3.10 English Partnerships' main objectives in negotiating an agreement with the Consortium were:
■ To maximise long term receipts to the taxpayer, chiefly from the development of land outside the Dome, but also capturing profits from the Dome itself if and when these arise;
■ To ensure that the development of the Peninsula proceeds without undue delay and along lines acceptable to English Partnerships in terms of achieving sustainable communities; and
■ To ensure that the development in the Dome by the Anschutz Entertainment Group itself proceeds as quickly as possible, securing its sustainable future within set timetables linked to Meridian Delta Ltd's development of the rest of English Partnerships' land.
3.11 Achieving these objectives has necessitated a complex suite of interdependent legal documents, (See Figure 16) involving numerous parties. We took advice on the deal from property consultants Chesterton, and from lawyers Wragge and Co, who concluded that it provides a practical, contractual basis for achieving the Government's objectives. They noted, however that in an agreement of such size it is not possible to certify that all elements are totally secure against all future eventualities.
3.12 One area of inherent risk to manage in implementing the deal is the form of the legal linkage between the obligation on Meridian Delta Ltd and Anschutz to reuse the Dome on one hand and their rights to develop the rest of the Peninsula on the other. In practice English Partnerships have the right of approval to Meridian Delta Ltd's Business Plans and the development proposals on the land outside the Dome, and in the event of Anschutz not proceeding to develop the Arena the Government has reserved to itself the sole right to decide what happens to the Dome. Also, English Partnerships and Meridian Delta Ltd have step-in rights if Anschutz start but do not complete the Arena. English Partnerships' position on this risk is protected by the following key features of the deal, explained opposite.