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Boris unveils his 'legacy masterplan' for 2012 site
Matthew Beard10 Feb 2009
Olympics chiefs released images today of how they hope a regenerated Stratford will look in 2040.
Mayor Boris Johnson published the futuristic proposals as he seeks planning permission for the 500-acre site.
Locals will be consulted over the next six weeks on plans to add schools and housing to the sports venues which will remain after the Games.
Today's plans were devised by the London Development Agency and are a response to the Mayor's criticism - after his election - of the lack of legacy planning.
The "legacy masterplan" promises seven new schools, 10,000 new homes and the creation of 10,000 new jobs.
The £547million Olympic stadium will be reduced in capacity to 27,000 from 80,000 after the Games and will primarily operate as an athletics venue. Its undercroft will house a sports academy for about 400 secondary school pupils, and several public sports bodies are being lined up as co-tenants.
The English Institute of Sport, experts in sports science, and a new National Skills Academy for sports and leisure industries will set up offices at the stadium. But, as the Evening Standard revealed last month, the blueprint confirms that a proposed groundshare between Leyton Orient and a Premiership rugby club has failed because of their objections to the design.
The other major new venues - the aquatics centre and velodrome - will be used by schools and local sports clubs. The LDA will hand over the task of bringing in private investors to a legacy company which will be formed this year.
Mr Johnson said: "One of my main concerns was always the lack of a clear vision for the legacy that would be left for east London from the huge investment we were making. Now I believe that the future for this most deprived area is spectacularly bright."
Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham, said: "We want this to be a place that provides opportunities for local people and becomes a real powerhouse for prosperity in the capital."
Reader views (11)
S.Port,the point is that you don't take your car.417kms of Underground railway and you gon't use it.
P.S.The only reason that people don't want the Olympics is because of the'ressesion'. Embrace the Olympics!
- H.J.Jones, London UK, 08/04/2009 11:37
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exactly what waste i have lived in stratford all my life and know of buisness's and homes that have been knocked down what for so a load of idiot's in lycra can run around for 2 weeks its the biggest waste of money ever wish had not one it at all
- Michael, east london, 25/02/2009 17:30
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Can someone show me where i can park my car.
- Mr S.Port, London, 11/02/2009 00:21
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It hardly looks very attractive apart from the small green patch in the front.
- Pat, Essex, 10/02/2009 22:11
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I was in Paris the day the games were awarded to London. Many Parisians were unhappy but I said to them all - don't worry, you are the real winners for avoiding the greatest and most expensive vanity project in history (until the next games). Two weeks of minority sports and then ... nothing. Please don't waste even more cash trying to create the mythical "legacy". I've been to the Olympic parks of Barcalona, Munich and Berlin. Weeds, cracked pavements and wide opened spaces - that's all you get afterwards. You'll be lucky if you get a Sunday market in my opinion. If they really want a legacy, stop work now, beg West Ham to take the stadium, build it primarily to their spec (50,000 capacity minimum) and shoehorn an athletics track for the few hours of minoroty sports. At the very least persuade Saracens or even Essex Cricket Club. With a known name as a centrifugal you may stand a chance - but even that's slim. The only other potential is to persuade Loughborough University to move lock stock and barrel. It'll take something bold and imaginative from a big name. Otherwise any legacy is a pipedream.
- Gawd'N'Bennett, Hackney, 10/02/2009 21:23
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The Olympic plans are as about attractive as the financial black hole created by this wretched plan. Stratford has been one of the great regeneration areas of the developers for some time. The place is a mall hell hole that only the City planners could have designed.
It is a failure like the bankers, the Labour Government, the Mayor, the Conservative party - the we do not know what to do about greed brigade
- Val Keller, London, 10/02/2009 18:43
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These images, etc look like a massive housing project with a little greenery around them. The key point is who will be living there, good neighbours or not? That might depend on the sound insulation of the dwellings. And what about all the cheap talk about rthe environemnt, wildlife, etc. All tosh.
- Helen, norwich, 10/02/2009 18:15
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A Disgrace!! Great Pictures but not one have the hundreds of flights blighting newham from London City Airport and Heathrow.
- J - East London, Newham, 10/02/2009 17:56
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Val Daniels missed the point. The "legacy" had not been put fully in the public domain, just talked about.
- Tony Islander, Herts, 10/02/2009 17:52
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Why does Boris always bask in the glory of things that were in motion long before he became Mayor. This is nothing to do with him but, as usual, he claims the credit for other people's achievements.
- Val Daniels, Mijas Costa, Spain, 10/02/2009 16:39
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Knowing what Stratford looks like now, then I say they have to perform miracles to make it look even half-decent.
Not for nothing is Stratford known as "chicken bone city"..
- Russell, London, 10/02/2009 15:42
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