I have just paid my first visit to Westfield Stratford Shopping Centre, alongside the Olympic Park, which opens next September.  Its quite something.

From above, it looks like a segment of an orange, wedged between two railway lines.  The straight edge of the segment is designed like a high street, with shops on both sides.  The curved edge is a broad covered mall.  At the southern tip of the segment, where it meets Stratford station, there will be a Marks and Spencer, making a welcome return to Newham.  I vividly remember the dismay when M&S left Stratford in the 1980s.  A flight of steps already built alongside the station leads up to the new store.  At the northern tip, the segment touches Stratford International station on the Channel Tunnel line, and there will be a John Lewis / Waitrose.

It will be the UK’s second largest shopping mall, and the largest urban shopping centre in Europe.  It will house over 300 retail units, a 12 screen cinema, performance spaces and art installations.  12,000 people will work there.  It will attract shoppers from far and wide – including, I hope by 2013, on trains from Europe.

The Centre is now 75% booked.  Many units are near to being completed.  In September, both Marks & Spencer and John Lewis took possession of their stores.  They are now fitting them out for opening.  

There will be over fifty restaurants and cafes.  I am particularly interested in the idea of a “Great Eastern Market”.  People specialising in fresh or cooked food appreciated by the huge range of communities represented in Newham will be encouraged to set up stalls there.  It will open up business opportunities for local people, and encourage all the local communities to feel at home.  And during the Olympics – when tens of thousands will pass through on the way to the Games – it will help to welcome visitors from every country of the world.

On holiday visits to my wife’s family in Singapore, I have been impressed by the colourful covered “food courts” which are everywhere.  They have dozens of very small, stainless steel stalls.  Each has a built-in kitchen, where local traders cook and sell food for customers to eat in a communal dining area.  Some of these tiny stalls are famous.  They offer enormous choice and very good value.  That’s what I hope we will see in Stratford.

Shadow Chancellor Alan Johnson has commented that, to reduce the deficit, we need “jobs, jobs, jobs.”  Westfield Stratford will bring an enormous jump in the number of jobs in the borough.  It is vital that we do all we can to ensure local residents enjoy their full share of the opportunities.  I welcome Westfield’s initiative, in conjunction with Newham Council and Jobcentre Plus, in developing  a Retail Academy to train people for a retail career.  

Public spending cuts will be taking effect as the new centre opens.  The Stratford City development will help East London through tough years ahead.