Ken's world squares scheme would have been perfect to connect with the Olympics to really get some change going at a local level across every London borough.

But, hey, who wants change when you've got a cutback Tory in power.

'Shabby streets will embarrass London in 2012
Katharine Barney, City Hall Reporter
12.06.08
Evening Standard

London could be embarrassed by the poor state of its streets during the 2012 Olympics, an influential councillor warned today.

Daniel Moylan said streets were too cluttered, were unfriendly to pedestrians, and endangered cyclists.

He called on Mayor Boris Johnson, and Olympic chiefs to boost investment in tourist areas including Parliament Square, Piccadilly, Exhibition Road and Regent Street.

Mr Moylan, chairman of London Councils' transport and environment committee, said: “We risk letting ourselves down if we invite millions of visitors to London in its current condition.

Too many of our showpiece streets are dominated by unmaintained clutter, marginalise pedestrians,
endanger cyclists and make shopping and visiting cultural centres an unpleasant experience.

“London's boroughs are responsible for most of these public places but they are not being given adequate funding to bring them up to a decent standard.”

Mr Moylan, deputy leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, is backed by Living Streets, a charity that works to make public space more people-friendly, and the London Cycling Campaign.

Mr Johnson said: “In 2012 the capital must look its absolute best. I want to work with all communities and local boroughs to ensure the world sees just how proud we are of our fine capital.”

:applause:

Huvet- Your a clever chap why do you need Darjole to drip feed you information- Never heard of google??

Don't blaspheme, it may offend others.

You consistently defended the cost of the olympics despite questions by myself and others until Livingstone admitted on BBC's Question Time that the costings were a con with full knowledge that the Olympics would cost considerably more.

Strangely you went quiet on that subject.

When I questioned the extraordinary inflation of costs and bids for Olympic facilities you gave gave extraordinary answers about why the bids were so high. Until someone who is obviously an industry professional clearly stated how costs should have been built into the bids.

You stated that the OAD did not account for the contaminated land and because of that costs were inflated, That is not incompetence that is stupidity.

I have consistently asked you to provide evidence of legacy.

You have consistently failed to do so.

I do not expect you to spoon feed me information.

I expect you to defend your partisan posts.

Instead you post pathetic comment. You should provide evidence of legacy, I'm not asking for detail just a reliable concept.

You will not be able to provide evidence of legacy just your usual politic.

What's your problem Huvet?

DarJoLe is on site taking pictures and appraising us of the latest happenings from Pudding Mill Lane on a weekly basis.

Is it because he sees past the shortsighted, pennypinching, shareholder value at all costs posturing of the East London phobic Tories that you are really getting at him?

Shame on you right wingers, you are seemingly hard wired to stymie any progressive movement whatsoever.

What a pity so many are hoodwinked by your attendant media whores, mind you, what can we expect from an education system equally denuded of funding?

CF

why do alot of london's boroughs still use black bin bags. coventry council took up wheelie bins in 96/97 and began using separate bins for recycling over two years ago. are london's residents demanding improvements or do they not care?

They dont care.

“We risk letting ourselves down if we invite millions of visitors to London in its current condition.

London has millions and millions of visitors every year, in fact it's one of the most - if not the most - visited cities on earth.

Silly old codger.:ohno:

The mans right though.Take a walk around the city mate ; London streets look absolutely disgusting.

Hoodies for London 2012

its the opening shot for London 2012 on the world stage

Sydney sent kangaroos on bicycles and Atlanta revealed a logo that looked like a blue sperm. The moment one Olympic host city hands over to the next has veered from exuberant celebration of national identity to plain international embarrassment.

Now after 12 months of secret planning, London's strategy for the handover of the Olympic flag at this summer's closing ceremony can be revealed by the Guardian - and there's not a red London bus or Pearly Queen in sight.

Instead, the unruly spirit of Britain's "hoodie" culture will take centre stage in Beijing's Olympic Stadium in front of a TV audience of more than 100 million.

An eight-minute performance led by Zoo Nation, an urban dance squad famous for a West End show which features a drug-dealing pimp and a gangster rap soundtrack, will mark the beginning of the London 2012 Olympiad.

The troupe has so far performed its street and breakdance routines with groups as diverse as Welsh rappers Goldie Looking Chain and the pop singer Will Young. Its show, "Into the Hoods", is set on the fictional Ruff Endz Estate with characters including Spinderella, Rap-on-zel and Jaxx. In Beijing, it will be supported by dancers from the Royal Ballet and Candoco, a disabled dance company.

With Gordon Brown and the Chinese leadership due to attend the event on 24 August, the prospect of diplomatic embarrassment looms. Organisers in Beijing are privately concerned that London's performance could clash with their own plans for an "extremely formal" final event.

Kate Prince, the 33-year-old choreographer who built up Zoo Nation from street dance sessions in deprived areas of east London, is working with Deborah Bull, former lead dancer of the Royal Ballet who will come out of retirement. There will be unannounced special guests with unfounded rumours concerning acts such as Robbie Williams and the Spice Girls.

A spokeswoman for London's Olympic organising committee said the ceremony would reflect "the best of British, with a range of talent showcasing London's creativity, diversity and youth".

Alistair Spalding, director of Sadlers Wells dance theatre, said the audience could expect "humour and stories told with hip hop and street dance". "It is a positive choice and reflects an aspect of London that people don't often think about - a multi-cultural city with a vibrant youth culture," he said.

A similar handover ceremony will take place at the end of the paralympic games on 17 September. The 16 minutes of performance in the two ceremonies will cost up to £2m to produce.

When former BBC producer Stephen Powell was appointed last year as creative director of handover ceremonies, he said he had "an opportunity to remind the world what a rich, vibrant, eclectic, diverse and influential culture we are".

But the branding expert Peter York said the choice of a hip hop dance troupe was a mistake. "The visual language belongs to America and it is something Britain has no particular purchase on," he said.

Ric Birch, a creative adviser on the opening and closing ceremony to the Beijing Games, said: "The whole reason for the handover ceremony is to alert the world to where the next Olympics is coming from ... Its about saying 'the King is dead, long live the King'."

Birch was behind the inflatable Kangaroos at Atlanta in 1996 to announce the Sydney games, an idea pilloried in Australia. He said if he was involved in London's plans he'd think about using the Monty Python team. There is no indication London 2012 will follow his advice when Tessa Jowell, the Olympics minister announces the plans on Monday.

All aboard – destination Beijing. A red double-decker bus, symbol of London, will burst into the arena at the closing ceremony of this summer’s Olympic Games, carrying stars such as David Beckham and Leona Lewis, to herald Britain’s hosting of the 2012 Olympiad.

The open-top bus is already en route by container ship to China.

Once inside the 90,000-seat Beijing National Stadium, built to resemble a bird’s nest, Beckham is expected to hop off to kick footballs with children representing every country in the world. At the next “stop” inside the £250m arena, Lewis, who won the X Factor talent show in 2006, will perform to a glo-bal television audience forecast to number 1.5 billion. Then the two stars will link arms as 40 dancers from groups as diverse as London’s hip-hop scene and the Royal Opera strut their stuff.

The £2m extravaganza, lasting just eight minutes, is London’s contribution to the closing ceremony on Sunday August 24. It will be mirrored by a show in Trafalgar Square and street parties in 10 other cities, including Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester.


Another passenger will be Boris Johnson, mayor of London, who will receive the Olympic host flag from Jacques Rogge, chairman of the International Olympic Committee.

FROM THE TIMES>

Journey and Transformation
All aboard – destination Beijing. A red double-decker bus, symbol of London, will burst into the arena at the closing ceremony of this summer’s Olympic Games, carrying stars such as David Beckham and Leona Lewis, to herald Britain’s hosting of the 2012 Olympiad.

The open-top bus is already en route by container ship to China.

Once inside the 90,000-seat Beijing National Stadium, built to resemble a bird’s nest, Beckham is expected to hop off to kick footballs with children representing every country in the world. At the next “stop” inside the £250m arena, Lewis, who won the X Factor talent show in 2006, will perform to a glo-bal television audience forecast to number 1.5 billion. Then the two stars will link arms as 40 dancers from groups as diverse as London’s hip-hop scene and the Royal Opera strut their stuff.

The £2m extravaganza, lasting just eight minutes, is London’s contribution to the closing ceremony on Sunday August 24. It will be mirrored by a show in Trafalgar Square and street parties in 10 other cities, including Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester.

Another passenger will be Boris Johnson, mayor of London, who will receive the Olympic host flag from Jacques Rogge, chairman of the International Olympic Committee.

The London section of the closing ceremony is based on the themes of journey and transformation.

“This is to be London’s calling card, showcasing what our Games are going to be all about,” said Bill Morris, director of culture, events and education for London 2012.

Both Beckham, who was a key figure in the bid that won the games, and Lewis confirmed they had been approached and were hoping to take part.

“They want David for the ceremony. We are not going to say what he is going to do because it is planned as a big reveal,” said a source close to the footballer. “He is seen as an example of the modern face of London and the UK. They are not going to get him dancing, though.”

A spokeswoman for Lewis said: “Leona was born in Hackney, in east London, close to where the Olympics are to be held, and would love to do it.”

Martin Green, head of ceremonies for London 2012, said there had been “an enormous amount” of discussions with the Chinese over the British contribution. “It’s their show . . . We won’t try to challenge them,” he said.

Huvet- Your a clever chap why do you need Darjole to drip feed you information- Never heard of google??

I do not need to darjole to drip feed me information. I need said Darjole to honestly answer questions. He consistently defended the costs until
a) K Livingstone admitted on Question Time that they lied about the costs to secure the Olympic Legacy.
b) Someone qualified on costing posted stating how costing should be carried out.
Then he shut up about how good the costs were.
Darjole has consistently banged on about Legacy but has never posted any coherent evidence of legacy.
I have consistently said that if they are designing for legacy where are the legacy plans.
Darjole posted what looked like a draft Tfl plan that was less than clear.
Darjole consistently posts without source.

In future I will use Google and post sources. Could you ask Darjole to do the same.

What's your problem Huvet?

DarJoLe is on site taking pictures and appraising us of the latest happenings from Pudding Mill Lane on a weekly basis.

Is it because he sees past the shortsighted, pennypinching, shareholder value at all costs posturing of the East London phobic Tories that you are really getting at him?

Shame on you right wingers, you are seemingly hard wired to stymie any progressive movement whatsoever.

What a pity so many are hoodwinked by your attendant media whores, mind you, what can we expect from an education system equally denuded of funding?

CF

I am not a right winger.

I am a construction insider who is astonished by the procurement, project management and design management of this project.

If you have a coherent point to make, please do so.

A childish enthusiasm for this project does not make for an informed polemic.

ooh an insider.

I do not need to darjole to drip feed me information. I need said Darjole to honestly answer questions. He consistently defended the costs until
a) K Livingstone admitted on Question Time that they lied about the costs to secure the Olympic Legacy.
b) Someone qualified on costing posted stating how costing should be carried out.
Then he shut up about how good the costs were.
Darjole has consistently banged on about Legacy but has never posted any coherent evidence of legacy.
I have consistently said that if they are designing for legacy where are the legacy plans.
Darjole posted what looked like a draft Tfl plan that was less than clear.
Darjole consistently posts without source.

In future I will use Google and post sources. Could you ask Darjole to do the same.

I don't know what your problem is with me. I'm not the only one who posts articles on here or defends the Olympic project. I don't have time to reply to every question but that doesn't mean the answers aren't out there.

I give up I really do. I trawl the net for 2012 articles, post renderings from the maze that is the planning application, visit the site every few weeks and report back to here, and yet I still get abuse. In future I'll think twice about discussing the project here, seeing as it offends you so much.

Don't DarJoLe. Most of us appreciate your posts. If Huvet doesn't, that's his problem.

That Huvet is a nasty piece of work...

I don't know what your problem is with me. I'm not the only one who posts articles on here or defends the Olympic project. I don't have time to reply to every question but that doesn't mean the answers aren't out there.

I give up I really do. I trawl the net for 2012 articles, post renderings from the maze that is the planning application, visit the site every few weeks and report back to here, and yet I still get abuse. In future I'll think twice about discussing the project here, seeing as it offends you so much.


keep going DarJoLe your work and photo's are excellent!
you are going get some folk with diffrent views!
please keep going:)

i certainly appreciate ALL the updates by Darljoe and images and commentary. This thread in particular is a pleasant place until somebody arrives who won't give you the time of day until you join them on their soapbox declaring the games a major failure 4 years before its begun. If you dont disagree with everything about london 2012 then obviously you are a uneducated moron who knows nothing or nothing.

As somewhat of an outside, millions of miles from London I have to take a step back when people ask where the legacy is. Where the hell have you been the last three years???

Sure not all the legacy plans are in place, but for vicky pollards sake the benefits and legacy has been at the centre of the project. Providing the correct setting and context for legacy plans to be further detailed and developed. An Olympic project is a journey and NO city will EVER have all its legacy details in place this far out. As I've said before this level of planning, this early on, not only for the Games but for after the Games is unprecedented. This view is shared by Denis Oswald a REAL and experienced "insider."

ODA in row over Aquatics Centre legacy provision
13 June 2008
bdonline.co.uk
By Rory Olcayto

A row has broken out between the Olympic Delivery Authority and Newham Council over leisure water facilities as part of the legacy provisions associated with Zaha Hadid’s Aquatics Centre.

The ODA has proposed that the facilities could be incorporated in the basement of a new residential tower alongside the Aquatics Centre, but is refusing to fund such a facility. It suggested that Newham use a section 106 agreement — at a cost to the council of £23 million — to fund the scheme.
But Newham says that leisure facilities have been part of its legacy discussions with the ODA since the Aquatics Centre was conceived in 2004, and claims they should be provided from within the £9.3 billion Olympic budget

The council has written to the ODA expressing concern over the plans, which involve water slides, flumes, a fitness gym and wave machines.

This week London Mayor Boris Johnson also highlighted the Aquatics Centre as one of the 2012 projects that lacked a convincing legacy vision. Its design would hinder its transformation into a leisure facility with a “gigantic curly-wurly slide”, Johnson told London’s Evening Standard paper.

Council leaders have said there is huge demand for the leisure pool in Newham, whose population has one the youngest age profiles in London.

A project insider has suggested the ODA is more concerned with finessing the £303 million building’s roof design than addressing community needs.

Newham has offered £5 million towards a solution that would see leisure water built into the Zaha Hadid design, but the ODA has said that this is not an option.

Nick Williams, Newham’s Olympic communications manager said: “We don’t yet know what type of community will develop within the Olympic park after the games and don’t want to be forced down the route where we commit section 106 agreements to a function that we should inherit as part of the Olympic legacy. The ODA is prejudging what our needs may be.”

The ODA said that building a residential tower with leisure water facilities was “only one idea” it was considering with the London Development Agency.

It added that it was basing its legacy strategy on the Manchester Aquatics Centre which did not provide leisure water facilities.

A spokesman said: “The ODA is building an Aquatics Centre with a legacy plan. But the budget and the original brief do not include leisure water.”


MAYOR OF NEWHAM, SIR ROBIN WALES ON THE AQUATICS CENTRE LEGACY

"For a number of years we have been calling for leisure water to be an integral part of the legacy for the aquatics centre.

"Only last week the Government praised our pioneering free swimming programme that has encouraged people to get active. Our young people are telling us that swimming is the one of the things they want from the Games legacy.

"We have been working with partners to test the viability of including leisure water within the aquatics centre building. This was ruled out by the ODA in July last year.

"Since then we have been looking at alternative options that provide leisure facilities adjacent to the aquatics centre. We will have to look at these again in the light of the emerging shape of the legacy park, costs and funding proposals.

"Newham and Tower Hamlets have offered a significant capital contribution if a solution that meets local needs can be found, without the costs falling on the local community.

"We will continue to try and make sure the aquatics centre is fully accessible and fit for purpose for community use. This will include recommending improvements to the detailed design. We also want to ensure that the facility is something that local people can afford to use. We remain hopeful that the partners will deliver such a solution."

London plans Games handover party
BBC London

London will host a free party in the Mall on 24 August to celebrate the handover of the Olympic Games from Beijing to London, the 2012 hosts.

A live concert for 40,000 people in the capital will coincide with the handing over of the Olympic flag at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Games.

Coe is keeping secret the names of the bands playing at the party.

London 2012 chairman Lord Coe said: "It is to start the narrative of what we want to be saying about ourselves.

"It is to link people back home into the celebrations in Beijing."

The concert will be broadcast live on TV and big screens will be set up around the country so spectators can watch the ceremony.

In Beijing, London will stage an eight-minute performance at the closing ceremony.
London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "I'm suspicious of any state-sponsored effort to encourage any national mood of euphoria, but looking at what's going to be in store for us on the 24th I can say it will be a great party.

"It's going to be remorselessly and cheerfully symbolic of our country."

London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "I'm suspicious of any state-sponsored effort to encourage any national mood of euphoria

So presumably he'll be against any taxpayers money being spent on the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012 then? What a pillock.

http://www.london2012.com/tickets/images/2012-logo-lg.jpg

I am not a right winger.

I am a construction insider who is astonished by the procurement, project management and design management of this project.

If you have a coherent point to make, please do so.

A childish enthusiasm for this project does not make for an informed polemic.

With respect, Huvet, you cheeky bugger!

If you aren't a right winger I apologise, you come accross as yet another naysaying doom monger like our buddies at the Evening Substandard, who, I can only assume, are mightily hacked off that an area of London they think is marked on the map by "Here be monsters" has had the temerity to win such a glittering prize. Don't believe me that the paper is WestCentric to their very bone marrow? You obviously don't read it.

The endless biased reportage and nit picking are boring.

I am a council tax payer in an olympic borough, the "childish" entusiasm is born of a fierce hope that this event will see opportunity flourish in my part of the world, nothing too controversial there, if you don't like that, tough, the naysayers have plenty of other outlets for their billious rantings.

Although not an archetect, planner or builder I have been a regular visitor to this site (mostly as a lurker) for some time. I have an interest in urban renewal, transport, sport and London in particular.

I am a strong believer that environment plays a big part in sociology.

I defended DarJoLe because he regularly updates this thread and keeps us up to speed on happenings, this site is a rare haven for positive olympic news and he is a valued contributor.

I hope this isn't too polemical a reply for such an erudite and knowledgeable construction insider and that my own lack of expert knowledge may be excused.

CF

I do not need to darjole to drip feed me information. I need said Darjole to honestly answer questions. He consistently defended the costs until
a) K Livingstone admitted on Question Time that they lied about the costs to secure the Olympic Legacy.
b) Someone qualified on costing posted stating how costing should be carried out.
Then he shut up about how good the costs were.
Darjole has consistently banged on about Legacy but has never posted any coherent evidence of legacy.
I have consistently said that if they are designing for legacy where are the legacy plans.
Darjole posted what looked like a draft Tfl plan that was less than clear.
Darjole consistently posts without source.

In future I will use Google and post sources. Could you ask Darjole to do the same.

Considering your a construction insider you been very little to the party except constant criticism. Why not bring some info instead or start your on little thread if your that bothered by sources. What people post on this thread is available in the public domain so if your that bothered add your own articles.

Artist’s impression of the IBC/MPC during the Games
Page 7
http://www.london2012.com/documents/your-park/your-park-issue-6-june-2008.pdf

looks like a great concept. fabric covering over trusses and beams creating a good ceiling height along with what looks like temporary structures to serve the media during the games. The "studio tower" concept is also interesting.

Olympic village is delayed by funding problems
Matthew Beard, Evening Standard
17.06.08

Olympic chiefs have been warned about a year-long delay in the financing of the 2012 athletes' village caused by the credit crunch.

Inspectors from the International Olympic Committee put Games bosses on "amber alert" - meaning it is giving cause for concern - after learning that financing for the £800million-plus venue is almost one year behind schedule.

A public-private funding package was due to have been completed by last September but is not now likely to be finalised until this September.

The village - which will house 17,000 athletes and officials and then be converted into 3,500 homes - is the first 2012 venue to be flagged up by the IOC's system as amber.

Official documents say that although "work on the site is commencing on schedule", the development contract with Australian firm Lend Lease has been "delayed due to commercial negotiations".

The athletes' village was the only worry in an otherwise glowing progress report given to London 2012 by the IOC during their visit last month. However, it highlights the difficulty the Olympic Delivery Authority faces as Lend Lease struggles to raise finance during the credit crunch.

