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The M11 Link Road
| 1920 | Winston Churchill, as MP for Wanstead and Woodford, firmly opposes the road when it is first discussed in the 1920s. |
| 1993 | After thirty years of protest, 3 public enquiries, and 2 high court challenges against the project, Construction begins on the M11 Link Road. |
| 1993 | A tree house established by protestors in a 250 year old chestnut tree on the George Green is recognised as an official dwelling at the High Court in London, making it harder for the Department of Transport to evist the occupiers Green Dave and Tania Bone. |
| 1993 | The Government is granted possession of the George Green by the same court, allowing them to push ahead with eviction proceedings. |
| 1993 | Around 200 police and 150 security guards arrive at the George Green in the early hours to start evicting protestors, many of whom had chained themselves together around the chestnut tree. Amid claims of heavy-handedness on the part of the authorities, the police eventually form a cordon around the tree which is then torn down by a mechanical digger amidst tears and screams from protestors and local residents. The day became known to the protestors as Blue Tuesday. |
| 1994 | Independent Free Area of Wanstonia is declared, from a group of six houses awaiting destruction on Cambridge Park. A copy of the declaration is sent to the Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd, who chose not to reply. |
| 1994 | Operation Barnard is put into effect by the police. Some 600 police and security guards arrive at Wanstonia, and remove protestors - some of whom had chained themselves together through buildings and chimney stacks - one by one before bringing the houses down with diggers. |
| 1999 | Some two years late and vastly over budget - estimated to have cost £69 million per kilometre - the road was finally opened to traffic by the Chief Executive of the UK Highway Agency, Mr Lawrie Haynes. |
See also these other related articles:
| The M11 Link Road 1993-1999 | |
Resources used in researching this article:
| Life in the Fast Lane - The NO M11 Story | |
| UK Indymedia - Tenth Anniversary of the Siege of Wanstonia | |