London, England — The Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, cautions against complacency when it comes to securing the lasting legacy of the London Games. Following a hugely successful Games for Team GB, it is important that the determination required for sporting success is deployed to ensure that London 2012 is remembered as one of the most ambitious and successful sustainable regeneration projects too.

Shaun McCarthy, Chair, Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, said: “I have always seen London 2012 as a sustainable regeneration project interrupted by a few weeks of sport! There is no doubt that East London has exploded on to the world stage as a place to visit, live and work. However, much is still to be done. It is important that the London Legacy Development Corporation works to ensure the positive momentum gathered from the Games is not lost.”

According to the Commission, the work done to build a community after the Games is a notable achievement. The Olympic Village is set to deliver 2,700 homes; the operations centre will become a school; and the athletes’ polyclinic will become a modern GP clinic. This represents a major contribution to London’s housing shortage.

Jobs are key to legacy. The Commission was impressed by the contribution of the Games during the construction phase as 7,438 jobs came from the five host boroughs. Whilst figures for LOCOG are less clear, it is estimated that 6,000 people have been recruited through their local job brokerage scheme. Nonetheless, the Commission believes that local jobs are important and it encourages the legacy company to actively focus on jobs as much as the ODA and LOCOG have.

The next legacy challenge is promoting healthier lifestyles based on sport. The Commission believes getting more people active takes investment at a community level and a clear plan. Currently no such plan currently exists outside London. Supporting community and school sport will also give a chance for budding young athletes to become the sporting stars of the future.

The Commission for a Sustainable London 2012: The aim of the Commission is to provide independent assurance and commentary to enable the sustainability objectives of the London 2012 programme to be achieved and to support a sustainable legacy. The Commission tracks all the recommendations made here: http://www.cslondon.org/recommendations

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After the excitement over the opening ceremony have settled in, the organizers of the Olympic Games in London are waking up to the harsh reality of failed expectations: the many too many empty seats at the stadiums.

The problem is not just isolated to the less popular sports, but also big audience disciplines such as swimming, tennis, basket, and soccer are not competing in view of a full house. The initial rounds so far have rarely sold out.

The London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has initiated an investigation into why there are so many empty seats at the stadiums. Especially taking into account that there was a really high demand for tickets in the months leading up to the opening ceremony and many people could not get a hold of the ones they wanted. In fact, before the Games started, 8,8 millions tickets were sold, which beg the question — where are these tickets being used?

According to the investigations, the empty seats are those provided to media, government authorities and sponsors.

The organizing committee chairman, former athlete Sebastian Coe, has threatened to name the sponsors who have not filled their seats. The controversy has even made the British Sports Minister Hugh Robertson say that he is “very disappointing” to see the empty seats.

Coe has said that he will try to fill up the stadiums by offering the empty seats to the army personel that helps with security within the Olympic village, and to teachers and students in the area, as long as it means putting more tickets on sale. This last action worked on Sunday 29, where 3,000 tickets were sold through the Olympics website.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt called the situation ‘very disappointing’ and said that they might try selling the sponsor-reserved tickets: “I think it was accredited seats that belonged to sponsors, but if they’re not going to turn up, we want those tickets to be available for members of the public, because that creates the best atmosphere. We are looking at this very urgently at the moment.”

Jackie Brock-Doyle, director of communications for the London organizers, or LOCOG said that they are working on solutions: “We are trying everything we can to make sure that those accredited seats are filled where we can.”

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