November 2009 has, for a long time, been a date etched in my mind as this is the month the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games makes its planning application submission. So it’s a good moment to reflect on the enormous amount of detailed work that’s been done on the use of the Park as a venue for Olympic Equestrian and Modern Pentathlon and the Paralympic Dressage competitions in 2012.
For more than a year now we’ve talked to local residents and consulted with Greenwich Council, The Royal Parks, English Heritage, Natural England and other key organisations. We’ve listened to the many things residents have said and points raised and, where possible, adapted our plans accordingly.
We know, for example, many residents expressed their concern about how The Flower Garden and The Children’s Playground would be affected by events in 2012 and about Park closures.
Having considered these issues we’ve altered the Cross Country course so it now only runs through the northern part of The Flower Garden avoiding any flower beds and the pond. The remainder of The Flower Garden will remain open to the public except for the day of the Cross Country competition which is, provisionally, 31 July 2012.
Similarly, following feedback from residents, The Children’s Playground will now be placed outside the secure perimeter of the Games which means it too will remain open apart from the day of the Cross Country event. We’re also in discussions about upgrading the Playground after the Games.
On the issue of Park closure we’ve reduced this to around four weeks. We cannot give absolute guarantees at this stage because of security assessments and other considerations, but this is our aim.
We’ve also heard the concerns raised over traffic congestion and the question of resident and business access. As a result plans for the Olympic Route Network (ORN) have been adapted to minimise the impact. Even if a road is ‘designated’ as part of the ORN it does not mean it will automatically be closed. Residents and business owners will have access to their homes and properties and there are no planned residential road closures.
In addition we have moved the venue entrance to the National Maritime Museum side of Romney Road instead of the Old Royal Naval College so ensuring Romney Road is no longer within the venue perimeter. This means the Old Royal Naval College will remain accessible to the public during the Games. Circus Field in Blackheath will be used as an operational compound to avoid the need for large vehicle access to the Park. This will cause less disruption and impact to the Park itself.
We know Greenwich Park is a site of unique historical, environmental and archaeological significance and important to local residents and users. And we are committed to ensuring the Park is returned in the condition we receive it. We will not be cutting down any trees in the Park. There may be some minor pruning but this will be carried out in full consultation with The Royal Parks.
We are also working on our legacy plans with the British Equestrian Federation and Greenwich Council which includes the development of an equestrian centre in the Borough.
We hope the changes we have made so far show how important residents’ views are to us and how we will continue to listen. On our dedicated website, www.london2012.com/greenwichparkconsultation we’ve answered some key questions and cleared up some of the misinformation around the proposed use of the Park. There’s also an opportunity for you to tell us what you think through our online ‘Feedback’ forms. Please do fill this form in because your views are important to us.
Or you could come and visit us at 8 College Approach from Wednesday 28th October until Saturday 31st October 2009 where you can see our plans in detail and give us feedback in person.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Tim Hadaway is the London 2012 Organising Committee’s Sport Competition Manager for equestrian events at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
.” Residents and business owners will have access to their homes and properties”
Aww. That’s made me go all soft and fuzzy. A big heartfelt thank you from the residents of Greenwich for being allowed into their homes, if not their park during the Olympics
Who are these residents you say you are consulting? I suspect you are over-estimating how many people get to know about your plans. The first time I saw any concrete proposals was last Saturday, but the tone of this article is that you have been ‘consulting’ for much longer than that.
If the rest of your consultation is like this one, it’s no surprise that most people aren’t involved. You’ve given a few hours notice of a ‘consultation’ that lasts just a few days. I personally can’t make it along in these few days – I work during the week, and this Saturday I have to travel across the country to visit my father in hospital. It’s not reasonable to expect everyone to drop everything just because you’ve decided you want to spend a few days pretending to listen.
I’ve never understood why they don’t just build somewhere new for the Equestrian Events on the site of the old hospital?
Concrete questions fro Mr Hadaway:
1) For precisely what period are planning to close which areas of the park?
2) When you return the park to its users, what state will the grass be in?
