An Olympic Decision
One of the top highlights from the last five years was undoubtedly London's winning of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic bid www.london2012.com. The Games have the potential to deliver significant and lasting regeneration of east London, and preparations are now well advanced for the construction of the Olympic Park and key event venues.
Gateway to London's Chief Officer, Inward Investment, Gill Marshall recalls the excitement when London was awarded the Olympics. Here she talks about the gathering momentum in hosting the world's largest sporting event and the lasting legacy that this will create for the region.
It's hard to imagine anything bigger than the Olympic and Paralympic Games arriving on your doorstep, and I'm sure most people would say winning the bid has been the highlight of the last five years. Ask anyone, and they will most likely be able to tell you straight away where they were when they heard the news. I was in Stratford with the Gateway to London team, waiting with bated breath. as hundreds of people went completely silent - then erupted in to the loudest, longest cheer I have ever heard!
But what will all this sport really mean for our region? Surely there can be no greater catalyst for regeneration than the eyes of the world, from sports fans to the media to royalty and dignitaries, coming to London Thames Gateway expecting the very highest standards in transport, design and environment.
Aside from the excitement of hosting such a prestigious event, it is the legacy which holds the key for our region, as never before have an Olympic and Paralympic Games attracted such devotion to the months and years following the two week event. From the very beginning, the 2.5km square site, creating the largest planning application in Europe's history, has been planned with legacy in mind, including environmental sustainability, excellence in design, and a modern, fit-for-purpose transport infrastructure.
I've taken each in turn, and looked first at how the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games promise to be the most environmentally sustainable ever - including ensuring that 50% of construction materials are transported by rail or barge, rather than road, and designing in the latest technology such as Combined Cooling, Heat and Power units (CCHP) and biomass boilers. Existing inhabitants of the Olympic Park are already being looked after, with several species, including Great Crested Newts, being ‘translocated' from their current homes to new habitats, with help from biodiversity experts at neighbouring Lee Valley Regional Park Authority.
The strongest theme running through the entire 2012 project is "excellence with innovation", especially related to the design and construction of venues. Many of the buildings on the main site will be adapted for use for years to come in legacy, including 4,000 homes which will be created out of the athletes' village.
Perhaps the greatest legacy for the London Thames Gateway region will be the huge investments for our local and regional transport network. Just two weeks ago St Pancras International station opened, and during the 2012 games the Javelin service will be bringing 25,000 people an hour in to Stratford International station. Meanwhile the DLR is seeing a 50% increase in capacity, with 55 additional carriages being bought (22 of these funded by the Olympic Delivery Authority). The DLR network is being expanded, with a 2.5km extension to Woolwich already well under way, and plans for a 6km link from Canning Town to Stratford. The Jubilee underground line is also seeing improvements to signalling which will mean an increase in capacity of 25%, and new platforms are to be built at Stratford Regional station to meet demand.
Next summer, the world's attention will turn fully to the London Thames Gateway region, once the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing have finished and the Olympic Torch is handed to London. Perhaps those of us living and working here are more excited not about the sport and records to be broken, but about the years to come and our potential to be a benchmark twenty first century urban environment. I, for one, can't wait.
