The forced eviction of over 100 artists and the flattening of their thriving live/work warehouse studios back in 2018 was not exactly the finest hour for the Olympic legacy project.

Fiercely expressed local sentiment (clocking up thousands of petition signatures and formal letters of objection) was ultimately overlooked in favour of installing what can been observed today as a depressingly underused additional bridge over the River Lea Navigation.

However, Covid offered a stay of execution for loads more creative businesses in the neighbouring buildings, which today include multi-purpose creative hire venue Vittoria Wharf Studio and the thriving all-day workspace, gallery, bar and community hub where this magazine is based, Two More Years, formerly known as Stour Space.

Property developers have long eyed-up replacing there remaining warehouses on the waterfront with highrise apartments, with a promise of delivering ‘creative workspace’ to replace what is lost. However, campaigners have little faith that such provision would be as affordable or desirable as the organic creative ecosystem that exists happily there at the moment.

The return of planning powers from the LLDC to Tower Hamlets Council in 2024 led to a different approach this part of the legacy rollout, and a refusal of the proposed redevelopment plans last year, on the grounds of preventing further displacement of the area’s grassroots creatives.

Undeterred, the developers are appealing the decision, with the public enquiry due at the end of August. This is despite Vittoria Wharf previously being designated as one of the UK’s first Assets of Community Value (ACV), which should, in theory at least, mitigate some threats.

The battle is not over, and cherished jewels in the Hackney Wick & Fish Island crown still have an executioners sword hanging over them, despite the mercifully slowed pace of the redevelopment plan over recent years.