3) Why are you building a new facility in Greenwich Park instead of using existing facilities such as Badminton or Hickstead?
Nick, have you seen the online version? I’ve not been to the consultation event at the O2 or anything but I’ve read the booklet they put on their website,
http://www.london2012.com/greenwich-park/home.html
The clock of the Greenwich website is out by an hour, LOL!
Why do the same questions come up time and time again regarding the event in the park. Personally I bored of hearing the question ‘why don’t you stage the event somewhere else in the country?’. Its going to be a compact games, that has been said time after time after time, you can see the Olympic Stadium from the park.
Its going to happen in Greenwich Park, its going to be a great event, its going to be a great games so lets all chill and enjoy it. So i wont be able to walk in the park for a few weeks, not exactly the end of the world is it. Plenty of other places to go in the area and I am sure my dogs wont mind. Yes the grass may suffer a bit but it does that when people run / roll down the hill from the Observatory, are we going to ban them next.
Bob – if you get bored by hearing opinions that are different to yours, or questions that you already know the answers to, then just don’t read other posts. That way you perhaps won’t mistake questions for opposition.
James – thanks for the pointer. I’m working my way through that lot now, but it’s hard to find answers to my questions in them so far, because so much of the brochure is spin rather than genuine facts. The section that purports to lsit the benefits to Greenwich residents is a good example – none of it is about the benefits of the horsey events in the park.
It’s quite telling that to find a quote from a “local resident” supporting the development, they had to go to Lewisham!
“On the issue of Park closure we’ve reduced this to around four weeks. We cannot give absolute guarantees at this stage because of security assessments and other considerations, but this is our aim.”
No guarantees, only an “aim”, so the four week closure is purely aspirational. And therefore meaningless.
Please, people, use your heads – only Tinkerbell or the genie in Aladdin’s lamp could construct a 23,000-seat stadium and an Olympic cross-country course in the time LOCOG seem to be allowing for this. (The cross-country course for the Beijing Olympics took YEARS to prepare.)
I had a light-bulb moment recently about this “aim” of only four weeks closure of the Park. LOCOG’s cunning plan is to do most of the construction at night – am I right?
Still complete silence from LOCOG on the subject of the protected species in the Park. Where is the bat survey that LOCOG’s scoping report said would be carried out this summer?
Bring on the games… bring on the games!
“We cannot give absolute guarantees at this stage because of security assessments and other considerations, but this is our aim”………………… if this event goes ahead just be warned…………..be wary of these snake oil salesmen………remember Tim Hadway was involved in submitting a bid on the wrong scale of map – which of course has now been excused as a “Printers’ error”……..
Its one thing to continually harp on about the ancient aspects of the park, that I do agree with, but should we not also be looking at the impact on the present, ie the traffic and access to the events within the park.
We have two roads that service both the local citizens and those that work within central London, that sandwich the park. Both are constantly jammed with traffic both going East and west past the gates of the park.
So who is going to be given priority through the period of the Olympics, I suspect certainly not the locals, as in the same way we have been rough shod over the whole affair!!.
Edward –
The plans I saw last Saturday show Charlton Way (the road immediately to the south of the park) closed between Shooters Hill Road (the A2) and Maze Hill from 6th July to 3rd August.
On which note, perhaps the “if it saves one child” crowd should join the NOGOE bandwagon? After all, the congestion caused by closing that road (which will be substantial!) might delay an ambulance attending to an injured child.
“How many must die for the Olympics?” 🙂
Does anyone know what the distance of the cross country course will be as i can not seem to find it anywhere and i need it for an assignment i am writting. anyone? thanks
Sophie, the equestrian cross-country course at the 2012 Olympics is supposed to be 6.2km. See for instance
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-olympics/article-23538726-greenwich-park-and-a-lesson-from-china.do
In the 2008 Olympics, at Beas River (Hong Kong), the course was shorter because everyone was worried about the effect of the heat and high humidity on the horses. The equestrian cross country course length for the 2008 Olympics was, I understand, the shortest in history: at 4.5km.