Stratford, Maryland and Forest Gate
The 2012 Olympics
The Government is making a bid for London to host the 2012 Olympic Games. London 2012 would be much more than just a celebration of sport and culture. It would form part of an extensive transformation of one of the most underdeveloped areas of the country.
The key catalyst would be the development of the 500-acre Olympic Park and the resulting transformation of the Lower Lea Valley.
The Park, containing the main sporting facilities, would be set in 1,500 landscaped acres stretching from Hackney Marshes down to the Thames. It would also feature a revitalised network of waterways serving new communities and businesses that will be the start of a regeneration stretching out from the Valley through East London and beyond.
Sporting venues will be built to meet long-term needs, and the Olympic Village would be used as housing after the Games. Thousands of jobs would be created in construction, and thousands more as the redevelopment moved ahead and created new businesses and communities. Should the bid be successful then the impact on London and especially Newham will be huge.