Is time running out for Olympic legacy?

By June Woolerton
BBC News

Work has started on the Olympic site but its legacy remains unclear

In areas of east London destined to benefit from the legacy of the 2012 Olympic games there are concerns that time is running out for the regeneration plans to be finalised if they are to yield the hoped-for benefits.

When London bid for the 2012 Olympic Games the organisers promised the event wouldn't just bring the greatest sporting show on earth to the capital.

They also pledged it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to regenerate one of the poorest parts of the city - the East End.

The five London boroughs hosting the Games want, and need, help. In Tower Hamlets, for instance, unemployment is double the national average. There is also a lot of pressure on housing.

Young people 'fearful'

In Hackney, some youth workers have expressed increasing worries about violence on the streets.

Paul Unsworth from Frampton Road Baptist Church Youth Club says many teenagers just do not feel safe any more.

"Young people in this area feel very threatened if they move outside of their own area and out of their own estate because there's different gangs that are around in different areas."

We need to see those final little details like the type of housing, the kind of green space, the type of leisure facilities Dr Iain McRury

The government has put aside £1.7bn for regeneration in the East End. New jobs, new homes, better transport and better sporting facilities are among the promises. But some experts are warning there is not enough detail in the plans.

For instance, the plans allow for the creation of 9,000 new homes. Of these, 50% are to be at affordable prices. But it has still not been decided where these homes are going or how many in which boroughs.

And that could mean the chance to change the area is ultimately lost, according to Dr Iain McRury who wrote a report on regeneration for the London Assembly.

"There's a crucial window of opportunity in the next six months to a year when those final parts of the plan upon which good legacy depends will be decided and delivered upon.

"We need to see those final little details like the type of housing, the kind of green space, the type of leisure facilities."

Plans 'generic'

Alison Nimmo, the director of regeneration for the Olympic Delivery Authority, says the Games organisers are trying to take on board what local people want.

"We've worked very hard out on the street in east London talking to people, particularly young people, about what their priorities are and we've had a tremendous response and that's really been embedded in a lot of our plans."

But the consultation process is complicated by the sheer number of people, organisations and authorities affected by the Olympics development. And many feel the plans are still quite generic.

Will the Olympics damage grassroots football in east London?

Some groups even say that, rather than benefiting from the Games, they are actually losing out.

Johnny Walker from the Hackney and Leyton Sunday League says his teams will lose about 11 of their pitches on Hackney Marshes as car parks are built for the Games.

He is worried that poorer facilities will create more problems for an amateur sport which is already struggling.

"I think it's affecting us at a very bad time when grassroots football is under a lot of pressure and it's not surviving very well. There's lots of football leagues going to the wall, especially Sunday morning leagues and I'm worried we'll be put in danger."

There are still five years to go until the Games, and organisers stress that the East End will benefit from 30 years-worth of regeneration between now and 2012.

But Dr Iain McRury says time is running out if the East End is going to change for the better.

"The people of east London have learned not to get their hopes up too high because sometimes big projects deliver, sometimes they don't and we're hoping that the Olympics doesn't fail because if it does fail it will be failing the people of east London."

5live Report: Olympic Promises is broadcast in two parts at 1030 and 1130 GMT on Sunday 18 November within the Rachel Burden programme or via podcast from the Five Live Report website.