Earlier this month the Evening Standard revealed that the agreed taxpayers' contribution to the venue has risen to £420 million, which seems likely to result in the ODA raiding the £2.2billion contingency fund. It has also agreed to take on a greater degree of the financial risk, funding the "vertical build" rather than just the design and infrastructure as initially intended.

It is thought Lend Lease's contribution may have dropped by £200 million though negotiations continue with the ODA, whose chief executive David Higgins is a former chief executive of the Australian firm.

The IOC's Denis Oswald, who rated London's progress at "9.75 out of 10" last month, said: "We are fully confident that the village will be ready on time and will be available for the athletes long before the Games start."

A spokesman for the ODA said: "As has been well documented the challenging economic environment presents a challenge but with physical work underway on site we remain on programme.

"The Olympic Village is about more than just housing athletes during 2012, it will be an integral part of much wider regeneration, delivering new homes and community facilities."

From BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7460188.stm).

Olympic stadium 'hits £525m mark'

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44636000/jpg/_44636833_2012_olympic_stadium226.jpg

The estimated cost of the main stadium for the 2012 Games has hit £525m, the mayor's Olympics watchdog has revealed.
A review of London's preparations for the games found the figure for the 80,000-seat stadium in Stratford, east London, had jumped £29m since November.
But the report by business tycoon David Ross noted the increased costs had been offset by savings elsewhere, leaving an increase in projected costs of £16m.
The stadium was originally priced at £280m in London's 2005 bid document.
New London Mayor Boris Johnson commissioned the three-week review.
Cost pressures
Mr Ross was chosen by the mayor to keep an eye on the Olympic purse strings. He sits on the London Olympic organising committee board as Mr Johnson's nominee.
He identified questions over the security of the 2012 Games, its legacy and the Olympic Village as key areas which need to be "focused on".

Significant additional public sector funding is likely to be required to deliver the project
David Ross
The report points to tighter controls on bank lending, falling house prices, increased oil and raw material costs and the threat of terrorism as factors which will add "significant pressure" to the cost of the Olympics.
Mr Ross noted difficulties in securing finance for the Olympic Village and said work was ongoing with the developer, Lend Lease, and its banks to secure private equity and debt funding.
He warned: "In all scenarios some significant additional public sector funding is likely to be required to deliver the project."
However, he said savings made elsewhere meant there "has only been a very small increase in the overall anticipated final cost of the total programme of £16m."
He identified that security plans were "significantly behind the rest of the planning".
"It is absolutely vital that significant progress is made quickly on security planning so that necessary facilities are identified early enough to be provided cost effectively," he said.
And while he said there would be transport and regeneration benefits from London hosting the games, he issued a word of caution with regards to a lasting legacy.
"I am disappointed that we find ourselves at an advanced stage of the procurement process without clear and agreed plans for legacy for a number of important venues."

So basically the Mayor's official has said what everyone including the ODA already knows- in these changing financial times, there will be increases, and there will be savings.

Nothing particularly shocking there then.

From designweek

http://www.london2012.com/tickets/images/2012-logo-lg.jpg

more about the 'current look';

The Wolff Olins’ 2012 Olympics logo is taking on a new look, tailored to the UK to celebrate the Olympic flag being handed over to London on 24 August. It will roll out from this week on, and will be applied to marketing materials which relate to the London 2012 UK handover events set to take place across Britain in the summer and this is the current logo design.

Talking of the logo, I hope once this handover ceremony is over and London is in the spotlight we start to see the logo being used as it was supposed to be; animated, alive and very much taking on the digital life of its own it was supposed to be when it was launched.

I don't think I've even seen it animated anywhere on the London 2012 website which is a bit silly of them.

Is this the animated logo you want?
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x41/theospark/london-copy.gif

No.

Some pics of the media centre from a local presentation. I guess the main structure is permanent.

http://bp3.blogger.com/_nDx-7ivQzpM/SD8XbGTW49I/AAAAAAAAAho/OTvkfsfcdKQ/s1600/DSCF4341.JPG

http://bp1.blogger.com/_nDx-7ivQzpM/SD8XbmTW4-I/AAAAAAAAAhw/U3fhSYc7gWY/s1600/DSCF4353.JPG

^^ we can not see them DarJoLe!

I think they're not direct linking. Right click and download them.

Boris Johnson clashes with Ken Livingstone over Olympic funding
Andrew Sparrow
guardian.co.uk, Thursday June 19 2008

Boris Johnson committed his first significant gaffe as mayor of London today when he said he did not know about a key document relating to the funding of the Olympics.

In an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he was asked about a memorandum of understanding agreed between the government and his predecessor, Ken Livingstone, about the cost of the Olympics.

At first Johnson said he had not seen the memo. But, when he was pressed about it, he said: "I rather doubt that it exists."

He also claimed that the details of the agreement were "far from clear".

But shortly after the interview was broadcast, Today was contacted by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which said that the memo did exist and was on its website.

Livingstone then contacted the programme and was interviewed, criticising his successor for not being properly informed.

"I find this bizarre," the former mayor said. He has been closely following Johnson's progress amid speculation that he will try to regain the job in 2012.

"It was published in the House of Commons library, Boris could have seen it as an MP, and I gave a copy to every member of the London assembly," Livingstone said. "It was mentioned in the media."

Livingstone said the memo was important because it established that, if the cost of the Olympics went over-budget, Londoners would not be expected to pay more.

Asked how he rated Johnson's performance, Livingstone said: "I think the idea that he has been mayor and he has not yet bothered to find the memorandum of understanding and brief himself on it before he goes on your programme is bizarre."

Livingstone then had a dig at Johnson's decision to resume his career as Daily Telegraph columnist this week.

"To be fair to the man, he's got to write his Daily Telegraph column. He cannot be a full-time mayor," said Livingstone.

{shakes head}

petty bickering between two political queens - i expect to see more of this over the next 4 years :ohno:

So basically the Mayor's official has said what everyone including the ODA already knows- in these changing financial times, there will be increases, and there will be savings.

Nothing particularly shocking there then.

Despite your previous quotes defending Ken's statements on costs. I haven't got time to quote your previous posts. The costings should have taken into account inflation, changes in the market etc.

How could anyone have predicted the credit crunch, the rising price of oil, and the property market slowing, would all happen at the same time; particularly two years ago when the budget was drawn up? Get real.

From The Times
June 20, 2008

Sketch: Boris Johnson's Olympic talk on Today show was like a car crash
Ann Treneman

It was Boris Johnson’s birthday yesterday. The new mayor was 44 and he began his big day by appearing on the Today programme in the 8.10am slot. The topic was the Olympic budget and the idea was to talk up the Olympics Games while laying down the law about cost overruns. The goal was to sound authoritative. This was to be a happy day as well as a happy birthday.

Instead, it was a car crash, and not just a little fender bender either. Boris doesn’t do little fender benders. He does big bizarre multiple vehicle pile-ups in which motorways have to be shut because a lorry of goats was involved and horned animals are roaming the outside lane. Yes, that bizarre. Actually it was even stranger. This time there were no goats involved, just one very large newt named Ken who couldn’t stop himself from calling up Radio 4 to crow on air. Can newts crow? They can now.

So when did things go wrong? I have timed it because, as this was about the Olympics, I like to have a stopwatch to hand. That is why I can report what may be a record. Boris burbled “Good morning!” to Sarah Montague. That took one second. That was the high point.

Her first question was about something called the memorandum of understanding. This document, signed by the former mayor and the former Chancellor, is about who pays if the Olympics overrun. (I love that “if”. Already, I felt like shouting at the radio.)

RELATED LINKS
Design the Olympic park of your dreams
Sarah: “Can you clear that up by saying you will publish the memorandum?”

Boris: “Actually I haven’t seen the memorandum.” Crash, bang, wallop. Boris began to waffle about how there couldn’t be cost overruns and how transparent he was being. But at this point the only thing he was being, transparently, was a fool. No decent interviewer could hear that the mayor had not seen this memo and not come back to it.

Sarah: “Are you going to try and see this memo?”

Boris: “I rather doubt that it exists.” I could hear tyres screeching. CRASH, BANG, WALLOP. The capital letters are necessary. This was no longer a lower-case situation.

So would he publish? Boris kept evading the question (as you do when you are being transparent) and announced that the details of the agreement that did not exist were in doubt.

Sarah: “So the deal does not apply?”

Boris: “The details of this deal are far from clear.”

For me and all other listeners the memo of understanding was now a memo of misunderstanding. I was completely befuddled. Boris kept spouting that there could be no cost overruns and that these would be the the best Olympics since they began in 753BC. (Even this was wrong, it was 776BC.) He ended by denouncing the idea that he could compete with David Cameron to be leader as a “load of twaddle”.

Finally, something I could understand and, as it turns out, that is exactly what it all was. For within seconds we discovered that the memo of misunderstanding not only existed but it was on a government website and within minutes the former mayor was on the radio too.

Ken found it bizarre that Boris had not bothered to find the memo before coming on the programme. “But then you have to be fair to the man,” chortled Ken. “He’s got to write his Daily Telegraph column and so he can’t be a full-time mayor.”

Ouch. Now that is the sound a newt crowing.

I can't believe you lot voted that fu(#!ng cn^t into power he is a total joke. Ken had his failings and I know that the ecomony over there (sitting here in Sydney) is in trouble, but the sooner you lot realise that the economy is in trouble because there is a global slow down the better.

Ken being ousted was a shame I reckon, now you have an idiot in power and if the election goes the way it is looking, you will have a Tory government (shudders for a second thinking about it) with all those toffee nosed private school boy, up the bum wan#ers running the country By 2012 it will be an English olympic games as Scotland (and I being a scot based in Oz) will happily vote for independance in Scotland rather than see those twats in charge again.

Labour are in trouble, but for god's sake people wake up to the reality of the alternative!

totally agree, the old boys club will be a terrible mistake for Britain, Stupid public schoolboys playing with politics again with no interest in real issues that effect most peoples lives....pandering to the rich typically ignoring major issues like infastructure...or am I talking about labour?

There'll be no boulevard of dreams on the road to the Olympics 2012

A new Labour experiment, a reality TV show or a place where “hoodies are policed by robotic dogs” – these are the damning verdicts on the proposed new name for the road to the Olympics.

The A13, which runs through East London to the Olympic site in Stratford, is to be renamed by the local council in honour of London hosting the games in 2012.

