Cllr Veronica Ward, cabinet member for culture, leisure, sport and the Olympics
Ben Finden, Project Manager
Presentation on the Olympics and how Southwark is preparing including:
Minutes:
Councillor Veronica Ward, cabinet member for culture, leisure and the Olympics introduced the item on the Olympics by explaining some of the aims of the council to encourage visitors to the borough and to increase opportunities for residents in Southwark in terms of: sports, arts and culture.
Ben Finden, Project Manager, added that there were 92 days left until the Olympics and although Southwark was not a host borough there would be a huge increase in visitors. In a normal year London expects around 8 million visitors but this would increase by 4 million. There would be an extra 20 trips taken during the Olympics using public transport and 80% of travel associated with the games would be by rail.
There would be a significant impact on travel in Southwark during the games, with London Bridge and Canada Water stations being on the route into Stratford. Southwark was also an Alternative Route Network, for athletes and VIPs – this meant that if the Olympic Route Network was not viable the route through Southwark would be used across to Stratford. The marathons would also pass through Southwark on 5 and 12 August and this would also cause a disruption. The council would not be carrying out any road works from 1 July to 9 September 2012. The torch relay would also pass through Southwark prior to the opening ceremony which would cause road closures, the specifics of the route had yet to be announced.
Residents were encouraged to plan ahead for journeys during the Olympics. If people did not change their travel behaviour during the Olympic games there would be significant waiting times to get on trains at London Bridge Station and Canada Water Station. Officers directed people to the following websites:
Councillors asked about the best route to events from Peckham and the impact on burial services during the games.
Ben encouraged people with tickets for Olympic events to use the get ahead of the games website and that he would look into the impact on burial.
Ben added that there was also lots going on in terms of young people and the Olympics. The schools team at the council had encouraged schools to sign up for free tickets to events. 130 young volunteers had been supported which surpassed the target of 120. Lots of cultural events were taking pace such as Big Dance 2012 and events at the Globe. The council had also set up a £2 million capital legacy and money had been allocated to encourage sport and physical activity in the borough. Money had been allocated to Peckham Pulse for a new disability hoist and for new football pitches on Peckham Rye.
A resident asked if there would be public screening of Olympic events in Peckham. Cllr Ward advised that the only public screenings in Southwark would be at Potters Field.