A new chair and chief executive are to take over at the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), ushering in the next phase of the continuing evolution of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Shazia Hussain, currently deputy chief executive of Waltham Forest, has been appointed to succeed Lyn Garner as chief executive, and Suki Kalirai, an experienced company director in a number of fields, will take the place of Lord Peter Hendy, subject to approval by the London Assembly.
The changes reflect a forthcoming new role for LLDC, a mayoral development corporation – one of two in the capital – formed in 2012 and accountable to the Mayor of London, initially Boris Johnson and now Sadiq Khan.
The LLDC was given formal planning powers over the Park itself and some adjoining areas in order to control and co-ordinate the various housing, public realm and cultural projects that have taken shape over the past 12 years.
Now the process has begun of handing back planning powers to the four east London boroughs whose boundaries include parts of the park, primarily Newham along with Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. This is scheduled to be completed on 1 December and the LLDC’s different responsibilities will apply to a smaller geographical area from the same date, in line with a decision taken by Mayor Khan in September 2022.
Hackney cabinet member Guy Nicholson says he looks forward to ensuring the park’s legacy “continues to deliver as it transitions from building places to supporting people” so that “all can share in the opportunities that have been and continue to be created”.
The new model LLDC is expected to become effective from 1 April 2025, complete with a new board and governance structure and redefined responsibilities and functions. Mayor Khan’s decision stated that “an agreed set of transition principles” will apply, including maintaining the quality of the park estate, being a democratically accountable body and becoming “financially sustainable without ongoing GLA [Greater London Authority] grant-funding”.
The “reset LLDC” will also end its connection the London Stadium, the rebuilt Olympic Stadium that has become the home of West Ham United. However, in the coming months Khan is to appoint Garner chair of E20 Stadium LLP, the company that owns the venue. E20 will become a subsidiary of GLA Holdings, which is wholly-owned by the GLA. Hendy has recently become a transport minister in the new national government.
Kalirai currently chairs Paragon Asra Housing and is a non executive director and chair of the retirement living part of the not-for-profit Housing 21 company. He has previously held both executive and non-executive positions a variety of consumer, building and education organisations, including Coca Cola and Le Méridien and Forte hotels. Kalirai has also advised the United Nations on sustainable development.
Before joining Waltham Forest, Hussain was assistant chief executive at Brent and had previously held a regeneration position at Tower Hamlets.
Twelve years after the London Games, development work continues on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with further housing schemes underway and planned, and more components of the East Bank cultural and education hub nearing completion.
The new Sadler’s Wells East dance theatre is due to open later this year, followed by the new BBC Music Studios and the V&A East Museum in 2025. The accompanying V&A East Storehouse project, which will make the museum’s reserve collection accessible across the park at Here East, is also due to open next year.
Correction: This article originally and mistakenly said that Lord Hendy was continuing to chair Network Rail. In fact, he stood down after being appointed a government minister. The error has now been corrected.
Dave Hill’s book Olympic Park: When Britain Built Something Big, which tells the story of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, can be ordered directly from On London postage and packing free, and also from bookshop Pages of Hackney. Photo from LLDC.