But Tower Hamlet’s plan to give it the grand title of “Olympic Boulevard” has fallen foul of the brand police at the London Olympic Organising Committee. Instead, the road from Aldgate East, which could do with all the regeneration it can get, has the unglamorous moniker of “High Street 2012”.

The suggestion has received a less than warm response. “High Street 2012 is not that inspiring. It sounds a bit naff,” said the Rev Michael Peet, the rector of St Mary and Holy Trinity Bow. “Olympic Boulevard sounds more swish.”

Brand experts said the name did not project the right image. “High Street 2012 sounds like a new Labour experiment or a reality TV show. It conjures up futuristic images of automated fried chicken bars where hoodies are policed by talking robotic dogs,” Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of UK Superbrands & CoolBrands Councils, said.

Tower Hamlets Council proposed Olympic Boulevard as part of its big Games project to galvanise the community and make part of the borough “in effect, an Olympic site”. The committee supported the plan to improve the environment, but could not approve the name.

The killjoy attitude contradicts the experiences of other Olympic cities. Los Angeles renamed 10th Street as Olympic Boulevard for the 1932 Games while a stretch of Swan Street in Melbourne was similarly rebranded in 2006 to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Games.

from the times

High Street 2012 - :lol: thats shocking.

I think The Times is trying to provoke a reaction by purposely getting their wires crossed. The project 'High Street 2012' is the name for the masterplanning of Whitechapel High Street, Bow Road and Stratford High Street for renovating it in time for the Games, as it will feature prominently during the Marathon. There isn't a real impetus to change its name, it's simply the name of the overall tarting up project. And if Tower Hamlets were to change its name, Olympic Boulevard would be allowed. It's simply that the name of the project couldn't be Olympic Boulevard because that goes against LOCOGs rules on branding things 'Olympic' that aren't anything to do with the ODA or LOCOG. In fact I'm surprised they even allowed High Street 2012 as 2012 is part of the terms people can't use in promoting anything London 2012.

I can't believe you lot voted that fu(#!ng cn^t into power he is a total joke. Ken had his failings and I know that the ecomony over there (sitting here in Sydney) is in trouble, but the sooner you lot realise that the economy is in trouble because there is a global slow down the better.



a global slowdown yes, but the fact that the UK is massively in debt, over taxed and poorly led by captain indecisive has nothing to do with the global economy.

Labour are finished because no one trusts them after Iraq, the broken promises of a EU referendum, 42 days etc and most people believe it's time for a change.

You talk about Scotland, but last I checked Labour have even been rejected there.

As for public school boys, tell me what school did Tony Blair go to again?

Coe rejects London Games cynics

Lord Coe rejects stereotypes of teenagers as hoodies and video game addicts

By Sean Coughlan
BBC News education reporter

Lord Coe says the London Olympic games will leave a positive educational legacy by "changing attitudes" among young people.

The chairman of the 2012 organising committee rejected the stereotyping of young people as "hoodies".

"I don't take the depressing tabloid view of the world that the game is up," said Lord Coe.

The London games will have an accompanying schools programme, based on Olympic themes and values.

Introducing the 2012 plans for education, Lord Coe argued that the games would provide a way of "opening doors" for young people.

"You can read lengthy and turgid articles about how young people are all losing creativity, because of the internet and PlayStations," he said.

The days are gone when large chunks of young people are going to wander into a building with the word 'sports centre' written above it.

But even in playing computer games which simulated sports games they were taking a step in the right direction, he said.

"I don't see a generation out there who are lost or are hoodies, I don't see the world like that, when I go around that's not what I see."

But he said there was a challenge to find the right way to appeal to young people.

"The days are gone when large chunks of young people are going to wander into a building with the word 'sports centre' written above it."
But he says that in his own experience in athletics he had seen the way that sport could help young people, giving them role models and sense of self-esteem.

When he was at the Haringey Athletics Club, he says that the coaches and the club provided a vital sense of stability, including for young people from the Broadwater Farm Estate.

This was something substantial rather than quick-fixes, he said. "We're not in the 10 days to thinner thighs approach."

He also spoke of the importance of teachers in inspiring young people - and how a teacher had put him on the path that would lead to winning two Olympic gold medals.

This east London building site will be the Olympic stadium in four years
"It was a geography teacher, called David Jackson, who introduced me to track and field, because he witnessed me running around some rugby pitches in a secondary modern in Sheffield.

"He thought I had a bit of a skill. The fact that I'd been running because I'd been sent off for swearing hadn't quite grabbed him."

Lord Coe also rejected the idea that the image Olympic movement had suffered any long lasting damage from the demonstrations over Tibet during the parading of the Olympic torch for the Beijing Olympics.

"It wasn't a particularly edifying three days, but it hasn't done any lasting damage," he said.

There was a long history of a political background to the Olympics, from Jesse Owens in the Berlin Olympics in 1936 through to the Moscow games in 1980.

Lord Coe said that sport had a good record on bringing together communities and had achieved more by "a country mile" than formal politics.
In the four years to the London Olympics there will be a rolling programme of events for schools and colleges.

Schools will be invited to join a network of Olympic-related events and projects. This will not be limited to sports projects, but will be a wider interpretation of ideas about excellence, fair play and mutual respect.
"The values can be expressed across a huge range of topics," says Nick Fuller, head of education for the 2012 games. He is also keen for schools to share their ideas for how best to use the Olympics as a starting point, whether it is in culture, citizenship, sustainability or enterprise.

Mr Fuller wants to apply these values creatively - such as encouraging more young people to apply to university, perhaps by universities making sports facilities available.

Brenda Bigland, head of Lent Rise primary school in Buckinghamshire, said she had opened an online Olympic chat-room for her pupils, where they could make their own suggestions for ways that the school can mark the games.

Paralympian, Ade Adepitan, said that "as someone who grew up in the East End, I know how much the games can change things for the better".

With respect, Huvet, you cheeky bugger!

If you aren't a right winger I apologise, you come accross as yet another naysaying doom monger like our buddies at the Evening Substandard, who, I can only assume, are mightily hacked off that an area of London they think is marked on the map by "Here be monsters" has had the temerity to win such a glittering prize. Don't believe me that the paper is WestCentric to their very bone marrow? You obviously don't read it.

The endless biased reportage and nit picking are boring.

I am a council tax payer in an olympic borough, the "childish" entusiasm is born of a fierce hope that this event will see opportunity flourish in my part of the world, nothing too controversial there, if you don't like that, tough, the naysayers have plenty of other outlets for their billious rantings.

Although not an archetect, planner or builder I have been a regular visitor to this site (mostly as a lurker) for some time. I have an interest in urban renewal, transport, sport and London in particular.

I am a strong believer that environment plays a big part in sociology.

I defended DarJoLe because he regularly updates this thread and keeps us up to speed on happenings, this site is a rare haven for positive olympic news and he is a valued contributor.

I hope this isn't too polemical a reply for such an erudite and knowledgeable construction insider and that my own lack of expert knowledge may be excused.

CF

I haven't been seriously back for a while because I expected to be flamed by defenders of Darjole.
I do appreciate your reply. I am not against the Olympics, I do appreciate what they could do. BUT I boringly ask for evidence. We are way past the time when keeping stating heritage is the answer.
I want to see evidence of heritage; where is the masterplan. It is not a difficult question. I have been criticised for mentioning Barcelona, you may not like the heritage but at least they had a plan.
Other posters have stated that the 'credit crunch' has caught the ODA out. Strangely these same posters praise commercial skyscrapers that have not been caught out by the credit crunch.
I would hate this to be another Athens but we need the evidence not the polemic.

I haven't been seriously back for a while because I expected to be flamed by defenders of Darjole.
I do appreciate your reply. I am not against the Olympics, I do appreciate what they could do. BUT I boringly ask for evidence. We are way past the time when keeping stating heritage is the answer.
I want to see evidence of heritage; where is the masterplan. It is not a difficult question. I have been criticised for mentioning Barcelona, you may not like the heritage but at least they had a plan.
Other posters have stated that the 'credit crunch' has caught the ODA out. Strangely these same posters praise commercial skyscrapers that have not been caught out by the credit crunch.
I would hate this to be another Athens but we need the evidence not the polemic.

I presume when you say heritage you mean legacy.
As I illustrated in my previous reply (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=235902&page=113) to you the Olympic site is just a part of what was always going to be a much larger development.
I take it that either you have never read my reply or you are unable to grasp the concept.

As for what "legacy" means perhaps we do need a clearer definition.
The IOC & Seb Coe's idea of legacy is probably first class sporting venues in London for future athletes. Boris' to be commercially viable an "O2 (http://www.theo2.co.uk/) North", do you really want to see the Aquatics Centre turned into another Leyton Leisure Lagoon (http://www.gll.org/centre/leyton-leisure-lagoon.asp)?

As for the cost, this I'm sure could be handled better. How many different QUANGOS (http://tpa.typepad.com/bettergovernment/2008/05/quangos-the-uns.html) have their fingers in the Olympic pie? There are so many unelected unaccountable people involved its almost like China. However leaving it up to commercial forces & competition to keep cost down doesn't work either. There was only one bidder (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article2821094.ece) for the stadium build.

The Olympic Village (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=641814) was always going to be part of the Stratford City (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=544744) development. With the "credit crunch" Lend Lease have seen their expected profits fall (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4180097.ece). Just like the Banks & Northern Rock the free market is great when the going is good but it is straight to the public coffers to bail them out when the going gets tough.

A classic case of heads we win tails you lose.

I think you're putting Barcelona on too much of a pedestal. The Barceona urban renewal project, that famously described as 'turning the city around' by opening up the beach, extending the city eastwards and pouring billions into a central urban renewal programme was already in the works when Barcelona was bidding for the Games, and was still a separate entity when the won the Games. The two were interlinked and promoted together during preparations; but Barcelona is still undergoing rapid redevelopment even now sixteen years after the Games, much of which was a catalyst from the increased investment into the city from the success of the Games.

Putting that into London; what the Games is doing is renovating a swathe of East London but much quicker than any previous project for the site has, and it is from this that Stratford becomes a much more connected part of London, and in turn attracts further investment after the Games and acts as a catalyst to start urban renewal programmes across East London and further down the Thames Gateway.

