THE OLYMPIC SITE

© ODA / London 2012

The 2012 Summer Olympics will be held in London from 27 July to 12 August 2012. London will become the first city to host the Games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and 1948.

© ODA 2008 / London 2012

However, this will involve the compulsory purchase of some businesses and this has already caused controversy, with some of the existing business owners claiming that the compensation on offer is inadequate.

An aerial view of the Olympic Park. One of the main planks of our bid was that there would be a positive legacy left behind after the closure of the Games.

Some of the new facilities will be reused in their Olympic form, while others will be reduced in size (the velodrome for example) and several will be relocated elsewhere in the country.

The main 500 acre Olympic Park will contribute significantly to the regeneration of Stratford and the Lea Valley.

THE OLYMPIC STADIUM AND THE SOUTH

© Ordnance Survey

This 1:10000 scale map shows the current land use for the site of the Olympic Stadium – it will be where the works is currently located between Marshgate Lane and City Mill River.

An artists impression of the inside of the 80,000 seater Olympic Stadium which will be reduced in size to 25,000 after the Games.

This may not seem very good value having paid for a larger stadium which will only be used for 2 weeks! However, there is still talk of West Ham moving into the full stadium.

Marshgate Lane as it goes round the back of what will be the Olympic Stadium. These power cables were buried underground. The burial was amongst the first work carried out on the whole site and would certainly not have been done had the Olympics not been won.

Some of the 385 businesses that had to relocate.

The main entrance to this company was replaced by an entrance to the Olympic Stadium

This curtain making company was situated in the back straight of the Olympic Stadium! It is looking to move towards the M11 – closer to the area where most of its business is done. It will got help both financially and strategically to find a new site.

Leaving.....

Leaving.....

Leaving.....

There was also a lot of dereliction, contamination and under utilised land. The Olympics will result in the regeneration of 100 hectares of land and the construction of 160,000 square metres of employment floor space.

The organisers claim that 3,000 permanent new jobs will be created, although opponents of the Games are concerned that some of the 11,000 existing jobs in the Olympic Zone will be lost.

The view South from Pudding Lane DLR station looking at what is now the site of the media and press centre which will be converted after the Games into a creative industries centre for East London.

Just some of the 300 odd businesses that had to relocate.

They had compulsory purchase orders served on them and had o be gone by 2007 when the bull dozers move in.

Leaving.....and not happy about it

Leaving.....and not happy about it – taxi repair workshop

Leaving.....and not happy about it

Gone

Derelict and was levelled

Scrapyard – now gone

Mess everywhere before the Games

This was the Greenway – part of a series of ‘green’ designated paths thoughout London. Used rarely for its intended purpose I suspect. Will have been upgraded by now.Normally used as a drag strip for local youths on their motorcycles.

The Greenway was not so green beforehand

A heron enjoys some summer sunshine. Before the Games

Will this diversity of wildlife be seen again?

Part of the River Lea which flow sbehind the main stadium.

There are a number waterways running through the proposed site host to an incredibly rich diversity of flora and fauna.

It was intended to incorporate (and indeed add to) these waterways in the Olympic Park.

THE OLYMPIC VILLAGE AND THE CENTRE This was Clays Lane estate. The only major residential area on the proposed site. As you can se it comprised of two tower blocks and some low rise properties. Much of the accommodation was let out to the University of East London.

By all accounts it was not a terribly nice area – with tales of social workers and Police visiting the area in pairs.

The estate was demolished to make way for the 17,320 bed Olympic Village.

After the games the village will become a district of Stratford City - providing 3,000 new homes

It is intended that the Olympic Village Medical Centre will be converted into a lifelong learning centre for the East London community with a nursery and primary and secondary schools.

Now the Olympic Village.

Now the Olympic Village.

This scrub land in the Lea Valley Park is now the hockey centre.

The popular Lee Valley Cycle Circuit which made way for hockey pitches and part of the Olympic village. Mr S has cycled on this many times – when he lived nearby in Tottenham

THE VELODROME AND THE NORTH

Now a 6,000 seat velodrome and BMX circuit (actually unused before the Games – couldn’t afford to maintain it.)

