London venues earmarked for Olympics

Beach volleyball could be held in Hyde Park

Hyde Park, Wimbledon's tennis courts and Lord's cricket ground could all be hosting Olympic events, should London's bid for the 2012 Games prove successful.

Bid chairman Barbara Cassani said on Tuesday the ideas showed the bid was not too focused on the 1,500-acre Lower Lea Valley in east London.

"The impression has been created amongst some very important key informers that that (the Lower Lea Valley) is the only place where the games will be taking place, " she said.

"That is not the case. We may stage the triathlon and the beach volleyball on Hyde Park.

"The marathon will take place over a wide area and there is a possibility of having the tennis at Wimbledon."

Lord's Cricket Club had also expressed an interest in getting involved, she said.

We do not want white elephants in east London Tony Winterbottom, regeneration director

But the games would mean real benefits for east London, where it is believed regeneration could create 40,000 jobs, 30,000 homes, and 1,000 businesses.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone said: "If you walk up and down the Lower Lea Valley, the most interesting thing you will see is bacteria.

"I want to see a part of London that comes to life."

He promised environmentally-friendly games and said there would be no building on Hackney marshes or London Fields.

Instead the Lower Lea Valley's network of waterways and canals would be exploited.

Urban regeneration specialists EDAW and US architects HOK Sport will develop the blueprint for the bid for December.

An 80,000-seater stadium will be built at Hackney Stadium

EDAW said most of the travel would be by public transport and they would be within walking distance to help manage crowd flows.

And Tony Winterbottom, the London Development Agency's regeneration director, did not rule out using temporary buildings or ones which could be used after the games.

He said: "We do not want white elephants in east London after the games have gone so that in ten years people are saying 'what are we going to do with it?'"

But while some of London's most famous venues have been earmarked for the 2012 games, the sailing will have to be held outside London, probably in Weymouth, Ms Cassani announced.

"No matter how much we regenerate the Lower Lea Valley we will never be able to stage the sailing there, "she said.