Forman, the managing director of the luxurious restaurant and entertainment venue Forman's Fish Island - the closest venue to the Olympic Stadium - has just had outline planning permission granted for his second venue which will be build right next door to Forman's Fish Island and capable of hosting up to 8,000 visitors a day.

The temporary structure would almost certainly upstage the official hospitality suites within the Olympic Park itself while the giant mock-up living room entertainment venue is scheduled to be open from 8am to 2am from April to September 2012, a time-frame that coincides with the Games.

But despite Forman's grand plans, Fish Island is a small former industrial area in Stratford which is home to just 600 people and 120 businesses, many who have complained about the plans.

Frank and Pam Henson, who live with their daughter directly opposite the Forman's site in Lock Keepers' Cottage, say that they have already lived through construction of the Olympic Stadium "virtually in our back garden without unduly disturbing us" but that the noise from Foreman's would be a nightmare.

"Only a month ago Forman rented out his open yard to Coca Cola for an advertising shoot involving 1,000 extras, plus cast, with a sound system so loud it caused nausea and set off car alarms in nearby Dace Road," Frank Henson told BBC London.

"The key thing is that this seems to be an open venue from the indicative drawings.

"Music sound can be reduced with limiters, but thousands of revellers' voices cannot."



The local authority, Tower Hamlets, objected to the proposal by expressing concern at the potential impact on residents and the capacity of the surrounding transport networks to cope with the proposed numbers.

But Forman said his initiative was only opposed by a small number of nearby residents, some of who do not fully understand the plans, and that any inconvenience would be outweighed by benefits for the area.

"There is very much a feeling among local people that East London really hasn't benefited from the Olympics," he said.

"It would be a real brownie point if a sponsor came and did something for local people.

"We have to meet all the noise regulations and environmental regulations to get a licence.

"There was a misunderstanding among some of the residents that we were building a nightclub for 8,000 people.

"That's not what we're doing.

"We're building a corporate hospitality facility for that number of people throughout the day.

"It sounds a lot, but spread through the entire day and in the context of 500,000 coming to the area for the Games, it's not."

Final details of the scheme will be subject to further planning meetings, but Forman insisted there was time to build the ambitious structure.



"We've been advised it will take four months," he explained.

"The main issue with the timing is that there is a certain amount of kit around to build these structures and if we don't book it, it will have to be fabricated and that adds to the timeline and the cost.

"The living room floor is six metres off the ground and underneath you have 5,500 metres of hospitality space.

"The sofa itself is the equivalent of a four-storey building with hospitality space.

"The cabinet that the giant TV sits on could be another space for 1,000 people or 1,500 people.

"The planning permission we have is for a concept scheme.

"The details have not been worked out yet and we don't know what the final design will be, at this stage.

"Our vision is to build something creative and iconic.

"All this is about building a lasting legacy for the area."

Foreman himself became a legendary figure in the East End of London after he triumphed in a highly-publicised legal battle with former Mayor Ken Livingstone.

His original premises were slap bang in the middle of where the main Olympic Stadium now stands and he was given a compulsory purchase order by the London Development Agency (LDA) to make room for the Games.

It was suggested the fourth generation salmon smoking family business move well away from the Olympic Park, but Forman resiliently stood his ground to secure the stunning location on the banks of the River Lea, offering premier views of the Stadium.

Forman is also looking to attract foreign television networks to use the venue during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics but as yet, no deal has been finalised.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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