Olympic legacy chief happy with progress so far

By Simon Hayes on February 16, 2010 3:37 PM |

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The 2012 Olympics promised to leave a lasting legacy for east London and the man charged with overseeing the delivery is confident it's an opportunity that won't be wasted.

Andrew Altman is chief executive of the Olympic Park Legacy Company, set up to ensure the facilities and infrastructure in Stratford are not left to rot when the Games finish.

He believes the benefits will be felt immediately.

He said: "From the day after the Games finish there will be 100 hectares of parkland for people to enjoy, sports activities at the venues and the ability to use and cross a site that has divided this part of east London for so long.

"The legacy provides us with a unique opportunity to plan and design a range of services and infrastructure to help address some of the socioeconomic challenges present in the wider area. New housing and employment opportunities will be provided, and we want to build around another 10,000 homes."

Much of the Games' £9.3billion budget is being spent on regenerating Stratford and, despite the depressed property market, Mr Altman feels there will be demand for the housing that will be available post-2012.

He said: "We need to hit the property cycle when it is rising again, as it will. By the time we come to market, the private sector will be in a better place and we will be working with the grain of the commercial property sector."

Mr Altman took over as chief executive last August, having previously been Deputy Mayor of Philadelphia, where he oversaw planning and development. He feels London is uniquely placed to capitalise on the Olympics where other host cities have failed, with Stratford at the forefront.

He said: "The fact a Legacy Company has been set up this early is an incredibly far-sighted decision. There are moments in time when great change and transformation are possible. Everything is right for a new centre in London - the political will, the capital and the courage to shape the city for generations.

"Having this much land in public ownership, within 20 minutes of central London, is truly historic and should not be underestimated. It is close to impossible to do something on this scale in a major global city.

"There is already enormous infrastructure for development here and some of the best transport links in Europe. The mistake with regeneration projects in other cities is that the infrastructure has not come until much later.

"This is one of the most exciting regeneration projects in our lifetime and I would say it will be a model globally as to how to do regeneration right, because the basic principle of regeneration was built into the DNA from the start."