October 2009 Archives

The Olympic Delivery Authority has been granted planning permission for Eton Manor, the proposed venue for Olympic and Paralympic swimmers training during the 2012 Games.

Images of the venues at the site, which forms part of the 500-acre Olympic Park in the Lower Lea Valley in east London, can be viewed here.

I've been enjoying the way the story about Boris supporting the idea of cricket at the Olympic Stadium post Games has been playing out since EGi first wrote about it two weeks ago.
As we predicted, the MCC, which owns Lord's, has been getting particularly hot under the collar.
According to the BBC the MCC is planning to "hit the competition head on" if the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium is used to host floodlit cricket after the 2012 Games.

Good to see Boris reigniting the drive to bring Eurostar to Stratford in east London.
Way before the Olympics came to town, the government and then London & Continental Railways and Chelsfield and Stanhope's plans for regeneration around a new Stratford station were predicated to a significant degree on Eurostar's plans to stop in the east London town.
Stratford International was initially conceived as the London stop for Eurostar services from northern England, with services expected to start running as long ago as 2003.
Everyone who bought into the regeneration of the area did so on the understanding that this would happen and have been exasperated by the decision to backtrack on the commitment in 2006.

I notice that much of the media has picked up on my Friday story about Boris making moves to bring international cricket to the Olympic Stadium post-Games.

Here is just a smattering: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/london2012/6400739/London-2012-stadium-could-host-Twenty20-matches.html#

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jYfcp_GK3x4GjpLMDiE6lR1QT_vQ
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23759106-cricket-to-be-an-olympic-winner-with-2012-legacy.do

I'm not just blowing this blog's trumpet as it were, but I just want to point out my disappointment that the story has not moved forward, which is a concern.

Baroness Margaret Ford and Andrew Altman were in candid mood this afternoon as they faced some difficult questions from the an obviously supportive London Assembly Economic Development Culture Sport and Tourism Committee.

Clearly relationships are being formed and it seems that Ford and Altman have been listening intently to Assembly member concerns and are prepared to confront the issues head on.

Most interestingly Ford made it clear that the newly formed Olympic Park Legacy Company wants to redesign the LDA's masterplan for the 500-acre Olympics park so that swathes of high-rise apartment blocks are replaced with lower-rise housing targeted at families.

Ford said that an initial review of the London Development Agency's current masterplan for the Olympic Park post Games had found that around 75% to 80% was "reasonable" but that far too many of the 10,000 residential units were high-rise flats.

Just been typing up something on how the two senior figures at the Olympic Delivery Authority got on this morning as they faced a Plenary meeting of the London Assembly's Economic Development Culture Sport and Tourism Committee.

Most significant I think was the question from Len Duvall (in his absence), which picked up on our EG article two weeks ago about the NAO appointing King Sturge to advise on a review of all ODA property matters, in particular its aborted deals with the private sector to fund the 2012 Athletes Village and the 1m sq ft Media Centre.

ODA chief executive David Higgins (pictured) said he was "very confident" that the ODA would be proved to have achieved value for money.

Higgins said: "The main advice I gave to the ODA board in March of this year on the Athletes Village was that while there was a private sector deal ready to be done, we should not do it.

Tomorrow will be fascinating and illuminating for all interested in the legacy aspect of the Olympics developments in east London.
Most significantly, the Economic Development, Culture, Sport and Tourism Committee will be interviewing the Olympic Park Legacy Company's chair Baroness Margaret Ford and chief executive Andrew Altman about the role of the vehicle in delivering a legacy.
Crucially, the committee is proposing to "establish the extent to which lines of accountability and decision-making are clear and appropriate to ensure delivery of the legacy objectives".
In a nutshell, the main issues the committee will focus on are:

Nascent plans to turn the Olympic Stadium in east London post 2012 Games in to a "super-stadium" able to respond to the growing popularity of Twenty20 cricket sound at first glance like a genuinely sound solution.

As I have written today, after a smattering of support for the idea in the summer when English grounds were playing out to packed houses during the Ashes, Boris has also signed up to the idea that the Olympics Stadium might be perfect for the nation's summer report.

Details of a Johnson-inspired review of the idea emerged in a mayoral response to London Assembly Labour Party member for City and East John Biggs about cricket facilities in east London.

The news filtering out over the last few days that Boris Johnson and central government are reaching an agreement of sorts over where venues for the 2012 Olympics will be housed is significant for two reasons I think.

Firstly, it backs up Boris's pledge - again voiced in the publication of the draft London Plan last week - that the 2012 Olympics and its impact on the capital is going to be his administration's priority, and secondly it suggests that Boris has the ability to force through significant change.

Just to update on the story below which I published in the Estates Gazette on Saturday revealing that the NAO is to undertake a thorough review of the government's aborted deals with private sector for the development of the Olympic village and media centre.
There are plenty of theories about why the NAO is specifically reviewing these deals alongside the various land deals completed by the ODA across the country - and a lot of them I would be foolhardy to print.
Suffice to say that King Sturge's appointment means this is going to be a particularly thorough examination of how competently the negotiations were carried out and given the money that has been spent by the public that can only be a good thing. I think the NAO report will make for very interesting reading at the beginning of next year any way.

The London Assembly is to carry out a wide-ranging review of the work of the new Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC), according to the insidethegames web site.

It says the Assembly's Economic Development, Culture, Sport and Tourism (EDCST) Committee is setting out to "gain a clearer understanding of how, when and by whom decisions will be made, and who stands to gain from the sale of the land after the Games".

On a site tour around east London's fringe Olympic locations including the Royal Docks this week it was enlightening and entertaining to see how businesses relocated to make way for the Olympics Park are faring.
H Forman & Son, Britain's oldest fish smokery and the company that fought a noisy battle in the media with the LDA over its relocation from the Olympic site to nearby Fish Island, has undoubtedly cleverly made a positive out of the whole disruptive business.
The group now has a splendid salmon pink building located on the aptly named Bream Street directly opposite the stadium and has opened a restaurant there offering "unrivalled views of the Olympic Park". Don't be surprised if it becomes a major place for events during the Games.

Just got back to the office from interviewing the new Olympic Park Legacy Company chief executive Andrew Altman - look out for the full interview in Saturday's Estates Gazette.
He's certainly keeping his hand close to his chest on a number of the key issues as you might expect - the first signs of the vehicle's business plan will not arrive until next spring. But he's also full of interesting ideas about regeneration and unquestionably excited about the challenge ahead.

As predicted, a wave of interviews with the new Olympic Park Legacy Company chief executive Andrew Altman has begun today with an illuminating piece in the Evening Standard.

Sadly from my point of view the LDA decided the Standard was the best place to start - I'm told my scheduled spot next Tuesday is the first interview with the "trade" as the likes of me are kindly termed.
Altman's first move is clearly going to be to pour cold water on the idea that Spurs are going to be moving to the Olympic Stadium any time soon or that ITV are about to take up residence in the media centre.