By 2012, the Colchester landscape will be a brave new world.

The ambitious culture quarter - with Firstsite's pride and joy, the controversial art gallery and museum - will be the talk of the county.

The Hythe won't be recognisable (although whether it will house the much-anticipated marina is, as yet, unknown), Essex University will have its research park and Colchester Community Stadium will be the jewel in the town's new crown.

There will be at least two new hotels, new shops, new parkland, new businesses and a general feeling that Colchester is a town to be seen in. Something else, too. If things go the way they should, Colchester will be providing a camp for an international Olympic training squad.

"That's what we would love to get," declared Martin Beaver. "Think of it - Olympic athletes here in Colchester in the run-up to the Games. It would put Colchester firmly on the map, and we would benefit for years from such a high profile.

"Not only that, it would inspire people to get active, to get involved."

Mr Beaver is Colchester Council's sport development officer and one of those responsible for pushing Colchester as an Olympic host.

"The Colchester partnership - the council, Essex University and Colchester Garrison - got together to plan out the bid in January last year," he explained.

"Even before London got the 2012 Olympics, we were thinking individually on what we could offer."

But it is the partnership which makes Colchester's bid stand head-and-shoulders above many of the others.

"I don't think there are any other towns in the eastern region which have put forward partnership bids," said Mr Beaver. "Instead, individual sites have applied. We are ticking all the boxes with our bid - training facilities, accommodation, leisure. They are all in the one package."

It had been, he revealed, "surprisingly easy" for the big three to work together.

"We realised the strength of our bid is in what, together, we could individually offer - accommodation and human performance unit at the university, training facilities at the garrison and leisure facilities in the town," he pointed out.

It is this package which Karen Turnbull believes will swing it for Colchester. Ms Turnbull, Colchester Council's tourism and visitor development officer, said the London Committee for the Organisation of the Olympic Games (Locog) isn't only interested in first-class sports facilities, it is placing a heavy emphasis on rest and recreation, too.

"This is why we know our bid is strong - and why we should be on Locog's directory," she added. "Colchester has so much to offer any international Olympics team."

Brave new world, indeed.

WHAT COLCHESTER OFFERS

  • History and Heritage - Boadicea, the Romans, oldest recorded town (AD77), Civil War (Siege of Colchester, 1648), Colchester Castle (largest Norman keep in Europe), Layer Marney Tower (tallest Tudor gate tower in UK), Chappel viaduct (England's second largest brick-built structure)
  • Contemporary culture - Firstsite art gallery
  • Space to think - Castle Park, Constable Country
  • Fun - Colchester Zoo, Rollerworld
  • Shopping - big names plus local specialists
  • Entertainment - five theatres (Mercury, Arts Centre, Charter Hall, Headgate, Lakeside at Essex University), cinema
  • Food and Drink - more than 80 places to eat in the town centre; oysters and brewery at Mersea; Wilkin and Sons jam-makers at Tiptree plus specialist food shops
  • Easy access to London, Stansted Airport and Harwich International Port
  • Excellent sports facilities - Essex University's human performance unit, Colchester Council's Leisure World, Colchester Garrison.

2012 - BRING IT ON

  • Colchester's bid is now with Nations and Regions East, one of nine committees set up after London became the venue for the 2012 Olympics
  • It will decide which bids should go to the London Committee for the Organisation of the Olympic Games for possible inclusion in the Olympics 2012 Host Directory
  • January, 2008: Locog will reveal the towns for the host directory
  • April, 2008: the directory - and Colchester, if it is successful - will go to every international Olympics committee.