LOCOG submits Greenwich Park planning application

The document is available online at http://www.london2012.com/greenwich-park/greenwich-park-planning-application.html

Research conducted by LOCOG’s market research partner, Nielsen, shows that nearly 85% of Greenwich residents support the Park being used as a London 2012 venue, providing it is not closed for more than six weeks and is returned in the condition it was received.

Sebastian Coe, LOCOG Chair, commented: ‘Greenwich Park is one of London’s treasures, and it will be a wonderful sporting venue for the world to enjoy in the summer of 2012. Leading international Equestrian competitors are looking forward to competing in this unique setting in the heart of the Olympic City of London, and there are unparalleled opportunities for local people of all ages to get involved, with many benefits for the community. 

'We take our responsibilities seriously - we know the people of Greenwich love their beautiful Park, and we have spent considerable time developing our plans to make sure we protect it. Our planning application shows the lengths we are going to in order to make sure we return the Park to The Royal Parks and the local community in the condition in which we will gratefully receive it.’

Mark Camley, Chief Executive of The Royal Parks, said: 'We welcome the opportunity to host the Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon Events in Greenwich Park in 2012. Our priority is to protect the Park’s historic and natural environment for the enjoyment of current users and future generations. We are working with LOCOG to ensure any impact to the Park and Park users is minimised and are assured that LOCOG has publicly committed to returning the Park to its pre-Games condition.'

LOCOG has undergone an extensive community and stakeholder consultation exercise over the last 18 months to explain plans to the public and to listen to and address concerns.  This has included: a series of meetings, material on the London 2012 website, brochures, attendance at local events in and around the Park, public exhibitions, meetings with statutory groups and community groups, and the opening of an exhibition shop in Greenwich town centre in October. Over 10,000 brochures were distributed with feedback forms for people to return. 

Greenwich Park is a site of unique historical, environmental and archaeological significance, and important to residents and users. Therefore, LOCOG has worked closely with The Royal Parks, English Heritage, Natural England and other statutory bodies and organisations to ensure the Park is returned in the condition we receive it. Full details can be found in the Environmental Statement which is submitted as part of the planning application.

The costs to stage the Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Events and Olympic Modern Pentathlon Events in Greenwich Park are paid for by LOCOG’s privately raised budget.

Proposals listed in the application submitted to Greenwich Council on 30 November, include:

Venue details

Greenwich Park, the National Maritime Museum (NMM), the Old Royal Naval College (ORNC) and Blackheath Circus Field will host the Olympic Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon Events in July and August 2012 and the Paralympic Dressage competitions in September 2012.  Equestrian events consist of Dressage, Eventing, Jumping and Paralympic Dressage. 

Dressage takes place over four days in the Temporary Arena, and involves 50 competitors in team and individual events. Eventing takes place over four days and consists of Dressage, Jumping and Cross Country.

Eventing includes team and individual events for 75 competitors. The Cross Country section lasts for a single day and is the only element of Equestrian competition held outside the Temporary Arena.

Jumping takes place in the Temporary Arena over four days. The jumps are designed to showcase the history of the host country.  There are team and individual events for 75 competitors.

Paralympic Dressage takes place over five days in the Temporary Arena. There are team and individual events involving 75 riders.

In Modern Pentathlon athletes compete in five disciplines – Fencing, Swimming, Riding, and a combined Run/Shoot event – in a single day. Men compete on one day, women on a second. The Riding section involves completing a Jumping course in the Arena. The combined Run/Shoot event also takes place in the Arena with the running course extending a short way into the Park near the Arena.

The key elements required for the Greenwich Park events are:

• A Temporary Arena with up to 23,000 seats and supporting facilities (spectator areas, main stables, training and warm up areas, veterinary centre, medical centre, hospitality areas, broadcast compound, media centre, offices, food outlets, toilets, etc) in the north west of the Park.
• A Cross Country course (approximately 6km) and supporting facilities (spectator areas, warm up areas, toilets, food outlets) and a Modern Pentathlon running course (approximately 1km) to the south east of the arena.
• Spectator queuing, screening, and administration facilities within the grounds of the ORNC and NMM.
• Secondary stabling, training ground, storage, offices and a spectator queuing area in Blackheath Circus Field, adjacent to the south-eastern side of the Park. This area would also be used as a compound during the set up and removal phases.
• Additional facilities – utilities, use of existing roads and footpaths, lighting, cabling, perimeter security fence, etc throughout the project site.

The key elements of existing permanent infrastructure that would be used to provide temporary event facilities at the project site are:

Accommodation
Administrative and hospitality facilities in Devonport House, the Maritime Galleries and Queen’s House respectively, north of the Park.

Transport
As part of the London 2012 Transport Plan, the Olympic Delivery Authority has invested £80 million in the Docklands Light Railway, which will improve services in time for the 2012 Games and beyond, by increasing capacity by 50 per cent across most of the network by 2010. Full details of the transport plans are contained in the planning application. Access to Greenwich Park for spectators at Games time will be via the National Maritime Museum side of Romney Road and Blackheath Gates.

The plan includes a managed crossing of Romney Road and, for one day only (Cross Country day), a managed crossing of the A2 Shooters Hill Road.

Local residents and businesses near to Greenwich Park will have priority parking provision and access to their homes and properties throughout the Games period. The revised transport plans contained in the planning application have been based on residents’ comments and remove Games traffic from Greenwich town centre.

– Ends –

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Notes to editors: 

Timetable

• March 2010 (tbc): Decision expected from Greenwich Council’s Planning Board
   
• July 2011(tbc): Test event to be held, exact dates to be confirmed
   
• April 2012 (tbc):  Work to begin on temporary structures such as the Temporary Arena
   
• 27 July-12 Aug (tbc):  London 2012 Olympic Games
   
• 31 July (tbc): Provisional date for the Cross Country event
   
• 1 August (tbc): Cross Country jumps start to be dismantled
   
• Early August (tbc): Anticipated re-opening of sections of the Park to the public
   
• 29 Aug-9 Sept (tbc): London 2012 Paralympic Games
   
• Sept/Oct/Nov (tbc): All structures in the Park removed and restoration work begins

As it heads towards its £2bn budget for staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games, LOCOG has seven domestic Tier One Partners - adidas, BMW, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB. There are six domestic Tier Two Supporters – Adecco, Cadbury, Cisco, Deloitte, Thomas Cook and UPS. There are now twelve domestic Tier Three Suppliers and Providers – Airwave, Atkins, Boston Consulting Group, Crystal CG, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, GSK, Holiday Inn, McCann Worldgroup, The Nielsen Company, Populous, Ticketmaster and Trident.

The Worldwide Olympic Partners signed up for London 2012 are Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos Origin, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Samsung and Visa.