Sporting Legacy

Hugh Robertson Excerpts

Tuesday 18th September 2012 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Hugh Robertson)]

The Government are determined to deliver on the commitment to “Inspire a Generation” and secure a lasting sporting legacy from the games. We already know that 1.3 million more people are playing sport every week in England than when we won the bid in 2005 but we also know that we need to maintain the momentum from London 2012. That is why we have put in place the following 10 point sports legacy plan:

Elite Sport

Elite Funding

Through UK Sport, we have committed lottery and exchequer funding of around £125 million a year over the next four years for elite sport. This will provide the sports’ governing bodies with the certainty they need to put long-term plans in place to try and emulate, or better, the success our athletes have enjoyed in London. In return, and in the volunteering spirit of the games, all funded UK athletes will be asked to offer up to five days a year of their time to inspire the next generation through school and community sport.

World Class Facilities

We have invested in new world class sports facilities that will support community and elite sport for future generations inspired by London 2012. After the games, the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) will begin a £300 million construction project to remove the temporary venues and facilities and transform the Olympic site into the Queen Elizabeth Olympic park. On the Olympic park, the stadium, aquatics centre, velodrome and copper box will be transformed into their final legacy configurations and the hockey arena moved to a new location in Eton Manor at the north of the park alongside. The Lee Valley white water centre, the Eton Dorney rowing centre, the Hadleigh farm mountain biking centre and the Weymouth sailing centre were developed or improved for the games and will reopen to elite and community use. There will also be a legacy from the investment made into facilities used as games time training centres including:

Three new facilities—(Europa Gym at Bexley, Redbridge Leisure Centre, Mayesbrook Park).

One temporary facility (Basketball)—Two competition specification floors for use in major events around the country.

Two refurbished athletic tracks—(Mayesbrook Park, Newham Leisure Centre).

Two hockey pitches at the Old Loughtonians club.

Six building and sports floor upgrades—(Barking Abby School, Hackney Community College, Langdon School, Sobell Centre, Rokeby School).

In addition, a number of the temporary facilities used for the games will be relocated to communities across the UK. Considerable progress has been made to date on the disposal of a number of assets including:

Pools: Up to nine pools comprising 3x50 metres and 6x25 metres pools are available for possible relocation to legacy end users. Sport England will lead the management of this process.

Shooting Enclosures: Business cases received from UK applicants for 25 metres and combined 10/50 metres shooting enclosures are being considered at present.

Re-allocation of one of the hockey pitches from the Riverbank Arena to the Richmond Hockey Club (in SW London), where it will also be used by the University of Westminster.

Major Sports Events

To maintain the moment from London 2012, we have already won the right to host the following major sporting events throughout the UK: