Olympics legacy: frog pond and debt review

 

This article titled “Olympics legacy: frog pond and debt review” was written by Dave Hill, for guardian.co.uk on Tuesday 29th June 2010 12.35 UTC

I cycled to the Olympic Park on Sunday with one of my sons in tow. It was my first visit for a while. The International Broadcasting Centre and Main Press Centre are now fully-formed edifices on which the post-Games regeneration hopes of Hackney Council are pinned.

I think I spotted one of the Leabank Square bloggers on the opposite bank of the Lea canal, wielding a watering can. The view residents used to enjoy is now embedded in history. Further down the towpath we turned on to the Greenway, the path that takes you past the stadium towards Stratford. It’s been smartly refurbished and there’s a pleasant cafe with more than one chirpy Antipodian among its staff. The bacon and egg rolls are good. So is the view, which also includes the aquatic centre and the stilting athletes’s village. Everything still appears to be on schedule. But what are the prospects for the post-Games legacy?

The latest tale of Games finances is that the new government is “re-examining” the deal struck between Boris Johnson and the previous administration. The Treasury had agreed to cough up £438 million. Part of this was to relieve the recently-formed Olympic Park Development Company of £138 million of debt it would otherwise have inherited from the London Development Agency, which originally purchased the land on which the Park now stands.

OPLC chair, Baroness Margaret Ford, has urged the Con-Libs to stick with the original plan in order not to deter future investors. The plan is that 10,000 new homes will eventually be built in the Park and its surrounding areas – homes that London will desperately need.

London Assembly members heard earlier this month from regeneration experts who believe public subsidy is vital if major projects are to succeed in the long term. The Baroness will have her fingers crossed. Much still hangs in the balance, not least the future of the stadium itself. At least it seems we can be confident that the Park will be graced by a Great British Garden, complete with Great British Frogs. In these difficult times, it’s a consoling thought.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010

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