The Planning Board of Greenwich Council gave permission last night for the O2 to be used as a venue at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games.
The dome, which will be known as the North Greenwich Arena at the time of the games, will play host to Artistic Gymnastics, Trampoline Gymnastics and the Basketball finals during the Olympic Games, followed by Wheelchair Basketball during the Paralympic Games.
The proposal got the unanimous backing of the Planning Board at last night’s meeting.
Sebastian Coe, Chairman of LOCOG said: “This is very good news and a vital step forward in our preparations for the Games. These venues are an important part of the cluster of sports being staged in Greenwich. North Greenwich Arena is without doubt an outstanding venue and will be a spectacular sporting stage in 2012.”
The Planning Board also unanimously supported the proposal to use Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich for shooting events at the 2012 Games.
NOGOE keyboard warriors appear in 3… 2… 1…
They obviously haven’t seen it yet…
Only a month to go or less when HOPEFULLY we get the go ahead for the equestrian event in Greenwich Park… this will truly be a great day for Greenwich!
BRING IT ON!
It’s only the equestrian events in Greenwich Park that NOGOE object to, not the events at the O2
NO TO GREENWICH PARK OLYMPIC EQUESTRIAN EVENTS – it does what it says on the tin. The group is NOT against the Olympics. In fact it has suggested using the Park as a fanzone/chill-out zone for EVERYONE to enjoy the Olympics on large-screen TVs.
I, for one, am delighted that Greenwich is a host borough because the O2 is well suited to these large-scale events. However Greenwich Park is not a SHOWGROUND, it is a WORLD HERITAGE SITE for goodness sake. And one, which is acknowledged in the planning application, where damage to heritage features WOULD occur.
An estimated 2000 people have already objected to the application, and one can still respond before the provisional date of 23 March for the Board Meeting. Expert organisations, independent as well as government agencies, have also criticised the deficiencies in the planning submission. They can’t all be wrong. This sporting event should not be allowed to damage the nation’s cultural heritage.
MartyMC and steve: READ THE APPLICATION, then come back and, instead of hollow statements, tell us why we should be in favour.
I really do struggle with the point of NOGOE. Happy for the park to be used as a fan zone, huge screens are fine just as long as there’s no event there! I mean horses, in a park, what are they thinking!
I understand the concern about long term damage to the park, but where are these people at the moment, I mean can they not see the cranes and lorries at the north border of the park? Were they too busy picketing Lord Coe’s house to notice the magnificient trees being uprooted for the Maritime Museum extension.
I suggest the next NOGOE event should be a march up Nevada street since there’s a pretty good chance that they’ll all be wiped out by the lorrys who seem to be unable to recognise a one way street.
Maybe then Mr Gilligan et al may speak up about the current damage being done to the park, damage that is very definately NOT temporary.
Darren, are you saying there is no point to NOGOE because the group didn’t campaign against the uprooting of trees in the grounds of the NMM? Incidentally I heard a rumour, of which I am sceptical, that the trees will be recycled and made into wooden floors for the new wing.
NOGOE’s concern is for the hundreds of trees in Greenwich Park, for which LOCOG has not provided a survey nor adequate details of mitigation. There is no map of the cross country course in relation to the trees, and non-existent or inadequate surveys of the wildlife that would be affected.
As you quite rightly imply, accidental damage can be expected when lorries and heavy machinery are present. In the case of the Park the ecology and archaeology would be at serious risk of permanent damage. You might like to know that LOCOG’s planning application specifies 6,200 lorry movements. To give this statistic some scale, Bovis Lend Lease, the developers of the Sammy Ofer Wing for the NMM specify 2,500 lorry movements.