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Plans Unveiled for New Parks, Trees and Green Open Spaces to Support New Homes in Athletes’ Village

Plans for thousands of new trees, parks, play areas and open spaces to support the new homes being delivered in the Athletes’ Village site were unveiled by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) today. The announcement comes as the first stage of landscaping work is underway in the Village site with the creation of an extensive wetlands park.

The Athletes’ Village, which lies adjacent to the Olympic Park, will accommodate athletes and officials during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. After the Games, the Village will deliver the legacy of 2,818 new homes for east London, of which 1,379 will be affordable, owned and managed by Triathlon Homes.

Together with the new homes being built, the landscaping and public realm project in the Village site will create 10 hectares of new parklands, wetlands, and open space featuring more than 2,000 new trees and over 100,000 wetland and wild flower plants. The open space areas between the new homes will be interspersed with play areas, cycling facilities, picnic and recreation spaces for use by the new and existing local communities. The new green open spaces in the Athletes’ Village are in addition to the extensive landscaping works already well underway in the Olympic Park site to create one of the largest new urban parks in the UK for over 100 years.

The first stage of landscaping works in the Village is underway with the creation of a 2½ hectare wetlands park that will feature a series of ponds and marshlands with pathways and seating areas throughout. Extensive planting and new trees will create a ‘green canopy’ through the area and help create new wildlife habitats.

ODA Chairman John Armitt said: “The Athletes’ Village will not only deliver essential new homes for Londoners, it will create new parks, trees, play areas and open spaces that can be enjoyed by new and existing communities for generations to come. The construction of the Village is firmly on track and with landscaping works now underway, we will start to see a series of new green open spaces take shape between the new homes being built.”

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “I am determined that London becomes the world’s best big city and that means creating fabulous places to visit and relax. We are already investing millions greening our capital, from the planting of thousands of new trees to a major programme delivering new and improved public spaces. So it is great to see new green and open space emerging from this long neglected part of London and helping to transform the look and feel of this great city."

The landscaping and public realm project in the Athletes’ Village will include:

New parks:

A series of interconnected park areas throughout the Village site including:

- a typical London square with an orchard of traditional British fruit trees

- a formal square in front of the Chobham Academy school with seating areas and a gathering space that can be used for holding markets

- a main public open space area at the heart of the Village with large areas for sitting, picnicking and recreation

- a garden area with a central pathways meandering between three interconnected ponds as water features.

New wetlands area:

- Work is now underway on a large ecology wetlands park to the south west corner of the Village site, which leads directly into the wider Olympic Park site

- Wetlands park features three ponds and two marshland areas, with pathways and seating areas throughout. A large wildflower lawn area scattered with trees will create a picnic area.

- More than 700 new trees to create a ‘gateway’ into the Wetlands area and a ‘green canopy’ throughout.

- Native trees will be used including Field Maple, Common Alder, Silver Birch, Black Poplar, Aspen, English Oak, Hornbeam and a variety of Willow species.

- Planting will include more than 70,000 wild flower and aquatic plants.

- 60 bird boxes to be installed and new habitats created for a range of species including dragonflies, butterflies, swifts, swallows, martins, kingfishers and bats.

New play areas and cycle facilities:

- Park areas interspersed with children’s play areas, including a neighbourhood play area in the centre of the Village site with various play equipment and a sheltered seating area.

- A cycle network throughout the Olympic Village site, integrated into the surrounding London Cycle Network, together with cycle parking spaces.

New trees and wetland plants:

- More than 2,000 new trees, over 100,000 wetland and wild flower plants, and large areas of wild flower meadows and lawns.

- Wildflower, tree and hedge planting designed to progress from the natural landscape of the wetlands areas in the west of the site to the more urban areas of Stratford and Leyton to the east.

- Landscaping planned to flow diagonally from the north-east to south-west of the Village site and forming a visual connection towards the Olympic Park and the City of London to the south west of the site.

- Planting to form tree-lined avenues around the main streets and roads in the Village, including nearly two hundred semi-mature London Plane trees, with groups of trees brought together in more parkland areas.

- A range of tree sizes and species planted throughout to add variety.

The various landscaping and public realm elements in the Athletes Village will be delivered in phases between now and the Spring of 2012. Construction work started on the Athletes’ Village in June 2008 and more than three-quarters of the residential plots in the Village are now structurally complete.

The structure of the world-class new education campus being built in the Village, Chobham Academy, is nearing completion and work is well underway on the state-of-the-art new Polyclinic in the Village that will provide healthcare facilities for existing local communities and the new residents that will live in the Village after 2012.

Triathlon Homes (a joint venture company established by First Base and housing associations Southern Housing Group and East Thames Group) has purchased 1,379 of the new homes in the Athletes’ Village which will become available as affordable housing after 2012. The aim is to create affordable, high quality homes for local people which are intrinsic to the regeneration of the area and to ensure a successful legacy for Stratford and the wider east London community after the Games.

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