ODA defends media centre legacy plans

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has hit back at concerns that efforts to drive down costs at the media centre would leave east Londoners without a permanent employment legacy in the area.

Alison Nimmo, director of design and regeneration at the ODA, said there would definitely be a permanent built legacy on the site of the media centre after the Games, with a planning application due to be submitted at the beginning of February.

She said: "We're in the middle of looking at options. There will be a broadcast facility on the western end of the Olympic site; what we're considering is getting the right balance on the legacy position, between temporary and permanent buildings."

The ODA originally signed up a development consortium led by Igloo and Carillion to build a 120,000m² media centre, which would be converted in to a hub for media industries after the Olympic Games employing 8,000 people. It has admitted it is now exploring whether to put the press office part of the centre – 28,000m² of offices – into Westfield's Stratford City development, which would also affect the development of the 65,000m² broadcast centre.

The ODA was originally to have put in £220m of the £485m cost of the centre, with the developers funding the rest, but it is looking for ways to cut costs in the light of the collapse of developer funding for the Olympic village.

Nimmo was unable to clarify exactly what options were being considered for the media centre, but said a decision would be made very early in the new year. Building has previously reported that only the offices attached to the broadcast centre – 19,000m² – are now likely to be left as legacy. Nimmo said: "We're not going to build a completely temporary facility. But also there is no point putting in a great white elephant."