Part of the old sports centre where once Mr Shimmin could be found, occasionally.

TRANSPORT

View from Stratford shopping centre car park over the site for the Stratford International Station and the Olympic site.

Public transport, an aspect of the bid which scored poorly initially will see numerous improvements........

......including the expansion of London Underground’s East London Line and the new “Olympic Javelin” service which will bring passengers to the site from Kings Cross/St Pancras in 7 minutes

.It is impossible to assess how many of the proposed improvements would have happened without the arrival of the Games.

During the Games 80% of spectators will arrive by rail. Together, all the rail, light rail and underground services are expected to deliver around 240 trains every hour.

There will also be two park and ride sites off the M25 with a combined capacity of 12,000 cars.

The land on which it and the Olympic Park is to be built was owned by British Rail and used as a railway junction, turning sheds, repair yards and for warehousing

The new Stratford International railway terminal opened in 2007

The land between the new terminal and the present station will be developed into a £3.5 million shopping centre as part of the Stratford City development.

The entire development is scheduled to be complete by 2020.Eventually, Stratford City will transform the area providing 13.5 million square ft of mixed-use development including:

•5 million square ft of commercial development including landmark buildings •1.5 million square ft of new shopping, leisure and social facilities. The retail element will comprise 100+ retail units with 3 anchor department stores. •4,500 new homes and 1, 000 new residents. 30% of homes will be affordable (shared ownership, key worker and social rented) •2,000 new hotel rooms •A new 900 pupil secondary school, and a primary school for up to four forms of entry •A primary health care centre and an NHS walk-in centre 15,000 jobs in the construction phases •A further 29,000-34,000 new, permanent jobs (up to 25,000 in financial and business services, 6,000 in retail and 3,000 in leisure, entertainment and hospitality)

This is part of the area the last slide was talking about

A cutting for the Eurostar as it enters Stratford International Station

Canary Wharf in the background (across the river)

THE EDGE OF THE OLYMPIC SITE

Drapers Field Sports Ground. Although they lie outside the Olympic Park these playing fields were upgraded to provide training and warm up facilities for the Games.

The sales office of this Bellway Homes development on the southern edge of the site was inundated with calls immediately after the award was announced.

The company took the remaining properties off the market until they could establish a realistic market value for them. It is likely that they were bought as investment properties.

The Lock – a Bellway Homes new development with the River Lea running behind it.

A new block of flats goes up right on the edge of the Olympic Park at Old Ford Locks. The stadium is only be 200m away The River Lea runs in front.

BOROUGHS AND AGENCIES

Newham is one of five London Boroughs that will be directly affected by the building of the Olympic Park. The others are Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Greenwich and Waltham Forest.

Newham was named as the most ethnically diverse borough in Britain in the 2001 census.

More than 110 languages are spoken there and it is one of only two boroughs where the white population is less than 50%.

Broadly speaking, 39% of the population is White, 33% Asian and 22% black, with 3% Chinese and 3% mixed race. The population of the borough is just under 240,000 – the 9 th largest in London. This is a rise of 15% (30,000) since 1991. The population is young – 41% of the population is under 25 compared with the London average of 32. 

Almost 7% of the economically active residents said they were unemployed, compared with just over 4% for the rest of London.

An organisation called the Joint Planning Authorities Team was established to process the Olympic Planning applications submitted by the London Development Agency and to advise and make recommendations to the four local planning authorities that are to determine the applications.

The London Development Agency is an arm of the Mayor of London established to encourage regeneration of deprived areas of London. It aims to support regeneration by:

1.delivering an effective infrastructure for London’s future growth and development.

2.supporting the delivery of an adequate supply of commercial property and homes

3.promoting the development of a healthy, sustainable safe and high quality urban environment.

BOROUGHS AND AGENCIES

LOCAL SUPPORT ?!

Feelings ran high amongst some businesses. Forman and Field are a firm of long established salmon smokers. They moved to the area in 2002 and proceeded to build a state of the art smoking facility. Lance Forman the managing director argues that 50 jobs have been lost that have been in the east end for years.