The legacy masterplan for the Olympic site is already in the public domain, and this is being further worked upon by Dutch architects in terms of the scale of housing, what type they should be, where commercial sites in the sold off land could go, etc. Working with the ODA, the LDA has published several plans post-2012 for a 'ribbon' park to extend south of the Olympic Park down the Lea River to the Thames for a massive eco-park sort of a grander scale Mile End Park. Canning Town at the southern end is at the start of a massive urban rejig, a smaller scale Barcelona if you will, which will bring this deprived area up to standard.

All these projects which before were sort of pipe dreams are now being taken seriously thanks to the actual happenings of the Olympic Park. Yes; so the actual details of where and when individual housing will be built on the site hasn't been finalised yet, but we are still four years away from the Games themselves, let alone actually closing the park and rebuilding for legacy.

Barcelona in 1992 the day after the Games finished wasn't as it is today, but today we can see that the Games and the urban renewal that went on during the Games preparations had such an impact on the city that it is still to this day going through transformation after transformation; and that's what is hoped from London, or more specifically East London, that even sixteen years after 2012 we'll have regeneration schemes taking place in the area.

"Build it and they will come."

well the housing extension of the olympic village forms part of the olympic village planning and is indicated on many site plans of the olympic village. both are being planned, with the village pre 2012 and the extension post 2012. the shuffling around of venues and locations is fine tuning things to get the best possible legacy based on successful venues and locations around the world.

Set Sail for London2012!

BOAT trips into the Olympic Park area which offer unique views of the construction site and other regeneration work on the historic canals are offered this coming weekend (28 and 29 June).

The guided boat trips result in a joint scheme from British Waterways and the Olympic delivery Authority (ODA) and are part of the month-long London Festival of Architecture.

Trips will begin aboard the traditional narrowboat, Jenny Wren, at Limehouse Basin, and then cruise up the Limehouse Cut, past Three Mills Island home to Britain's oldest standing mill, House Mill, before continuing up the River Lee Navigation to picturesque Old Ford Lock.

During the trip British Waterways will explain about the waterways pivotal role in East London's past, present and future, discuss how the area is changing with the regeneration of the Bow Back Rivers and the London 2012 site.

Speakers from the ODA will take visitors through plans for the Olympic Park for both Games and legacy, before a stop off at Old Ford Lock to view the Olympic Park site from the Greenway by Pudding Mill Lane.

Richard Rutter, regeneration manager, British Waterways said the trips are a great way to see how East London is developing.

"British Waterways is pleased to see that the waterways which have breathed life into the area since pre-Doomsday times are once again being viewed as an important focus, both as a transport route for barges to help supply construction materials to the Olympic Park, and as a green corridor offering a wildlife habitat to everything from coots and moorhens to kingfishers, dragon and damsel flies."

The two hour trips must be booked in advance through the London Festival of Architecture at www.lfa2008.org or by calling 0870 264 3333. All trips start at Limehouse Basin, off Narrow Street, and cost £7 per person.

Just had a look at the route and admittedly it doesn't take you through any of the cordoned off areas of the Park. Just up the western edge of it which is already publicly accessible.

Stunning aerial shot of the Park I imagine taken a few weeks back. Puts it all into context.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2179/2514404103_ce6aa92d2d_b.jpg

Wow, it really does.

Rogge says public 'confused' over London 2012 budget

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AFP) — The head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Jacques Rogge on Monday said there was "confusion" among the public about the rising costs of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

"There is unfortunately some confusion among the general public between the operational budget for the Games and the infrastructure budget," Rogge told journalists at the IOC's headquarters here.

The operational budget, which covers the two weeks of the Games themselves, is set at around 2 billion dollars (1.3 billion euros), Rogge said.

The infrastructure budget will be greater because the British government is using the preparations to redevelop huge swathes of East London including thousands of new homes and transport links.

"This is a choice that we cannot criticise," Rogge said.

Britain's public spending watchdog warned last week that "formidable" challenges remain and that large parts of the redevelopment project are still uncertain.

The National Audit Office said that uncertainties over a deal for the cost of the Olympic Village, the requirements for policing and security, and the legacy impact of the games meant that costs could still rise further from the current 9.3 billion pound (11.8 billion euro, 18.3 billion dollar) budget.

On April 29, an influential committee of British lawmakers accused the 2012 organisers of lacking foresight and spending money "like water."

Newly-elected London Mayor Boris Johnson, meanwhile, slammed organisers of the 2012 games earlier this month, saying there was no "legacy masterplan" for the Olympic venues and insisted it was pointless ploughing money into the east London site if no one knew "what on earth we're trying to achieve."

Last week, it was announced that the main Olympic stadium for the games was expected to cost 525 million pounds, a 29-million-pound increase since November.

The 2012 London Olympics were originally predicted to cost 3.4 billion pounds, but the budget has now soared to 9.325 billion pounds.

Rogge also said he was "happy" that the Olympic Flame had passed through Tibet seemingly without major incident.

The Olympic torch relay ended in the Tibetan capital Lhasa on Saturday, apparently without incident, after deadly riots against Chinese rule in the city just three months ago.

As paramilitary police kept a close watch, the flame from the torch was mixed with the special flame that was carried to the top of Mount Everest during an earlier leg of the lengthy relay.

A crowd that had been carefully selected by authorities cheered the event in front of the palace, the end point of the relay.

wonder when the final mobility plan will be revealed of access to the olympic park. possible congestion around the media transport mall, northern spectator mall and general traffic using that road that runs by eton manor. unless that road will be a dedicated olympic route. i suppose the "design" or transport mall concept will be finalized much closer to the time.

New bridges on olympic site

Work has begun on the foundations on one of the 30 bridges being built across the Olympic Park.

This new permanent bridge will span Carpenters Road, creating an important link for construction traffic between the north and south of the site. The bridge will then become an important part of the main pedestrian walkway through the middle of the Park, both during and after the Games.

Around 290 cubic metres of concrete has been poured to create the foundations structure that will support either end of the bridge. Once this initial foundation work is complete 23 metre-long steel beams will be lifted into place to form the deck of the bridge, which will be ready for use from November 2008.

Work will start later this summer on the huge land bridge that will be the gateway to the Games, taking people from Stratford International and Stratford Regional Stations into the Olympic Park. This land-bridge will also form part of the roof of the Aquatics Centre.

ODA Director of Infrastructure and Utilities Simon Wright said: ‘Building new bridges and roads is a crucial element across the lifespan of the project, from creating new links across the site for construction activity, to delivering an open and accessible Park during the Games, and forming new links between local communities in legacy.’

GREAT 2012 LOGO!
Gordon Farquhar 24 Jun 08, 09:00 AM bbc sport

Marmite. Olives. James Blunt. The London 2012 logo. You either love them or loathe them. No half measures, no, "occasionally on toast," or, "if they're stuffed with little bits of almonds," about it.

It's black and white, yes or no.

But I'm weakening. Like a dipsomaniac at his first AA meeting, the hardest part is admitting the problem. So I have to make a confession. I like the latest version of the 2012 Logo. I do. I really DO. There. I've said it.

I was at that whacky presentation last year when the logo was unveiled, and it was hauntingly reminiscent of a certain 1930's fascist emblem. Then I blinked, bent my head a bit and suddenly saw it in a lovely flourescent shade of snot-green instead.


Nice. I was listening to the messages: great approval ratings from yoof focus groups. I saw the graffitiesque possibilities, the manga-comic hipness, and I bought the flexible, dynamic, adaptable part of the sell.

But I still didn't like it. They used it as a frame within which to project sporty images, and I thought it was clever. But not likeable.

Then some people claimed the moving versions sparked headaches and were worried about epileptic fits, and you all hated it and campaigns to bin it got tens of thousands of signatures.

And all the international publicity meant they could quietly put to one side any budget there once might've been for marketing the image because it had been on the news, in the papers and on the web so often, that EVERYONE knew what it was already.

Since then, I've seen all the colour permutations, the pillar box red, the oak-leaf green, the pastel yellow, the powder blue. Sometimes with all the colours mixed together in quadrants like a badly-judged home made 3am pizza.

I've seen the pink lapel ones proudly displayed, mainly on light grey business suits by renowned heterosexuals clearly in touch with their feminine side, (but hey, comfortable with that.) I reckon blue's the choice of the contractually obliged, and yellow sported by the, "I don't-give-a-stuffers."

But for all those who wearily unclip that pin of a morning, and insert it afresh to another flap of cloth, relief is at hand because at last...genius.

The Union Flag. Wey hey. It's cool Britannia, without the naff tea party at number 10. It's Noel Gallagher's flag-emblazoned Epiphone Sheraton guitar, cranking out the riff to Morning Glory.
http://www.london2012.com/tickets/images/2012-logo-lg.jpg



It's the GB vest stretched over Sir Steve Regrave's pecs, or Denise Lewis' six-pack.

At last, it has made a connection for me with sporting success, pride and national identity. Hurrah.

^ always happy to remind people of just how much of a babe denise lewis was/is.

http://www.spiritofsport.co.uk/images_versions/729.jpg

the 2012 logo with the union flag emblazoned across it really works well. i do like our flag.

the 0 part of the union flag logo looks too canadian

From 2012 Blog (http://www.london2012.com/blog/2008/06/20/transport-progress-helping-people-get-to-the-games-easil.php).
Transport progress: helping people get to the Games easily
Andy, TfL Rail Interface Manager, 20 Jun 2008

It’s not only the Olympic Park that’s under construction here. A Bluewater-size shopping development is well underway between Stratford International and Stratford Regional Station. Stratford Regional Station itself is being substantially rebuilt and enlarged through an investment of more than £100m from the ODA.

Work taking place at Stratford International:

http://www.london2012.com/blog/uploads/dlr-stratford-international.jpg

Add to this a new DLR line connecting the two stations with a below-ground station at Stratford International and a new section of mainline railway to new north London Line platforms at Stratford Regional, it’s clear that this is a huge, multi-faceted project.

Taxpayers to bail out 2012 games village

The government will be forced to step in to bail out the London 2012 Olympic athletes' village as the impact of the credit crunch and the sliding domestic housing market threaten to stretch the £9.3bn budget for the games to its limit. The chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority conceded for the first time yesterday that the village would definitely require additional public funding to cover a shortfall that could run to tens of millions of pounds.

John Armitt told the Guardian: "The government at the end of the day will have to come in and support the village [financially] - that is understood. But negotiations are going on at the moment to try and minimise the degree to which further government funding to support the village is required."

