ODA 'on track' to deliver

The ODA's mission is to deliver venues, facilities, infrastructure and transport for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games on time, to budget and to leave a lasting legacy.

Publishing the report, Acting ODA Chairman Sir Roy McNulty, said:

"This is a project without precedent – twice the size of Heathrow’s T5 in half the time. It is one of the biggest business challenges in the world and one of the biggest jobs in the construction industry - a multi-billion pound delivery programme to a fixed deadline.

"Through the efforts of David Higgins and his team we are on track to deliver. The ODA has met all its major milestones to date in its first year, finishing the first major construction programme, the tunnelling needed to underground the powerlines, on time and to budget and, as was stated in the recent Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Report, also making £600m savings during the review of costs last year through improvements to the site map.

2We have established strong foundations for the project, a feature repeatedly endorsed by the IOC, although we are in no way complacent about the scale of the challenge that lies ahead."

Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said:

"This has been an exceptional year for the ODA with all planning and development milestones met as we move to the next dig, demolish and design phase of the 2012 project. Denis Oswald, the head of the IOC group monitoring our preparations, described our preparations as the best he's seen – recognition of the excellent work of David Higgins and his team.

"I am confident that the world-class leadership we have in place will ensure continued good progress and delivery of a Games and legacy the whole country will be proud of for years to come."

The main milestones achieved in the last year are:

• Agreeing the masterplan and programme timetable: an improved site masterplan was published in summer 2006 and the overall timetable for the delivery programme was also published last year;
• Planning application: the planning application for the Olympic Park, one of the biggest in European history, was submitted in February 2007;
• Acquiring the land: the London Development Agency (LDA) have been leading negotiations with businesses and residents on the Olympic site and the ODA are on track to take control of the land at the end of July;
• Starting venue design: design concepts have been published for the Aquatics Centre and the VeloPark. Work with the Olympic Stadium contractor is progressing well;
• Publishing the Transport Plan: the first draft of the Transport Plan for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games was published for consultation in October 2006;
• Completing the first construction project: the tunnelling needed to underground the powerlines that currently dominate the landscape was completed on time and to budget in June;
• Cleaning, clearing and creating the platform: preliminary work began to clear and start to prepare the land for the 'big build'. Remediation of the contaminated soil starts this week;
• In addition the ODA has published strategies on procurement, sustainability and design and begun the process of remediation of the contaminated areas of the site.

The ODA are now moving to the next stage of the project - 'Demolish, Dig, Design' – the 10 milestones which they aim to meet by Beijing 2008 Games.

- Ends –

Notes to Editors
1. Download the Annual Report and Accounts (PDF, 4.8MB).
 
2. The ODA also published a summary of its Corporate Plan. View the summary of the Corporate Plan (PDF, 2MB).

For further information please contact the London 2012 Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 700.