London 2012 blog

My name is Iman, I'm Director of the British Black Anti Poverty Network. I am a member of the London 2012 Forum and I attended its latest meeting this Tuesday. The London 2012 Forum is a bi-monthly meeting of community representatives and it's our chance to get an update on the 2012 Games, ask questions and give some feedback from London's communities. Members of the Forum range from those representing a diverse range of Londoners to those from government bodies, trade unions and third sector agencies.

At the meeting I was very interested to hear about the lessons learned and experiences of those who visited the Beijing Games over the past couple of weeks. At the meeting we also got the opportunity to contribute to the LDA's Legacy Masterplan Framework which I and members of my organisation are extremely interested in contributing to.

It is not very often that you are able to feedback as a community group on such a large scale regeneration project such as the Olympic Park. Some of my key concerns were raised at this meeting and I hope these will be followed through to the final design and planning stage. In particular I am keen to ensure that communities both old and new who will be living in or around the Park are able to access affordable housing and decent transport links through this development. A lot has been said about these two aspects of the Legacy Plan and I believe getting this right will be crucial in ensuring that London not only hosts a memorable and fantastic Games but that communities around the East End are left with a tangible benefit.

I will certainly endeavour to keep abreast of developments in this area and I believe that those at London 2012 and at the LDA will implement all the recommendations discussed.