Armitt's admission came as the National Audit Office (NAO) warned that the existing deal with Lend Lease, the contractor charged with building the £1bn village, could collapse entirely. The village is the single most expensive element of the Olympic Park construction project, but plans for a public-private partnership between Lend Lease and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) have been undermined by problems in the banking market, which have made securing loans more difficult.

The ODA had agreed to put in £550m of public money, with the remaining £450m made up of equity from Lend Lease and private-sector financing. Lend Lease has encountered serious difficulty in raising the funds however, and is seeking a new deal to reduce its exposure.

Armitt's comments yesterday came as the NAO identified the need to secure a sustainable deal for the village as a priority if the project was to remain within its existing financial package. It warned that the Lend Lease deal could collapse, and said the government was preparing a contingency plan to rescue the project if the contractor were to walk away.

Lend Lease's difficulties in raising capital are compounded by the state of the housing market. A crucial part of the deal is the resale of 4,000 homes that will be built to accommodate the athletes and officials in 2012. The ODA alone aims to recoup £250m from receipts, but doubts about the strength of the housing market have weakened Lend Lease's position.

"The funding for the village is proving difficult in the current financial market. One of the factors is the end value of the housing. People are finding it very hard to put an end value on it because of all the uncertainties in the housing market," Armitt said.

Negotiations between the ODA and Lend Lease are expected to take the rest of the year to resolve, and in the meantime the ODA is funding the start of construction work on site. An ODA spokesman said it was hoped any additional public funding would come from the £1bn of contingency funding within the Olympic budget that had yet to be allocated, and said it would seek to recoup any additional funding through additional property sales.

STRONG FOUNDATIONS LAID FOR *O‬LYMPIC STADIUM



The piling work to create the permanent foundation for the Olympic Stadium is over half-way through and the project continues to be ahead of schedule,* ‬the ODA has* ‬confirmed.*

In May this year,* ‬construction started on the site three months earlier than originally planned and was witnessed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown who had an opportunity to meet workers on site.

Over* ‬4000* ‬reinforced concrete columns need to be installed into the ground,* ‬up to* ‬20* ‬metres deep,* ‬to ensure the foundations have a strong base to support the Stadium structure.* ‬Over* ‬2100* ‬of these have already been installed.

Three our of the eight construction tower cranes,* ‬each between* ‬48* ‬and* ‬60* ‬meters high,* ‬have also been constructed in the Stadium* ‘‬bowl*’‬,* ‬making them the tallest visible landmark across the Olympic Park construction site at the present time.* ‬These have been erected ready for the start of the concrete and steel work.

ODA Chief Executive, David Higgins said: *“Impressive progress is being made on the Olympic Stadium thanks to the hard work of Team Stadium, the design and construction team on site. Over the coming months, people will be able to see this innovative and sustainable Stadium begin to rise out of the ground.

*“This project has had a fast start out of the blocks but we are never complacent about the hard work and many challenges that lie ahead of us.”


http://www.london2012.com

London 2012 commits to Greenwich consultation

London 2012 has outlined its commitment to working with local residents to address their concerns about the use of Greenwich Park in the run-up to and during the London 2012 Games.

In a letter to the Friends of Greenwich Park and other interest groups, LOCOG reiterated its plans to take into account their views as the plans progress on the venue. It is will host the Equestrian events for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Riding and Running elements of the Modern Pentathlon in the Olympic Games.

Key considerations are preserving the unique characteristics of the Park, protecting the ecology and ensuring it is left in its original state after the Games. LOCOG is aiming to create the minimum amount of disruption to regular park users and keep large areas of the Park open as far as possible during the Games.

The timetable for the development of the venue has been laid out, including public meetings and exhibitions to ensure local people can have their views heard.

Jackie Brock-Doyle, LOCOG’s Director of Communications and Public Affairs, said: ‘We understand concerns about Greenwich Park but believe it will be a stunning venue in 2012 with unique features such as the Meridian Line.

‘We want to work with local residents and Greenwich Council to make sure the local community gets involved in our plans. The events in 2012 will profile Greenwich to the world, and bring sport to the inner city. We look forward to meeting the Friends of Greenwich Park and others over the next few weeks to begin a positive dialogue with them.’

http://www.london2012.com

LOCOG is aiming to create the minimum amount of disruption to regular park users and keep large areas of the Park open as far as possible during the Games.

http://www.london2012.com

It is two weeks FFS LIVE WITH IT!

Knobs

It's two weeks for the events but something like six months preparation which the park will be closed.

Olympic village scalled down

ODA chief executive admits residential units will be reduced by a quarter

The number of apartments on the Olympic Village will be slashed by a quarter, according to Olympic Delivery Authority chief executive David Higgins.

Giving evidence to the Public Accounts Committee on Monday, Higgins said that “the impact of the credit squeeze” meant that the residential element of the Games would have to be scaled back.


Higgins said: "Over the last 18 months we have looked very closely at the village and what we need to build, not only for the Olympics but looking further, and we have been able to reduce the number of apartments from 4,200 to around 3,300."

The ODA’s chief executive went on to say that the original plans to build a village with “spare capacity” had had to be scrapped, and implied not enough preparation had been done to incorporate the effects of a market downturn.

He said: “The planning hadn't been done. There had been no detailed planning or design and we have spent the last 18 months making the planning more efficient and getting more efficiency out of the existing site."

The news comes as the ODA struggles to come to a funding arrangement with development partner Lend Lease on the £800m Olympic Village.

Lend Lease made a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange saying that it had taken longer than expected to secure project debt for the Olympic Village, and its equity contribution to the development would be dependent on it being in place.

Higgins told Building two weeks ago that an agreement would be unlikely to be reached before Christmas. Piling work has already begun, with main construction due to commence in the Autumn.

Time to ditch Zaha? The BBC is reporting today that there is serious concerns the curved roof of the Aquatic Centre is impossible to build, and considerable design changes will need to be made.

Aquatics Centre on schedule

LONDON (Reuters) - Fears over the design of the Aquatics Centre for the London 2012 Olympics were dismissed by Games planners on Wednesday.

Media reports on Tuesday said the complicated design of the venue, which features a spectacular sweeping roof in the shape of a stingray, raised problems over building materials, particularly the timber to be used on the ceiling.

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) said construction work on the centre, designed by architect Zaha Hadid, would start ahead of schedule later this month.

A spokesman said on Wednesday there were no issues with the roof design and that material for the internal cladding would be thoroughly tested before being chosen.

"As is standard on any project we are progressing the detailed design development which includes considering a range of materials for particular elements, such as timber cladding," Aquatics Centre project sponsor John Nicholson said.

"Materials will be thoroughly tested to ensure they work for both the Games and legacy."

The 17,500-seater Aquatics Centre will form the entrance to the Olympic Park and will be the first venue spectators come upon after walking across a land bridge. It will cost 242 million pounds ($480.5 million).

Well its not Zaha's fault for being chosen.

Asbestos At London 2012 Stadium Site
Posted 11:12 am ET (GamesBids.com)

Workers were reportedly ordered off the main Olympic Stadium site Wednesday after “deadly” asbestos was discovered.

Sources told Contract Journal “during the work, asbestos was unearthed near where the running track is going to be so the site has been shut down. The lads have been told to go home while the authorities find out exactly what is down there”.

An Olympic Delivery Authority spokesperson said, “there has been a discovery of some small samples of asbestos within the Olympic Stadium site and work has been halted in one section of the site as a precautionary measure. Work on the rest of the Olympic Stadium site and the rest of the Olympic Park continues as normal. We are working with the relevant authorities and expect work to re-start progressively as protective measures are put in place over the next few days”.

Time to ditch Zaha? The BBC is reporting today that there is serious concerns the curved roof of the Aquatic Centre is impossible to build, and considerable design changes will need to be made.

I saw that report on the BBC too, one thing that struck me is that the Wood that Hadid wants to use is from South America and has a number of problems - firstly, it is hard to come by in large quantities (therefore it's very expensive), and secondly it is unknown as to whether it will even be sufficiently pliable to use in the structure.

Considering the Olympics is all about 'sustainability', it doesn't strike me as being very sustainable to ship (by the sound of it) a rare wood, all the way from South America to London - how much CO2 will that emit??

Why not use sustainably sourced wood from the UK, or Europe at least - espcially if it proves cheaper, more sustainable, and could look just as good.

I saw that report on the BBC too, one thing that struck me is that the Wood that Hadid wants to use is from South America and has a number of problems - firstly, it is hard to come by in large quantities (therefore it's very expensive), and secondly it is unknown as to whether it will even be sufficiently pliable to use in the structure.

Considering the Olympics is all about 'sustainability', it doesn't strike me as being very sustainable to ship (by the sound of it) a rare wood, all the way from South America to London - how much CO2 will that emit??

Why not use sustainably sourced wood from the UK, or Europe at least - espcially if it proves cheaper, more sustainable, and could look just as good.

Im no expert, but while I love incorporating a mixture of metal and wood/timber into a building, timber is not exactly the smartest material to use inside an aquatic centre right? humidity etc?

The Savill Building which I assume was built to last uses timber that is fairly pliable and considering its exposed to the elements( no steel roof above it), Im sure it would suffice for the interior of the aquatic centre.

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p145/orejito1/SavillBuilding.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/121/301095904_129ceb7f84.jpg?v=0
http://www.building.co.uk/Pictures/436xAny/j/m/v/PAGE_28_vc_savill_with_moon.jpg

At least one venue by a major architect is not being scaled back ....

http://www.docklands24.co.uk/content...A17%3A39%3A873

ExCeL’s £164m expansion plan
JOHN HYDE
01 July 2008

A MAJOR expansion of the ExCeL Centre will go ahead after investment from foreign billionaires.

The Docklands site will grow by 50 per cent after the £500 million sale to Middle Eastern exhibitions specialists, ADNEC, earlier this year.

Plans include new transport, parking and entertainment infrastructure to cement ExCeL's place as the world's leading exhibition centre.

Building will start in August with the proposal - dubbed 'Phase Two' - completed by spring 2010.

"This is the biggest news in our industry for at least a decade," ExCeL chief executive Kevin Murphy, below, told The Docklands.

"It was always our vision to grow the business and expand the facilities but this investment means we can start much earlier than expected."

The launch was unveiled last week to delegates and investors and comes only weeks after ExCeL was bought by ADNEC (Abu Dhabi Naitional Exhibitions Centre).

