DOME PLANS SUBMITTED TO COUNCIL

LONG AWAITED MILLENNIUM PLANS REVEALED

Greenwich, 31 October 1996

A Millennium dome which could hold two Wembley stadiums or thirteen Albert Halls, and cover Trafalgar Square, is the centre-piece of plans for The Millennium Exhibition in the year 2000.

The Millennium Dome, over 50 metres in height, with a visitor capacity of 50,000 people, forms part of the planning application to Greenwich Council for the year-long Millennium event on a 130 acre site on London's Greenwich Peninsula - submitted today on behalf of the Millennium Exhibition operating company.

If built, the Millennium Dome will be the largest domed structure of its kind in the world. Designed by a team from architects Richard Rogers Partnership, designers Imagination and engineers Buro Happold it will house 12 time zones. Each zone will contain multilevel pavilions representing a different aspect of time.

Detailed plans for the interior of the Dome are currently being developed by Imagination in conjunction with the Exhibition sponsors.

The Dome is only one part of the planning application submitted by project consultants W S Atkins on behalf of the Exhibition operators. The planning application also includes a Millennium Park, a Meridian Gardens, Exhibition Plaza and performance area, a river walk, river piers and boat services, a bus/underground transfer station, park and ride services to and from off-site car parks and Jubilee Line underground station on site.

More than twelve million visitors are expected to visit the Exhibition during the Year 2000, with an expected daily attendance of more than 100,000 visitors per day.

The Exhibition will cost £350 million to build - the organisers have already been pledged £200m from the Millennium Commission and are seeking a further £150 million from the private sector.

Millennium Exhibition Chief Executive Barry Hartop said: "There is still a long way to go, but potentially we could have the biggest and best event in the world - one which will create employment, improve a run-down area of our capital city and encourage new economic investment. An event which will capture the nation's imagination in the same way as Euro 96 - but on a massive scale."

He added: "This is the first step along the road to the Year 2000. The next step is to consult local people in the Greenwich area, let them see for themselves what is planned on the site and give them a say on what is proposed, as a part of the planning process."

More than 80,000 homes and businesses in the Greenwich area will be leafleted by the Exhibition organisers in conjunction with Greenwich Council from Thursday October 31 to inform them of the application. A public exhibition of the plans for the Peninsula site will take place. Public meetings will also be held and local organisations consulted.

See also:

• Millennium Exhibition: Building General Description
• Basic Facts about the Millennium Exhibition Planning Proposal
• Public Consultation Leaflet