London 2012 Organisers Update Olympic Park Plans

Olympic organisers today announced updated plans for the Olympic Park in East London designed to optimise lay out of facilities and enhance legacy benefits from the Olympic Park project, the centrepiece of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

The changes, which have been approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), involve adjustments to the location of the Olympic Village, media centres and the temporary coach and car parking site on Fish Island. They are part of a process that will further enhance the Olympic Park and its facilities, and underline London's commitment to delivering the best Olympic Games and Paralympic Games for the world's athletes and leave a world-class legacy.

The changes are:

• Integrating the Olympic Village, site of the athletes' accommodation and legacy housing, more fully with the Stratford City Development. This will allow a large part of the Village to be delivered through housing provision already planned for Stratford City, and will allow us to start construction on the Village earlier than anticipated as this land is already prepared and remediated for development. After the Games the Olympic Village is to be converted to housing.
  
• Moving the International Broadcast Centre and Main Press Centre from their proposed location in Pudding Mill Lane into the Park security cordon, improving security and providing a better platform for media activity with improved views of the Park and London's skyline.
  
• Releasing the majority of an area called Fish Island, which was previously earmarked for temporary car and coach parking, and resiting most of the car and coach park in a multi-storey car park already planned for the Stratford City site.

Announcing the updated plans, David Higgins, Chief-Executive designate of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), said the revised plans improve quality and security of the Olympic Park site as well as construction times.

"Having the best possible design plan in place for the Olympic Park is an important part of preparations for the crucial construction phase for the London Games. The integration of the Olympic Park and Stratford City projects has always been a key factor in our respective abilities to deliver both of these schemes successfully," Higgins said.

Lord Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), said: "The changes will bring the facilities closer together within the Olympic Park resulting in an improved lay-out that will make the site even more secure for all users, including athletes and spectators as well as visitors, staff and community groups."

The Olympic Park project will also create thousands of new jobs and affordable housing and help to transform large sections of physically deprived land in east London area into revitalised and sustainable communities.

Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, said: "These improvements show we are listening to all views to ensure the 2012 Games are the greatest ever. We are confident this design will achieve an even better fit between all the facilities in the Olympic Park and build in a fantastic legacy for East London right from the start."

Manny Lewis, Chief Executive of the London Development Agency (LDA) which is tasked with securing and preparing the land for the Olympic Park said: "These improvements will help deliver an enhanced legacy for London and Londoners, which has always been the core of our vision. The changes also mean that nearly a third of the businesses - and 1,200 jobs - which we originally needed to relocate can now remain where they are. This will significantly reduce the impact on local businesses."

Tessa Jowell, Olympics Minister and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said: "The important thing is getting it spot-on for 2012 and these changes will produce an even better Olympic Park - a sign of our determination not to sit on our laurels after Singapore but to refine our plans to deliver excellence for athletes, spectators, media and the entire Olympic family.

"And it is not just good news for the Games, but also for a significant number of businesses and their workers, as well as residents, who can now stay in place and not face re-location. London 2012 just got even better."

The changes will further enhance the London 2012 Games and legacy usage of the Olympic Park. "It is inevitable that there will be changes in delivering a project of this scale, but what is vital is that opportunities to strategically enhance the operation and long-term use of sites like the Olympic Park are identified as early as possible and this is what we are focussing on," Higgins said.

"We are able to announce these changes to the Park plans now because we have advanced our discussions with the Stratford City development partners over the last few months since winning the Olympic Bid. The changes will help us deliver a better Games and a lasting legacy for East London," said Higgins.

Stephen Jordan, Managing Director of the Stations and Property Division of London & Continental Railways, lead partner in the Stratford City development partnership, said: "London & Continental Railways and its partners in the Stratford City project have been working very closely with the Interim Olympic Delivery Authority team and we believe that tighter integration between the Olympic Games and Stratford City will work well. As the major facilitator of regeneration in the area, we have been keen to ensure that not only are the London 2012 Games a success but also that the legacy delivers the homes and jobs, as well as the commercial and retail facilities that East London needs. We are confident that the revised plans are a very good positive step forward."

Former Chief Operating Officer for the Sydney Olympic Games Organising Committee, Jim Sloman, who supervised the operation of Sydney's successful Olympic Park, praised the changes which he said would help to provide London with one of the most modern, efficient and sustainable sporting precincts in the world.

"The changes will help to deliver the London Olympic Park on time by allowing building to begin as early as possible," said Sloman, who has consulted on some of the world's biggest sports planning and construction projects, including masterplanning for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Park, and is an advisor to London 2012.

• Olympic Park

Notes to Editors:

The Olympic Organisers referred to in this release are the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) and the London Development Agency (LDA).

Contact the Interim ODA Press Office on 020 3 2012 700
Contact the LOCOG Press Office on 020 3 2012 100
Contact the LDA Press Office 020 7954 4100