Olympic legacy focus

The aim is to make the 500-acre Park fully accessible for Londoners after 2012, and the OPLC is working on a revised business plan for the Park, to include more sport legacy, which will be published later this year.

It will detail the future use of assets on the Park, including the Olympic Stadium, and outline how housing, business and retail developments will be set up.

The key Olympic legacy aims are:

Olympic Stadium:

Worries the Stadium will become a white elephant have grabbed the headlines but Baroness Ford was confident a tenant will be found. The stadium could remain as an 80,000 capacity or be reduced to anything between 60,000 and 28,000 depending on the tenant.

She said: "Lots of people have expressed an interest and there has been a lot of discussion. West Ham's new owners have been very vocal but we are not having discussions with them. We have not had formal discussions with anyone. Plenty of other people are interested in it but I cannot say who we have been talking to.

"We support the view of Sebastian Coe to have an athletics legacy, although it will not be the primary legacy as it will not be held in the stadium a huge number of times every year. If other things can run complementary to athletics it will be good and we will decide on it this year."

Sport:

The Government claims up to two million people will be inspired to take up sport by the Games. Former Olympic javelin champion Tessa Sanderson, who lives in Newham, appeared to put the case for the sporting legacy.

She said: "It is achievable. Lots of people in Newham are taking up sport, especially in estate-based programmes. There are a lot of mass participation events which are raising awareness.

"The physical legacy will be very important to east London but the most important legacy is about the people. The Government promised to make the UK a world class sporting nation and we will have the facilities in place for that.

"But the greatest barrier to young people is being able to use the facilities without having to pay. Sometimes it's hard for these kids to get even £5 from their parents for sport.

"We also need experienced coaches put in place, to go into colleges and schools to encourage kids to take up sport. There is a gap between the elite and the grassroots and funding is needed to bridge that gap, to make sure we have champions ready to come through when the old champions retire."

Media and Broadcast centres:

The 250,000 sq ft media centre and 500,000 sq ft broadcast centre are planned to become the hub of a "digital city". Equipment used during the Games will be stripped out but commitments are being sought that the buildings will be left ready for new occupants.

As yet, no tenants have been lined up for either building but Baroness Ford said interest has been expressed from several parties.

She said: "It's too early to say what the demand for the broadcast centre will be as it's a large building to fill. We're following up leads and will know more next year. It is a challenge but it's early days yet.

"The ideal configuration of tenants would be to have one major one, such as a broadcaster, and then have smaller ones associated with that.

"We're also looking at setting up training and skills there, and the University of East London has expressed an interest in using space for that. There's a lot of goodwill and we will be working on this over the next year.

"The media centre is more straightforward. That will be an office building ready for use almost straightaway."

Housing:

The Olympic village will become the first habitable neighbourhood in the Park but more will follow over the next 30 years, including a large proportion of affordable housing.

The sale of properties will be a key part of the strategy to recoup the costs of developing the Park, and Baroness Ford admitted the type of housing built had to be of sufficient quality to bring people in.

She said: "The key issue is the type of housing in the Park. We have to have quality attractive to people, although the bulk will be family-based properties."

There will also be a social housing element, which Baroness Ford described as an "intractable point".

Management of the Park after 2012:

Once the ODA transformation programme is complete in May 2013 the OPLC will take over all aspects of operating the Park for the next 30 years.

Its aim is to maximise the potential of the Olympic site through commercial developments, as well as manage public access and has pledged to "integrate the Park as whole, to include all facilities and housing, to get the best value"

The company will essentially be landlords of the Park, overseeing the tenants of key facilities such as the aquatic centre and velodrome.

The OPLC is formulating a strategy with the ODA to allow public access to the Park immediately after the Games so people can get a sense of what the sporting spectacular was like.

Funding for the OPLC has yet to be finalised, although the Mayor's office has already pledged to meet a proportion of its annual running costs.