2012 proposals omit legacy

[Massimo.A. Allamandola]

2012 proposals omit legacy plan / Joey Gardiner, Regeneration & Renewal 
- 09 February 2007 /

A promised new masterplan for the legacy of the Olympics will not be 
submitted until 2008, the agency responsible said this week.

The Olympic Delivery Authority, responsible for building the Olympic 
Park and venues, this week submitted updated planning applications. But 
the ODA said a further "Legacy Masterplan Framework", determining what 
happens to most of the 246ha site after the 2012 Games, will not be 
submitted until 2008.

The ODA said that it had always planned to publish the documents 
separately, but admitted this information had not been made public.

The news follows a report by government auditors last week which said 
legacy ambitions could be endangered by the failure to make key 
decisions (see Physical Regeneration News, p11).

In addition, the ODA was unable to clarify whether legally enforceable 
planning conditions attached to its previous applications for the 
Olympic Park will be retained under the new submission. The previous 
planning conditions committed the ODA to, amongst other benefits: 
deciding all legacy uses before beginning construction work, ensuring 
that half the homes built on the Olympic site would be affordable if 
commercially viable, and, "as far as possible", building all homes to 
lifetime homes standards.

In 2004, two planning applications were approved for the Games and its 
legacy development. But last year the ODA announced significant changes 
to the Olympics masterplan designed to put the Games on a more compact 
site, which it said would require new planning applications. The 
applications submitted this week supersede the previous Games 
application, but do not include a new legacy application to take account 
of the changes.

Jason Prior, principal at Olympics masterplanner Edaw, denied this 
jeopardised the Games' stated intent of "locking in" legacy from day 
one. "In the public consultation the community have been grateful we 
want to take the time to do it properly," he said.

But Jenny Jones, Green party member of the London Assembly, said: "They 
said legacy would be locked-in at every stage, but we are concerned the 
cost pressures will make legacy an optional extra."

The most significant of the two applications submitted this week covers 
the remediation and preparation of the Olympic Park, the construction of 
the park and venues, and the infrastructure that will remain after the 
Games. The second covers part of the Olympic village that will house the 
athletes.

ODA chief executive David Higgins said he expected the new planning 
applications to be determined by summer this year.

PERFORMANCE TARGETS

The Olympic Delivery Authority has now agreed a set of key performance 
indicators with its main contractor CLM, following a presentation by the 
firm in the last two weeks, ODA chief executive David Higgins said this 
week. These indicators will determine the exact regeneration targets 
under which the contractor will be held to account. However, Higgins 
said they were awaiting sign-off by the Olympic board before being made 
public.

- Regeneration & Renewal's Fair Games campaign seeks to ensure that the 
Olympics delivers its promised regeneration benefits.
regen.net