As a result the OPLC will become part of the MDC, and insidethegames understands that all live projects will be transferred to the new body when it is set-up on April 1, including the future of the Olympic Stadium. 

The OPLC had been looking for a tenant to move into the Stadium after they withdrew from negotiations last year with West Ham United, who had beaten off competition from Tottenham Hotspur to move to the ground.

An extraordinary meeting was held here today after Johnson sent his proposals to London Assembly Deputy chair Dee Doocey on Monday (January 16).

The proposals passed with a unanimous vote, and will now be sent to the office of Communities Secretary Eric Pickles to approve.

The OPLC insist that the tender process they began last month would continue as planned, and told insidethegames that although their name would disappear their work would continue and they welcomed the move, which they argue under the MDC will give them more powers. 

"We welcome the London Assembly unanimous support for the Mayor's plans to reform the Legacy Company into a Mayoral Development Corporation and to enhance our responsibilities," a spokesman for the OPLC told insidethegames.

"Our legacy plans for the Park are already more advanced than any previous host Olympic City.

"These new powers will help to build on the good start we have already made in creating a Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with new homes, jobs and training, along with sporting, cultural and entertainment opportunities."

The Mayor's office confirmed that all live projects will be transferred at that date to the MDC, which will including the tender process for the Stadium.


Currently the OPLC are awaiting expressions of interest, which have to be made online by the end of January, with formal bids due on March 23 and a final decision to be made on May 21.

The new MDC will have planning powers, and in April the OPLC, which was initially formed by the then Labour Government in 2009 with the Mayor, will be wound up.

Johnson wanted to create the new Corporation to bring more focus to the legacy benefits of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

During the question and answer session prior to today's vote, Johnson told the Assembly: "This is not a land grab...the [Olympic] Boroughs are supportive and have worked with us."

He also said that four of the Olympic Boroughs, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Newham and Waltham Forest, would all have representation on the Planning Committee of the MDC.

"London is preparing for one of the greatest summers this city has ever seen: we are on time, on budget and ready to welcome the world," Johnson added.

"But just as importantly, we are already hugely advanced in our work to secure a lasting legacy for London after the Games.

"The Olympic Park Legacy Company have put us ahead of any previous host city in securing the long-term future of its facilities before the first starting gun has even been fired.

"By creating the first Mayoral Development Corporation we are strengthening London's legacy plans even further, leaving us in the best possible position to create thousands of new jobs and new homes that will continue to change people's lives long after the Olympic flame has left."


Johnson, who describes the Olympic Park as the greatest regeneration project in 25 years, also pledged that it would "deliver a lasting legacy for London" and his views were largely echoed by London Assembly members, with Andrew Boff commenting during the debate prior to the vote that "this is a catalyst to the regeneration of the whole East End".

As well as the core Olympic Park, the areas that the MDC will comprise also includes Hackney Wick, Fish Island, Carpenters Estate, Three Mills and Mill Meads, Pudding Mill Lane, Sugarhouse Lane, Bromley-by-Bow North, as well as the Stratford City development site, which includes Westfield Shopping Centre and Chobham Farm.

The creation of the MDC adds to Johnson's powers as Mayor and will be a huge boost for him in his upcoming re-election campaign.

He faces predecessor Ken Livingstone in May in a vote that will determine which London Mayor will preside over this summer's Games.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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