7 The Dome has become a highly successful entertainment venue. Strict contractual obligations on the Dome's new owners, AEG, meant that the Dome opened as The O2 on time in June 2007. In the first six months of opening (24 June-31 December 2007) over 1.2 million tickets were sold for the O2 Arena and 90 per cent of the annual target of 150 events in the Arena had been arranged. The O2 was reported to be the most popular music venue in the world for 2007 according to industry figures for tickets sold for music events for the relevant period. The O2 has also had a positive effect on local employment with 62 per cent of employees coming from the Thames Gateway. The O2 has become a beacon for the new development.
8 Progress on new housing has been delayed. Although the deal was signed in 2002, it only became unconditional in 2004. The start of house-building on the site - which is the majority of this development - has been delayed by two years compared to the original 2002 forecasts which formed the basis of the deal (see paragraph 2.7). Under these plans, the first land was to be sold for development in June 2005. Conditional land sale agreements were exchanged in September 2006 with the first sale taking place in July 2007 when all conditions were satisfied. MDL now acknowledges that the original plans were overly optimistic and that the development is more difficult to deliver than originally thought.
9 It will be difficult for progress to catch up with the original plans. MDL's 2008-2011 forward programme involves a greater rate of building than originally anticipated. MDL has also changed its strategy towards greater direct development. While this approach has potential to put progress back on track, MDL will have to commit more of its own resources to the project, and the accelerated building rate will demand a greater commitment of time from EP and Greenwich Borough Council. To date the parties are seeking to manage the demands of planning processes, but their ability to deliver construction on site to an accelerated timetable is unproven. And the planned increase in development is constrained by the market's ability to absorb additional supply of housing. All these factors together increase the risk of the project not being able to achieve its target contribution of 4,250 housing units to the Thames Gateway regeneration programme by 2016.
10 MDL and EP have taken advantage of opportunities to bring forward commercial and educational developments earlier than planned. This means that a mixed-use community, which is an important basis for creating a sustainable community, will be present early on in the project. Furthermore, the project scored well against fourteen (out of our 20) key criteria for a sustainable community which means that there is potential for one to be created on the Peninsula.