By Paul Osborne at City Hall in London

Plans to regenerate the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park are discussed in a committee meeting todayOctober 8 - Local communities located close to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will benefit from the legacy of London 2012, it was promised today. 

The pledge came from Paul Brickell, Executive Director for Regeneration and Community Partnerships at the London Legacy Development Corporation, when he was questioned by the London Assembly Regeneration Committee here today.

Among the plans for the Park is for Loughborough University to establish itself in iCITY, fwhich was the Broadcast and Media Centre during the Games, using the world-class facilities and close business connections to expand its existing academic provisions and drive its world leading research and innovative activities.

BT Sport is already broadcasting from a lavish new state-of-the-art studio in the Park and Brickell is confident that as more major companies and organisations move into the area there will be a trickle down effect for smaller firms in the area.  

BT Sport are already broadcasting Premier League matches from its state-of-the-art studio based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic ParkBT Sport are already broadcasting Premier League matches from its state-of-the-art studio based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

When questioned on the involvement of ethnic minority businesses, which make up a large portion of small companies within the Boroughs surrounding the Park, Brickell claimed the opportunities they would be given, in not only the services sector, but also in areas such as accountancy and surveying.

"I'm confident that once we get businesses moving in we will get the full reflection of all communities within the area," Brickell told the Assembly.

"The key thing is to open up to small communities and I would be amazed if ethnic communities didn't take advantage of that opportunity."

Committee members also focused a lot of attention on the housing development plans put in place by the Legacy Company, pinpointing affordability in particular.

Neale Coleman, deputy chairman of the Legacy Company and advisor to the Greater London Authority on Olympic and Paralympic legacy, outlined plans to create a 30/30/40 split on social, affordable and intermediate housing tenures on the 1,600 houses planned for the first stages of development.

The Legacy Company's target for affordable housing over the whole Olympic Park site is set at 35 per cent with a minimum of 20 per cent of the 7-8,000 houses due to be built.

The Copper Box has been reopened to the publicThe Copper Box, reopened in July, has been a massive hit with the public



























Coleman was keen to highlight the successes that have already been achieved since the end of the Games in September 2012, including the re-opening of the Copper Box in July, which has seen an influx of residents signing up to use the gym facilities, the completion of a playground that has proved to be popular with local children and families, and the opportunity for a number of local sports teams to use the facilities on offer for day-to-day training and competition.

Plans by Westfield to build a snow sports centre were encouraged, and Lend Lease and London & Continental Railways proposal for an 18-storey, four-star hotel being welcomed onto the site.