Liberal Democrat councillors Bob Sullivan and Naheed Quereshi.

Rosemary Johnson of the Lammas Lands Defence Committee proclaimed: "We have seen some common sense come to the fore at last.

"The London Development Agency (LDA) will, we fear, be back. There will be other attacks on our precious open spaces. We will maintain our vigilance and we will fight them all off."

The Manor Allotments in Waterden Road, Stratford,has been home to allotments for over 80 years.

An alternative site for 81 plots was proposed by the LDA, which submitted the planning application to have the allotments moved to a site at Marsh Lane playing fields, Leyton.

Some of this land, known as Lammas Land, is the subject of a centuries-old agreement, whereby the land is reserved for public use.

Cllr Sullivan criticised the thoroughness of the search to provide an alternative site.

He said: "The site search by the LDA was feeble.

"If you look at the appendix of possible sites, Hackney Marsh would not be appropriate for a temporary allotment site due to its ecological status and existing sports use."

Laurence Wortley, member of the Lammas Lands Defence Committee, said he had heard a lot of concerns from local residents - ranging from uneasiness about the loss of the open space to doubts over whether the land would be returned post-2012.

Residents also objected to a proposal to put a two-and-a-half metre-high fence around the site to protect it from vandalism and the fact that the new site on Marsh Lane fields is contaminated by asbestos and rubble.

THE London Development Agency has said it plans to appeal against the council's rejection of its plan.

The current Manor Road allotment site is described by the LDA as being at the centre of the Olympic Park.

It added that a significant part of the site needed to be lowered by up to six metres to provide a flood prevention area to protect the area - hence the proposal to move the allotments to Leyton.

Gareth Blacker, director of the Olympic Land Team at the LDA, said that it was surprised and disappointed by the council's rejection of the planning application but still committed to working closely with allotment holders.

Andrew Gaskell from the LDA, present at the planning committee meeting, said: "We recognise that this is a sensitive issue that goes right to the heart of the community.

"Bringing allotments to this position will give Waltham Forest residents the chance to grow food first hand. It has the support of the allotment officer, the green space group and the planning officer."

Cllr Eric Sizer told the committee that the proposal might not be good for some people but the Olympic bid was good for the borough as a whole, and added: "We have to take it on trust that the allotments will be returned."