Olympic legacy 'in danger of neglect'

In its application for the Games, the British bid team painted a rosy picture.

"The most enduring legacy of the Olympics will be the regeneration of an entire community for the direct benefit of everyone who lives there."

Six years on and two and half years away from the event, the Olympic Park is taking shape but many claim a lasting legacy is at a crossroads.

It's a concern that has provoked the five host boroughs for the 2012 Games to step in to the apparent void and put together a report, which attempts to "breathe life" into the promises.

The report, titled the Strategic Regeneration Framework, tackles jobs, housing, health and crime and sets specific targets on what should be achieved by 2015.

The long term goal is the well supported hope of "convergence" - for east London to close the gap on the rest of London.

It is a matter close the heart of Dee Doocey, the London Assembly member who chairs a City Hall committee scrutinising the delivery of the Olympics and another overseeing security at the Games.

She believes the whole legacy issue is being neglected.

"Lord Coe stood up in Singapore and did a brilliant, impassioned speech on what they wanted to do," she said.

"He feels as strongly as I do but it's not his responsibility, it's the Government's.

"The problem at the moment is that nobody wants to talk about it. They are scared of headlines in newspapers saying 'more money being wasted on the Olympics'."

She said it would be an outrage if the residents of the five boroughs did not have major long-term benefits from the Games and she fears that would be the case if no-one takes control.

"I've been a supporter of the Olympics from day one but my support is not just for a few weeks of sport - it's for it to be a catalyst of regeneration in a poor area of London," she said.

"If you look at deprivation figures from 100 years ago compared to today there's virtually no difference, which is disgraceful.

"Nobody, prior to the Olympics, would have put the money in to change that but now we have this opportunity.

"My concern is we have another Canary Wharf - a place which is a great in itself but not for those just outside where local people have not benefited."

The Assembly member points to figures from London 2012 show the Games is already failing those it promised to help.

Out of 4,500 people currently employed on the site only 112 roles are being carried out by previously long-term unemployed people, while a mere 69 are on apprenticeships.

Doocey says this failure is mostly down to the financial climate - with many employers bringing in staff from other parts of the country who were working on projects stalled by the recession, rather than taking on people from east London - but the lesson is there to be learnt in other parts of the legacy, such as access to sports facilities.

She said: "We have got to get cast iron guarantees. For example, swimming pool, we have to state that a certain amount of time must be given to local community groups.

"The people who take control want the high end of the social scales because they are the ones with the money but there must be a guarantee that local people can use these.

"I always remember when I visited a centre for excluded children in the area, and one young kid said: 'the problem is there is nothing for us. We end up looking through the window at executives exercising'.

"I saw in his eyes the disappointment when they are told something is for them only for it to end up getting used by yuppies."

For Sir Robin Wales, the Mayor of Labour-led Newham council and the chair of the five boroughs, jobs are key to the legacy and will be the catalyst of raising East London's prospects and finances.

Speaking at City Hall about the report last week, he urged that while providing people in the boroughs with free sporting activities was important, employment was the answer to a better, healthier lifestyle, and lifting people out of the poverty which exists in East London.

He highlighted some good already coming from the Westfield Shopping Centre at Stratford - another part of the area's regeneration plans - where John Lewis has agreed to give 250 jobs to long term unemployed.

"It's great news," he said. "That's a commitment we should be applauding and say everyone should shop at John Lewis and encourage others to do the same."

However, London Assembly member for City and East John Biggs, who also sits on the committee scrutinising work on the Games, believes while jobs for local people are good, it should not be relied on.

He said: "We don't want to ringfence jobs for the local community. That's jobs out of charity. It's good to get preferential treatment but we really want to tool people up for these jobs.

"The big challenge we have to focus on is attracting housing developers without squeezing out affordable housing."

Biggs is backing the targets laid out in the borough's report. However, he is not convinced it is time to panic regarding a legacy.

He said: "When we started this job with the Games we were not sure what we needed to focus on. I think this now is a good point to look at that.

"Perhaps there were things which could have done earlier and better such as get West Ham signed up to the Olympic Stadium and have the swimming pool better suited for leisure use.

"People think that once the Games finishes it's all over, but for those in the area it's really just beginning. There is still time."

Doocey agrees a successful legacy is still an achievable target.

With regards to the five borough's report, she is concerned about the details such as how the changes will be funded but in principle is backing it and sees it as an important drive for further work.

She is also buoyed by the appointments of Andrew Altman and Baroness Margaret Ford to the Olympic Park Legacy Company - answerable to both Mayor Boris Johnson and the Government - which is currently working on its corporate plan for the legacy, something that the five boroughs are confident will match their targets.

With £2bn spent on infrastructure and another billion on transport, Doocey believes the area is in a good position to benefit, as long as housing and employment follow suit.

"This will be an amazing place to live serviced by 10 train and Tube companies, schools, shops, medical centres and the giant retail park Westfield," she said.

"It's going to rival major areas in London like Chelsea and Kensington because it's going to be so well connected and you can even get trains to Europe from there.
"We just need to keep the rest of the legacy on the agenda."