PART ONE English Partnership's approach to regenerating the Greenwich Peninsula

English Partnerships is the key public sector agency tasked with delivering regeneration in the Greenwich Peninsula through its management of the deal with the private sector. Part 1 of this report looks at the The key risks to the successful achievement of the project agreements underpinning the deal and the project's governance and accountability arrangements. This section also explores the project's risk management processes and its ability to deal with change.

1.1  Between 2001 and 2002, the Dome Sale Unit, consisting of officials from the then Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and English Partnerships (EP), entered into a sale process to find a sustainable future for the Millennium Dome and secure the regeneration of the surrounding area. The Government adopted a limited competitive process, against a background of little market enthusiasm for open competition, widespread cynicism about the risks and costs of participation and little specific interest in the Dome. A 20 year deal with Meridian Delta Limited (MDL) and the Anschutz Entertainment Group Europe (AEG), a subsidiary of the Anschutz Entertainment Group was agreed. This was the only consortium to come up with a viable bid during the process - to regenerate 170 acres of land on the Greenwich Peninsula and to redevelop the Dome. (See Key Facts for a list of the features of this redevelopment project and Appendix 3 for a timeline).

1.2  The aim of this project is to establish the Peninsula as a landmark urban development. This process has already begun with the opening of the Dome as The O2, a major leisure and entertainment complex. EP's vision is that this once derelict parcel of land will in the future become a sustainable, mixed-use community within London and the wider Thames Gateway. Figure 1 outlines the key risks and associated sensitivities to be managed if the project is to achieve its long term objectives but given the difficult circumstances in which the deal was signed EP's obligations in delivering its objectives are challenging.