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Athletes at the 2012 Games will not be forced to live in cramped conditions despite the Olympic village being drastically scaled back due to the recession, it was claimed today.
The Olympic Delivery Authority dismissed concerns that a credit crunch Games would necessitate three athletes sharing a bedroom.
It also outlined legacy plans for the village in
which the sale of lucrative apartments would help subsidise social housing.
The ODA said athletes in the Olympic village would typically be housed in two, four or six-bedroom apartments with no more than two to a twin room measuring at least 12 sq m.
Built by Australian firm Lend Lease, the village will house 17,000 athletes and 6,500 officials during the Games.
Olympics chiefs have promised that most athletes will live below the eighth floor to cut lift waiting times.
The ODA also set out its legacy vision for the village. It said about a third of the site was earmarked for three and four-bedroom properties.
There will be 1,379 affordable homes in blocks between eight and 10 storeys, including properties for key workers and homes available on a part-rent, part-buy basis.
The complex will also gain a secondary school, called the Chobham Academy, and a polyclinic for treating athletes during the Games will be converted into a primary care trust and a pharmacy.
Fears that living conditions would be cramped were raised last year when the Games chiefs were forced to cut costs by scaling back the village from 4,200 flats to 2,829 when the OD A ditched plans to build two 30-storey apartment blocks.
The cutbacks mean that hundreds of officials such as physiotherapists, psychologists and nutritionists are likely to be housed elsewhere, such as in university halls or hotels.
The ODA today said that during the Games each residential block would be managed as a hotel with athletes' apartments to include lounge areas, soft furnishings and a TV.
There will be open recreational space for athletes including a jogging area and a central park — “the green lung” of the village — inspired
by a typical British village green.
During the Games, highest demand for rooms will come at the start of the second week, when 2,500 extra competitors move in for track and field
events.
Forecasting demand is hard because up to 400 athletes will not qualify for the Games until a few weeks beforehand.
The ODA chairman, John Armitt, said: “Providing a world-class village will play a crucial role in helping athletes.
"The flats will be split between private sale and affordable housing after the 2012 Games deliver record-breaking performances in 2012 but we are also focusing on creating gold-medal standard housing in legacy.
“By aiming for the highest standards in design, sustainability and construction we will ensure the village is a highquality asset for the public-sector that delivers a lasting legacy for east London.”
Reader views (6)
None of the apartments have kitchens, according to letters in Private Eye; so they will be unsaleable as ordinary apartments after 2012, unless a great deal more money is spent.
Surely Olympic athletes will want the right to prepare their own meals and not be mass fed in canteens.
- Sally Wainman, Ipswich Suffolk
'The Olympic Delivery Authority dismissed concerns that a credit crunch Games would necessitate three athletes sharing a bedroom.'
From what I've heard of previous Olympics, this will cut out a lot of the fun. Apparently the condom machines are hanging off the wall by the end of Day 1, 'Altius, Fortius, Randius' being the order of the day.
In civilian life also, Olympics generate large international migrations of prostitutes, like hunters tracking the caribou. In the Middle Ages pilgrimages were often censured for being travelling orgies, so some things don't change. I wonder what preparation Lord Coe has made for this? Our local Council Waltham Forest is keen to close down unlicensed takeaways, but I've never heard of them closing a brothel, so perhaps there is some unstated policy going on. Since all that my Borough's officially getting from the Olympics is the Paralympic Archery and a coach park, the Council must be getting excited for some better reason. It seems that 'British jobs for British workers ' won't apply here.
- Mdj E10, london uk
don' worry steve - they will be straight on that shuttle bus or Jubilee Line and into the centre of town to get those photos of Big Ben, the Eye, Buck House. Stratford is pretty good in comparision to some recent olympic villages - at least it has a bit of culture.
- Jc, se1
#R.F., Yorks
'It is interesting that Jowell has decided to 'step down' at the next election'; and your meaning is? For your information Tessa Jowell is not responsible for the Olympics Budget, it is not part of her remit. She merely sits on the Committee as does Lord Coe. There is an Olympic Finance Committee whose spending commitments are closely monitored by KPMG. It has been widely reported that this is not a question about money disappearing without trace, it is about the allocation of funds not misappropriation. As for your assertion that you will not allow this scandal to be 'covered up'. I doubt the Mayor or any other interested parties would be likely to allow that to happen, were the circumstances such that you imply. However, they are not, so I suggest you sleep easy and stop worrying unnecessarily. At the end of the day the books will balance, even if it means having to vire between budgets; I guarantee it.
- Val Daniels, Mijas Costa, Spain
That's as maybe but there's definitely a crunch when these athletes hit the streets.Unless they specialise in Judo boxing or karate they're going to be in for a surprise.The area's not worth a carrot.
- Steve, London
Tessa Jowell has not yet replied to my query regarding the fact that KPMG forensic accountants are investigating the disappearance of £100 MILLION from the olympic purse but the olympic committee are refusing to publish the results of the enquiry. As it is tax payers money which is funding this debacle we have a right to know the results of the investigation. We have been lied to and deceived from the day London won the bid to host the games but I will not allow this scandal to be "covered up". It is interesting that Jowell has decided to "step down" at the next election.
- R.F., Yorks, UK