It will include a covered pedestrian walkway from Prince Regent DLR station, a semi-permanent auditorium for up to 5,000 delegates and 2,225 extra car parking spaces.

The entire ExCeL site will cover more than 100,000 sq metres - the equivalent of 14 football pitches.

The expansion will provide 1,400 jobs and is deliberately timed to coincide with the 2012 Olympics, when ExCeL will host seven events.

Bosses also want the venue, which hosts shows like Grand Designs Live and the British International Motor Show, to be more of a destination, with a dedicated on-site kitchen and a raft of new bars and restaurants.

Mr Murphy admitted there was a "managed risk" handling such large sums in the current climate but said the new management was prepared for the future.

He added: "The demand for our facilities from customers is high and this growth will enable us to win more business.

"Adnec have bought a very successful business with experienced, award-winning individuals. It's business as usual for them and they have the money to make this happen."

The ExCeL Exhibition Centre opened in 2000 as a key feature of the redeveloped Royal Docks.

I saw that report on the BBC too, one thing that struck me is that the Wood that Hadid wants to use is from South America and has a number of problems - firstly, it is hard to come by in large quantities (therefore it's very expensive), and secondly it is unknown as to whether it will even be sufficiently pliable to use in the structure.

Considering the Olympics is all about 'sustainability', it doesn't strike me as being very sustainable to ship (by the sound of it) a rare wood, all the way from South America to London - how much CO2 will that emit??

Why not use sustainably sourced wood from the UK, or Europe at least - espcially if it proves cheaper, more sustainable, and could look just as good.

I refer you to Jersyboi's post. There will be design development that will include research into materials.

My concern is that there has been a push to a metal roof even during the tendering procedure as a cost saving.

But if we lose the aquatic centre which is a minor project compared to Zaha's current portfolio then the olympics will be diminished beyond repair.

Exactly as I feared the bean counters are in control.

one of the business that moved from the stadium site has
put a spy cam up on there new building, so we can see the stadium build!

VIEW THE SITE>

http://www.formanandfield.com/fisheyeview :cheers:

I refer you to Jersyboi's post. There will be design development that will include research into materials.

My concern is that there has been a push to a metal roof even during the tendering procedure as a cost saving.

But if we lose the aquatic centre which is a minor project compared to Zaha's current portfolio then the olympics will be diminished beyond repair.

Exactly as I feared the bean counters are in control.

quiet frankly if they keep penny pinching like this we won't have anything good to show apart from a big shopping centre...typically english...

Am attending the ' Are the Olympics good for London ' debate tommorow night, Which I am sure will get me wound up as it is hosted by the Evening Standard! Will let you know what happens.

Christ, even the cynical title says it all. Good luck with that and make sure you put them in their place..at least in your mind anyway. Let us know how it went.

Am attending the ' Are the Olympics good for London ' debate tommorow night, Which I am sure will get me wound up as it is hosted by the Evening Standard! Will let you know what happens.

Nah - The Evening Standard now fully supports the Olympics now that their muppet, sorry, I meant to say Boris Johnson, is now Mayor.

Take this story - and look at the positive spin in it 'not cost London taxpayers a penny', 'first time buyers will be the main beneficiaries'. If Ken was still mayor this would've been a very different story (disaster for Olympic Village, project so bad no private investers will back it etc.etc.)

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-mayor/article-23496146-details/Mayor+will+raid+coffers+to+bail+out+Olympic+village/article.do


Mayor will raid coffers to bail out Olympic village
Matthew Beard, Evening Standard
18.06.08 Related Articles

Boris Johnson will today propose a multi-million-pound rescue package for the Olympic village.

The Mayor is set to divert public funds to the £800 million-plus venue, which has failed to attract sufficient private cash during the credit crunch.

Mr Johnson will make his first significant intervention on the 2012 project after being warned by his Games adviser, David Ross, of a "major risk" after developer LendLease failed to raise enough funding for the village.

Extra cash will come from government coffers available to the Mayor exclusively for affordable housing.

Under the plans, first-time buyers will be the main beneficiaries of the intervention as the village is converted from accommodation for 17,000 athletes and officials into 3,500 homes after 2012.

The bail-out will come from the Government's Homes and Communities Agency, which has an annual budget for London of £1billion - and will not cost London council taxpayers any extra.

City Hall officials stressed that the Olympic Delivery Authority also had a £1 billion contingency within the £9.3 billion Games budget.

Unbelievable.

No more need to provide a cheap portacabin Darjole!

http://www.cnplus.co.uk/News/2008/07/2012_site_fence_to_be_seethrough.html

I wonder if this means we lose the Greenway access.

I wonder if this means we lose the Greenway access.
I hope not, that's my route to work. I've already lost Carpenters Road.
They are using the Greenway (http://wikimapia.org/#lat=51.5360656&lon=-0.0170267&z=18&l=0&m=s&v=2) for site access for Team Stadium from Pudding Mill Lane DLR (http://wikimapia.org/#lat=51.5340151&lon=-0.014331&z=19&l=0&m=s&v=2&show=/5072708/Pudding_Mill_Lane_DLR_station) station. It's getting quite busy at 8:30am!

London 2012 Completes Project Ahead Of Schedule
Posted 11:34 am ET (GamesBids.com)

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) announced it has completed a transport project for the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games five weeks early and on budget. It’s a 12-track railway siding north of Stratford replacing Thornton’s Field siding in the heart of the Olympic Park, which is now being dismantled allowing access for logistical vehicles in the construction of the Olympic Stadium. During the Games the path will be used as one of the main pedestrian access points leading up to the Olympic Stadium, said the ODA.

ODA Chairman John Armitt said, “the completion of Orient Way was imperative to the start of the stadium construction and I am delighted that all delivery partners involved have completed this significant project five weeks early and on budget”.

New track railway sidings at Orient Way (http://wikimapia.org/#lat=51.5601041&lon=-0.0231743&z=16&l=0&m=s&v=2) to the north-west of the Olympic Park have been completed and are now in use, freeing up a key area for construction work on site.

http://www.london2012.com/photos/transport/orient-way340x185.jpg

Trains were previously parked at Thornton’s Field (http://wikimapia.org/#lat=51.5383145&lon=-0.0116622&z=17&l=0&m=s&v=2) sidings, an area in the heart of the Park between the Aquatics Centre and Olympic Stadium. This track is now being dismantled and removed.

The new twelve-track railway sidings act like a car park for trains not being used outside of rush hours. They cover an area equivalent to three full-size football pitches. The project was completed ahead of schedule and on budget.

Ninety-nine per cent of the demolition materials and waste from the Orient Way project has been recycled, including 4,000 tonnes of crushed concrete, of which 1,000 tonnes was reused on site, and 620 tonnes of tarmac.

During the Games the Thornton’s Field (http://wikimapia.org/#lat=51.5382211&lon=-0.0115871&z=17&l=0&m=s&v=2) area will be used as a major walkway into the Park leading up to the Stadium.

Full report on london2012.com (http://www.london2012.com/news/media-releases/2008-07/first-major-london-2012-transport-project-completed-ahead-of-schedule.php)

Heres a pic of the Excel extension that will be complete by 2010.

http://i26.tinypic.com/14aemb6.jpg

Here's what the Games will do for us
Tessa Jowell, Olympics Minister
08.07.08
Evening Standard

Do you remember that Monty Python scene from The Life Of Brian asking what the Romans ever did for us? There was sanitation, public health, irrigation, education, the roads - and so the list went on, but it was never enough.

I sometimes think that substituting Olympics for Romans sums up the argument of some of the more vocal critics of London 2012. What will the Olympics ever do for us? Apart from jobs, homes, billions of pounds of business and tourism, world-class sports facilities, and so on.

In all seriousness, I have no problem with the debate about 2012 that features so heavily in the Evening Standard. But it needs to be based on facts, not urban myths.

Perhaps the biggest is that the cost of the Games is £9.3 billion. Wrong. That is the maximum set aside to deliver both the world's biggest sporting event and Europe's biggest regeneration project, because what we are talking about is much more than a few weeks of sport. London 2012 will transform one of the most deprived parts of the capital, with 75p out of every pound in the Olympic Delivery Authority's budget for regeneration. So what does this mean in real terms? Aside from building five international sporting venues, their conversion for use after 2012, and a 17,000-capacity Olympic village, it means the regeneration of a 500-acre urban park, restoring eight kilometres of waterways, and cleaning and removing one million cubic metres of soil.

It means 9,000 homes built and 120,000 square metres for business, in what will be the media centres during the Games. It means eliminating 52 pylons from the skyline and replacing them with 12 km of tunnels housing 200km of power cables.

But it is not just the public sector contributing. An estimated £7 billion of private investment is coming into Stratford City, the Olympic Village, the media centres and utilities serving the Lower Lea Valley - and of course almost all the £2 billion budget of Locog, the Games organising committee, is privately financed.

The Standard's Andrew Gilligan lambasts the Games as a "five-ring circus" that provides moments of pride and ecstasy but leaves almost all host cities either no better off or worse off. In the case of London 2012, this notion is woefully out of date.

Will transforming the skyline of our capital be a fleeting memory? Or a legacy of new sports facilities so badly needed in London? Or the creation of thousands of new homes and jobs? Not a chance. We need to recognise the achievements - such as underground tunnels completed on time and on budget, or construction starting on the Olympic Stadium three months early. This is progress so strong that the International Olympic Committee gave London an almost perfect 9.75 marks out of 10 for our record so far.

We bid for the Games because we wanted regeneration - but the Games are also the greatest opportunity we will have to inspire young people to take up sport. Older Londoners will be the first to benefit from free swimming in the capital's pools. And young and old will be able to use facilities left after 2012, like the aquatic centre - the very ones some of our critics want London to forsake.

One reason I believe public support remains so high, in the face of media scepticism, is because parents grasp the benefits the Games will bring. I know that there has been a lot of understandable concern about the budget. But let no one be in any doubt: there is no more money for 2012. The Mayor has made clear there will be no more from council-tax payers and the Government is well aware there is no public appetite for more contributions from the Lottery or the Exchequer.

I never stop reiterating this to our partners building and staging the Games. So if costs go up unavoidably in any part of the project, we will cut our cloth accordingly or make savings elsewhere to stay within the £9.3 billion budget. But the size of our ambition remains the same. We could scale down the Games, but London would be the loser. We could choose an austerity Olympics, but it would be at the expense of the Legacy Games we are determined 2012 will be. That would be the worst type of short-term thinking - and a mistake we would live to regret.

