Hackney mayor Jules Pipe says legacy opportunity will be wasted if ODA fails to consult broadcasters and record companies

The mayor of Hackney told MPs the legacy plan for the Olympic media centre must be finalised as soon as possible.

Mayor Jules Pipe said media companies had threatened not to take on the venue after the games if they were not allowed any input into the planning. Pipe appeared at a hearing of the department for media, culture and sport select committee yesterday.

He said it was 鈥渁bsolutely vital鈥� the consortia chosen to build the media centre and the ODA talk to broadcasters and recording industry contacts.

Media companies wanted somewhere new where the location was right. 鈥淭his location, the International Broadcast Centre/Main Press Centre (IBP/MPC) and the surrounding areas, is absolutely ideal for that, but we will lose the opportunity for that to happen if the ODA do not do as they have committed they will do.鈥�

The mayor also supported the evidence given by Clyde Loakes from Waltham Forest Council, who asked for the bridges connecting Hackney Marshes and Eton Manor to the rest of the Olympic Park to be delivered soon.

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