A redevelopment of the Tees Barrage International Water Course on the River Tees has been announced. It will include redesigning the main course, building a second shorter course and installing 4 large 12m x 3m Archimedes Screws, which can create guaranteed conditions. The scheme is funded by ONE North East, Stockton Council, Tees Active, Middlesbrough Council and Sport England.  Work is due to begin in September and is a proposed site for the 2012 Olympic Games.

• The London Development Agency is working closely with key partners to deliver the physical transformation of East London as well as a lasting legacy of social, economic and physical improvements. The partners include:

• The five host boroughs: Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest

• Greater London Authority (GLA)

• Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA)

• Central Government
• London Thames Gateway Development Corporation (LTGDC)

• Lee valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA)

• Sporting Legacy for 18,000 Londoners

• More than 18,000 Londoners have taken part in different sporting activities through a coaching programme intended to get more people active in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

• The London Development Agency’s (LDA) Summer of Sport programme was taken up by 8,000 and the Winter of Sport programme was taken up by 10,000.

• One of the main goals of the project was to try and increase sport participation among disabled people, working alongside London Sport Forum for Disabled People. This year the project is part of the Mayor of London’s Play Sport London Initiative, and has funded London sports clubs to put on 229 events where people can turn up and receive expert coaching. The participants will then be signposted to similar activities in their area so they can continue playing.

• For many participant it will be the first time they have received any form of coaching. Around 70% of the people will receive 6 hours of more of coaching, which means they are far more likely to carry on playing the sports at their local clubs.

• Sport England has invested £200,000 in the London Summer of Sport and has recently awarded the London Development Agency £250,000 of National Lottery Funding towards Play Sport London.

After the 2012 Olympic Games, the Olympic Park will be transformed into one of the largest urban parks created in Europe for more than 150 years. The park will be connected to the tidal Thames Estuary in the south and the Hertfordshire countryside in the north.

• The park will be designed to enrich the local ecology, restoring the wetland habitats and planting native species.

• The canals and waterways of the Rives Lea will be cleaned and widened, and the natural floodplains of the area will be restored to provide a new wetland habitat for wildlife, birdwatchers and ecologists to enjoy. The natural river system of the valley will be restored, canals dredged and waterways widened.

• The world-class sports facilities will be adapted for use by sports clubs and the local community, as well as elite athletes.

• The Olympic Village will be converted into homes; many will be available for key workers such as teachers and nurses.
• There are improvements to transport links already underway. This includes an extension to the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), increased capacity on the Jubilee Line and an upgrade of the Stratford Regional Station.

Eton Manor is the northern gateway to the Olympic Park. It is still undergoing extensive design processes, but the current designs show the site will also include a 130m tall wind turbine.

It will house a group of sporting facilities centred around an indoor tennis centre; with changing rooms and office and social space. The other sport facilites will include a water-based hockey pitch with 3,000 spectator seating, a second hockey pitch, four indoor and six outdoor tennis courts and a commercial five-a-side football centre. The site will also have 179 car parking spaces.

Post Olympic Games 2012 park of the Olympic area will be developed into a ‘VeloPark’, retaining the 6,000 capacity Velodrome, the BMX track will have its temporary seating removed to make way for track improvements and a one-mile road cycle circuit will be introduced.

The Velopark will be a cycling hub for the local community and the region which can be used by school children, groups and elite riders to train, race or cycle for fun.