LDA Starts Consultation on London 2012 Legacy

People living and working in the five host boroughs met with planners today as the London Development Agency began 18 months of consultation into how the Olympic Park site will be used after 2012.

Today's Legacy Launch Event at Stratford Circus opened the platform for people to register their involvement at the very start of the planning process. The work will culminate in an outline planning application in 2009 which will set the framework of homes, parkland, schools, workspace, health and sporting facilities in the Lower Lea Valley.

The event, being held in conjunction with the five host boroughs, laid on discussion groups about urban planning and a street market themed afternoon where visitors  toured stalls to get information about the different  areas of legacy. It is part of a wider engagement process by the partners which will also focus on other legacy strands such as jobs and skills.

The LDA also launched two new publications on the day covering both the physical legacy and skills and jobs legacy: Legacy Now: Shaping the Olympic Park Legacy: Employment and Skills update for 2012. A legacy website is planned for the spring.

Tom Russell, Group Director of Olympic Legacy at the LDA, said:

"The most important legacy clients are the people that live and work around the Olympic site. If we are to create an area that will revitalise east London then it must be integrated with existing communities, and to do that local people must have a key role in the planning process.

"The physical planning is just one strand of our work in ensuring the best social and economic legacy for London. Working with our Olympic partners, the LDA continues to deliver a legacy now in terms of skills training and business opportunities linked to the London 2012 Games."

Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales, who represented the five boroughs in opening the event, said:

"This is an exciting event for the residents of London's five host boroughs. We are already seeing benefits from the London 2012 Games with one in five jobs on the Olympic Park going to local people. But we want the benefits to last long after 2012, creating an attractive, vibrant area.
 
"The best way to ensure success is to involve the people who will be living here long after the crowds have gone home. This event is the start of that important dialogue and I look forward to hearing some great ideas."

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said:

"Today marks the start of one of the most rewarding and important phases of the regeneration that the 2012 Games will bring to the east of London. This is a fantastic opportunity for local residents to have their say in how the regeneration process should work to ensure they maximise the legacy benefits and that one of the most blighted parts of the UK is transformed with new homes, jobs and community facilities."

ODA Chairman John Armitt said:

"We are cleaning and clearing neglected industrial land to create new world-class sports venues and a new urban park fit for athletes and spectators in London 2012 and communities in legacy. We want to bring people with us on the path to London 2012, enabling them to judge progress and help shape the legacy. Today is an important part of the LDA and ODA work to bring together the range of organisations and people that can help us ensure London 2012 leaves a sustainable legacy."

The market stall themes included: what is legacy, how do I get involved, what’s in it for me, legacy for young people, legacy venues and buildings, natural environment and parklands, beyond the Olympic Park zone and meet the masterplanners. They were coupled with more detailed discussion groups about designing a new urban district.

The event was staffed by the 2012 partners as well as Personal Best graduates - an LDA and London 2012 led training programme that offers unemployed people the chance to gain a qualification in volunteering with the chance of becoming a Games-time volunteer. The programme was piloted in 11 borough last year and will be rolled out across London from April.

In the coming months the LDA will launch a variety of communication channels to engage as many people as possible in the legacy planning process. These will include a website, hotline, workshops, presentations and other events.

Last month, the LDA appointed KCAP Architects & Planners, Allies and Morrison and EDAW as masterplanners for the Olympic site. http://www.lda.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.2444