Press Release

From Thames Gateway to Gateway to Europe Baroness Jo Valentine urges East London transformation

17th January 2008

Baroness Jo Valentine has today called for the opportunities in East London to be seized and built upon in the run-up to the 2012 Games to ensure the Olympics legacy is secured.

Speaking in a House of Lords debate on securing a worthwhile legacy for the London Olympics, Baroness Jo Valentine, Crossbench Peer and Chief Executive of London First said:

“It was the promised legacy which persuaded the International Olympics Committee to pass the torch to London. There are many forms of legacy, but the Games will have succeeded if they transform people’s lives.

Baroness Valentine argued for East London to be transformed into the next South Bank success story.  She said:

“East London already has the potential to be a world class visitor destination; with a string of venues already there or planned,  including the O2 - the world’s most popular entertainment venue, the exhibition centre at ExCeL, the aquarium at Silvertown, the Olympic swimming pool, the velodrome and the Lea Valley park. The South Bank has seen extraordinary change in the past decade. Why not the same for East London in the next?”

She also pressed for links from East London to European business centres such as Paris to be exploited.  She said:

“It has superb access to markets, with one of the most important world financial centres on its doorstep, together with its European links via City Airport and the Channel Tunnel station at Stratford. And of course Crossrail will add further links. East London could aspire to be a quartier for French headquarters in Britain; East 15 becomes the 15th arrondissement!  But however it defines itself it has built in advantages as a business location.”