Nearly three years to go and London 2012 remains on time and on budget

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games remain on time and on budget, new data published by the Government and Olympic Delivery Authority today shows.

Figures released in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Quarterly Economic Report July 2009 show that the Anticipated Final Cost (AFC) of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) programme hasn’t changed over the last quarter.

The majority (65 per cent) of contingency remains unreleased and the ODA continues to make good progress in preparing the venues and infrastructure in the Olympic Park, with construction starting today on the Handball Arena two months early.

Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said:

“On the eve of our three years to go celebrations the Olympic project remains on time and on budget. The overall funding package for the games remains the same and the anticipated final cost of the ODA budget is the same at it was at the end of March 2009 - £7.234 billion.

“The ODA continues to make good progress on the Olympic Park and construction is now underway on all of the permanent venues. There are now over 4,000 workers on site and the project continues to provide jobs and millions of pounds worth of business opportunities to companies around the UK in a challenging time.”

Olympic Delivery Authority Chairman John Armitt said:

“We are on track and remain within budget. With work starting today on the Handball Arena, construction is now underway on all permanent venues. The ODA has hit all of its milestones for the last year and we will shortly set out the next set which will take us to July 2010. Though we are making strong progress we are not complacent. The year ahead is a challenging one as activity on site reaches its peak.”

Since the last quarter a release of £19m has been made from the funder’s contingency to allow modifications to the Olympic Park venues to make them more secure and resilient to attacks.
The Anticipated Final Cost has not increased because actual and forecast cost increases are expected to be offset by savings and because good progress on the Olympic Park means risks to the programme reduce.

The public sector funding package for the Games announced in March 2007 was £9.325 billion. Of this £6.1 billion was identified as the Olympic Delivery Authority budget, with around £2 billion contingency and £1.2 billion for non-ODA activities such as wider security and support for elite and community sport.

The majority of contingency used to date has been to mitigate the impact of the credit crunch. Contingency of £1.272 billion remains from the £1.972 billion available.

Key points from the Government Olympic Executive’s second quarterly report are:

• The AFC for the ODA programme remains at £7.234 billion – the same as it was at the end of March 2009;
• The majority of contingency used to date has been for projects affected by the economic downturn;
• The gross allocation of contingency to date on the project is £700 million. The net allocation is £376 million, assuming the additional funding made available in May to the Olympic Village is repaid from the future sale of Olympic Village homes.
• There is more contingency available than assessed risks
• £1.272 billion, over 65 per cent, remains unallocated in contingency funding;
• Forecast risks on the project going forward continue to reduce due to efficient delivery. The ODA’s latest estimate is that they require £685 million of this remaining contingency (a drop from £703 million in March 2009);
• There are over 4,000 people currently working for contractors on the Olympic Park;
• To date £3.5 billion worth of contracts have been directly awarded by the ODA, 98 per cent of these to UK based companies.
• The ODA continues to make good progress in preparing the Olympic Park. Construction work is well underway with the roof structure of the Aquatics Centre now over 50 per cent complete; the roof support of the Stadium now fully complete and all 10 milestones that the ODA set out to achieve a year ago have been reached;
• The programme remains on track to finish on time and within budget.

(DCMS) Gardeners from across London urged to branch out and design a 'Great British Garden' for London 2012 Olympic Park

As the biggest gardening event of the year - the RHS Chelsea Flower show - kicks-off, Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell is urging amateur gardeners from across London to take inspiration from the gardens on show and help design a Great British Garden on the London 2012 Olympic Park.

A special stand at this year's show will give green-fingered visitors to Chelsea the chance to find out more about the competition and London 2012.

The nationwide 'RHS Olympic Park Great British Garden Competition' run in partnership between London 2012 and the Royal Horticultural Society, is designed to showcase one of the nation's favourite pastimes of gardening, whilst commemorating the Much Wenlock Olympian Society in Shropshire, whose games inspired Pierre de Coubertin to found the modern Olympic movement.

Amateur gardeners from across the UK have been asked to submit ideas for a quarter acre site expressing the unique qualities of a British domestic garden within contemporary parkland, so that visitors feel like they are wandering through someone's garden.

Entrants are free to choose which ever plants they wish to represent Great British Garden whether roses from England, daffodils from Wales, Shamrock from Ireland, or thistles from Scotland.

Tessa Jowell, Minister for the Olympics, said:
"We are known all over the world for being a country of gardeners. The RHS Olympic Park Great British Garden Competition' is the perfect opportunity for all those amateur gardeners up and down the country to design and display a garden that can be enjoyed by thousands of people from all over the world, just like here at Chelsea.

"The garden will not only showcase the best of British gardens during the 2012 Games it will live-on as part of the Olympic Park in legacy."

Inga Grimsey, Director General of the Royal Horticultural Society, said:
"We know there is no easy answer as to what constitutes a British garden but this challenge makes this competition even more exciting.Gardening has been part of our social and cultural make-up for generations. This competition is a fantastic opportunity for the nation to celebrate its passion for plants, get involved in gardening and for the winners to literally get their hands dirty and help to build the Olympic dream.

ODA Chair John Armitt said:
"This is a fantastic opportunity to be involved in creating a part of the parklands that will both form a green backdrop to the London 2012 Games themselves and new public space in legacy. The Great British Garden will celebrate both the heritage of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and British gardening traditions, something that will be reflected throughout the Olympic Park parklands."

Six finalists will be shortlisted by a panel of experts before being put to a public vote in September 2009. Winners will be chosen from two categories, one 16 or under and one 17 and over.

The winners will work with the team of world-class landscape architects and garden designers on the Olympic park to design a great British Garden that will be in bloom during the London 2012 games and remain in legacy.

The competition, part of the London 2012 Inspire programme, will be open to all. Simple entry forms can be downloaded from http://www.rhs.org.uk/news/olympicpark.asp. Entrants can submit their forms by post. All entries need to be in by July 31st 2009.

The inspiration for the modern Olympic Games can be traced back to British doctor, William Penny Brookes who held the first Much Wenlock 'Olympian Games' in 1850. It was after a visit to Much Wenlock in 1890 that Pierre de Coubertin, the founding father of the modern Olympic Games, was convinced to organise the 1896 inaugural Olympic Games in Athens.
Entrants will be asked to consider opportunities to incorporate a 'de Coubertin' Oak tree, currently being grown in Kew from seedlings taken from an oak tree de Coubertin planted himself in Much Wenlock, into their garden design.