Facts about The Royal Parks and the London 2012 Games
The Royal Parks will be a key venue for the Games in 2012, with events planned as follows:
In addition:
- Olympic Marathon and Triathlon routes will use Royal Parks' roads
In hosting the above events the guiding principles of The Royal Parks are as follows:
- To minimise impact to the parks and return them to their pre-Games state
- To minimise impact on the park users
What's happening at Greenwich?
Temporary arena
A temporary equestrian arena will be built in the Park to the south of the Queen's House and will host dressage, show jumping, and elements of the Modern Pentathlon.
Equestrian Cross Country Course
The Cross Country Course will extend into the Park. LOCOG (London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games) is responsible for the design of the course and has produced an indicative route to demonstrate that an Olympic-size course will fit into the Park.
Course design
The Royal Parks is working closely with LOCOG to ensure the course is designed to avoid impact to trees and to protect ecological and archaeological areas.
LOCOG are still finalising the course design of the Cross Country route and The Royal Parks are advising them.
Trees
With over 150,000 trees in our care across eight Royal Parks, including 1,500 veteran trees, we are specialists in veteran and ancient tree husbandry, including the management of historic avenues. Following best practice, trees are managed for conservation and public safety.
The route is being designed to avoid tree roots, but on occasional instances where this might not be possible, a range of mitigation measures will be deployed - such as putting down ground protection.
Tree and other specialist surveys are being undertaken to help inform the design, and these will be submitted as part of the planning application for the course, scheduled for autumn 2009.
Impact of horses
Originally a hunting ground for Henry VIII, the Park has a long history of horse riding and even today is sometimes used to exercise police horses. For the cross country event, approximately 75 horses will each go round the course once - they will not have an opportunity to practice.
Maintaining access to the Park
Whilst at this stage it is not possible to give exact dates, one of our guiding principles is minimising disruption to park users. Most of the park will remain open during the construction period, with jumps constructed off-site and assembled in the park in sections to maximise public access during the lead up to the event.
What happens to Greenwich Park after the London 2012 Games?
LOCOG is responsible for fully reinstating the Park following the London 2012 Games. At this year's Beijing Games, the Equestrian Events were held on a golf course in Hong Kong, and the golf course was back in use just five days after the competition.
How will the other Parks be affected? What's the timetable?
As the other events are still in the very early planning stages, the answers to these questions are currently unknown, although the events taking place in the parks are noted above and the same guiding principles will apply.
Our priority will always be to ensure the Parks are protected and we will work with the various Olympic partners to keep any impact to a minimum.
How can I find out more?
LOCOG is undertaking a community engagement programme and has produced a leaflet on Greenwich which is available here.
We will update our website pages as plans develop so watch this space.
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