London 2012 and Epping Forest district

Events in Essex
The Mountain Bike venue will be at Hadleigh Farm in Castle Point, and the district’s local boundary in Waltham Abbey is literally a few yards from the Olympic Canoe Slalom at Lee Valley White Water Centre. Travelling by Central Line, residents and visitors to Epping Forest district are also no more than a few minutes from the main Olympic venue in Stratford.

The White Water Centre
Exhilarating, terrifying, exciting, fun ... just a few of the words used to describe the adventure as, led by District Council Chairman Ken Angold-Stephens, councillors and staff 'took the plunge' to raise money for local charities at London’s new Olympics 2012 venue. More.

This is a brand new Olympic venue completed and opened to the public before the Games (it has already taken bookings from almost 90,000 people). Canoeing will form the Olympic focus, and after the games white water rafting is expected to be the main public activity. The Centre is due to close its doors temporarily for three weeks while it goes through a rigorous test event designed to make sure the Olympic show goes faultlessly.

Opportunities for local businesses
These are still currently available - printing, events management, security, training volunteers, crowd control, graphics for buses, parking, fire alarms, signage and flagpoles. More

Park & Ride from North Weald Airfield
This will be available during the Games for spectators visiting the White Water Centre (owned by the District Council)

Tickets for residents
As a ‘host council’ the District Council has two tickets for each of the opening and closing ceremonies plus 50 tickets for the actual White Water events; these will be given to lucky local residents (school children, local charities or local residents nominated by friends, family or neighbours - none will be used by councillors or council staff).

Potential disruption
Residents are asked to think about what you will be doing during the period of the games (can you adjust your timetable to try and take some of the pressure out the system and transport network?). Businesses that rely of staff, customers, supplies and transport links need to start planning now if they have not already done so.

Planning events
The more the merrier, but anyone planning a large-scale event or activity during the Games period is also being urged to talk to local people, neighbours and the town council. Many activities require official permissions, such as licences or planning applications, but there may be other good reasons to stop and check before going ahead. More