• Tessa Jowell will be speaking at tonight's Evening Standard debate - Will the Olympics be good for London? - at the RSA in John Adam Street WC2 at 7pm. The panel includes Kate Hoey, Andrew Gilligan, Lord Coe and Will Self. Some remaining tickets may be available at the door.

The Games need Zaha's icon
Rowan Moore
08.07.08
Evening Standard

The Aquatics Centre has always been an icon of the London Olympics. With its big, waving roof, rising to 35 metres above ground, it was the only design unveiled before London won the bid in 2005. It played its part in convincing the International Olympic Committee that London had big ideas for the Games. But as an icon, Zaha Hadid's design has also become a symbol of 2012's doubts and controversies. Just as the Olympic budget as a whole has multiplied, so has the Aquatics Centre's, from £75 million to £303 million.

Last week the BBC ran a story about aspects of the Centre's construction, such as the timber roof, which it maintained was the wrong kind of wood for a swimming pool, which turned out to be something of a damp squib (it is the ceiling, not the roof, which is timber and there is anyway 18 months before it is to be installed). But what it did do was reveal how the Centre has become a target for criticism, reflecting its symbolic importance and the fact that, like London 2012 as a whole, much of the thinking behind it - in the time before the bid was won - was wishful.

The project is a survivor of that era of both aspiration and unreality, from a time when few truly believed that London would win. The notorious budget for the Games as a whole - without allowance for inflation, contingency or VAT - was from the same period. Unlike that now-discarded budget, however, the Aquatics Centre is still there as a project, and it will be there as a finished building in 2012.

The design is a result of a competition run by the London Development Agency, using a brief created by them, in 2004. The LDA is no longer the client for the project - which is now the ODA - and is keeping a notably low profile in relation to the Olympics. For this reason the brief did not, and could not, respond to all the issues that would eventually go with a fully functioning Olympic Aquatics Centre. It has changed significantly since.

The same is true of the budget, which seems to have followed the common British practice - see also the Scottish Parliament - of starting low. The intention might be to impress on all the necessity of keeping budgets tight but it can have the opposite effect. Once the initial estimate is broken, subsequent budgets lack authority.

The competition jury chose Zaha Hadid, strongly urged on by Lord Rogers of Riverside, then the Mayor's adviser on architecture. Hadid is celebrated for many reasons: she is unquestionably the most famous female architect who has ever lived, and she is possibly the most famous architect living today.

She is also the most prominent example of a recurring type: the Londonbased architect, internationally renowned, who never gets to build in her home city. Twenty years ago, Norman Foster, now immensely prolific, was in this position; now it is Hadid. For a while it was questioned whether her designs could be built at all but her current office of 280 staff, creating buildings all over the world, proves otherwise.

She is not the right architect if all you want is a functionalist box, but if you want a building that symbolises a global event, and is intended to be a landmark for decades afterwards, she is one of a small number who can do that. Her designs are, unquestionably, more difficult-to build than the basic minimum but the Aquatics Centre was never supposed to be about the basic minimum.

To this architectural challenge were added other challenges. The building has to incorporate a large bridge, which will be the main route from Stratford station to the Olympics site, expected to carry two-thirds of the visitors to the Games. It is to be built over buried power lines and archaeological remains, on what the ODA call "the most complex part of the site".

The Aquatics Centre has suffered too, as have other Olympic projects, from the legacy of Wembley Stadium, where the contractors underwent both huge losses and press attacks. As a result, the Centre, like the Olympic Stadium, has ended up with only one contractor bidding to build it, out of those deemed compliant with the ODA's rules.

These rules are supposed to protect the ODA's interests. In practice, they have reduced its freedom of action by severely limiting the choice of contractors. Although there are extensive procedures to ensure good value, it is always harder to negotiate a good price when the contractor knows he is the only one in the running. It was reported that one of the price hikes came in response to lastminute demands from the contractor, Balfour Beatty.

The cumulative effect of these degrees of difficulty is the current budget. Lord Rogers has described it as "exceptional value for money" but it's hard to get the ODA to be so unequivocal. It will only say that it "is in line with the revised budget for the Olympics", while pointing out that it will permanently provide the Olympic-sized swimming pools that London currently lacks.

The Centre's difficulties almost led to the abandonment of the current design. Under the former ODA chairman, Jack Lemley, Hadid was "within inches of being fired", according to one person involved. After Lemley went, she remained suspicious that she would "be royally shafted", and it took a meeting with the new chair and chief executive for them to convince her that they wanted her, and for her to show them she wanted to do the job.

In the process Hadid also took on the Olympics minister, Tessa Jowell, who had unwisely laid the blame for the cost overruns on the architect. Hadid won from the minister an almost unprecedented letter of apology.

These battles have now been fought and, notwithstanding squalls about the choice of timber, the building is now starting construction this month. It is, the ODA proudly says, ahead of schedule. Terminal 5 has taught us never to believe a building will work until after it has opened, but there is now no particular reason to believe that the Aquatics Centre will fail any more or less than with the main stadium or the velodrome.

The £303 million price tag still looks high, even taking into account the bridge, the buried power lines and the other extenuating factors. But we may yet be grateful for the wishful idealism that prevailed before the bid was won.

The mood of 2012 is now one of sombre pragmatism, in which every decision has to be ground through the mechanics of cost control. It is currently being debated, for example, whether the hard surfaces for the Olympics landscape will be anything better than Tarmac.

To have at least one project, the Aquatics Centre, that refuses to be crushed by these constraints might prove to be the saving grace of what might otherwise be the accountants' Olympics. Yes, we all want value for money, and the Aquatics Centre may not have reached its current position by the most rational route, but if cost control was the only object, we should not have embarked at all on something as extravagant as the Olympics.

But the Olympic village with 3,500 homes is nothing. How will that number of house help anyone after the games ?

With more homes developed around the olympic village.

2012 chiefs admit fears over £700m sponsorship
Matthew Beard, Evening Standard

Olympics chiefs have admitted their target of raising £700 million in sponsorship will become increasingly difficult due to the global economic downturn.

The gloomy forecast by the Games organising committee, Locog, is revealed in financial accounts seen by the Evening Standard. Locog says: "The current turmoil in the world economy is creating a tough selling environment across all categories."

It has set a target of raising £ 700million from sponsorship towards the £2.1billion it will spend on staging the Games. Last week it passed the halfway mark when it signed up BP as the official oil and gas supplier, in a deal worth £50million. The oil firm became the sixth tier-one partner after Lloyds TSB, EDF Energy, adidas, British Airways and British Telecom signed similar deals.

Locog sources say they are relieved to have finalised so many deals before the credit crunch, and concede that in the current climate they would not have been able to charge £80million to Lloyds TSB to become official banker, with a loan facility of £70million as part of the deal.

Sponsors in the automotive and clothing/homeware sectors will not be signed up until after the Beijing Games.

Negotiators will now concentrate on finding up to 30 tier-two and tier-three backers, willing to pay at least £ 20million, either in cash or the equivalent in goods and services. Locog may clinch deals in these lower categories with German logistics firm Schenker and security firm G4S.

It is also launching a range of merchandise to coincide with the handover of the Games to London. T-shirts, rucksacks and baseball caps bearing the 2012 logo and made by adidas will go on sale on the "handover day" of 24 August. A commemorative coin will also be minted.

Difficulties raising Olympics-related sponsorship in a downbeat market were brought into focus recently, when it emerged there has been little private-sector interest in a Government plan to raise £100million for Team GB at 2012.

Locog is raising all its £2.1billion from the private sector. Other revenue streams it is counting on include £375million in broadcast payments from the International Olympic Committee;

£376million from ticket sales; and £183million from global sponsors such as Coca

Cola and McDonald's. Locog's spending will include £495million on fitting out venues, £298 million on wages, £242 million on technology and

£126million on transport. A spokeswoman said: "We acknowledge it is a different economic environment but we have not seen any downturn in interest. Our decision to go to the market early has been vindicated, particularly in the case of the bank deal."

Locog's funding is separate from the £9.3billion Olympics budget earmarked largely for construction and security.

In an article for the Standard today, Olympics minister Tessa Jowell warned: "Let no one be in any doubt: there is no more money for 2012. So if costs unavoidably go up ... we will cut our cloth accordingly or make savings elsewhere to stay within the £9.3 billion budget."

will everything be blamed on the credit crunch and global slowdown?

Well I guess there will be a few less fireworks at the opening ceremony then.

Oh, looks like another load of crap from the Standard.

London 2012 has issued the following statement in repsonse to an article in the Evening Standard:

'The article in today’s Evening Standard is misleading and the story is not based on LOCOG’s financial accounts. LOCOG is delighted with the progress it has made in attracting commercial partners for London 2012, including the recent announcement of BP as its sixth Tier One partner. Contrary to what it says, we do not have any “gloomy forecast” in our accounts. In fact, we are confident that we have set realistic revenue targets, including our sponsorship goals, and that we will achieve all our objectives.

'Clearly the global economic environment is tougher than it was two years ago, but this validates our decision to start fundraising six years before the Games come to London, and we have not seen any decline in interest in this once in a lifetime sponsorship opportunity.'

Will the Olympics be good for London?
Benedict Moore-Bridger, Evening Standard
09.07.08

YES - Tessa Jowell, Minister for the Olympics and London

MS JOWELL said the original vision of the bid was to "use the power of sport to reconnect young people with sport" and "regenerate one of the most deprived parts of east London".

She said: "Not for one moment are we complacent because there are massive challenges ahead but there is a track record of success so I am confident we won't let London down.

"We will deliver the Games within the budget of £9.3 billion. Yes, it went up but once and only once. It is not spiralling out of control. We will cut costs if they begin to rise.

"We have seen possibly the greatest tennis match of all time - imagine four billion people watching from around the world. What a great opportunity to showcase our great city to the rest of the world."

She said the Games were also about giving London the sporting facilities it deserves.

She added: "Seventy-five pence of every pound we are spending will go on long-term regeneration. The Games won't just be good for London, they will be good for the whole of the UK and when they come they will be just great.

"We can be confident that when the end comes the whole city will be galvanised and there will be cheap travel for people wanting to travel from anywhere in London."

She said the Games would help close the gap between sport participation in young people and those competing at an elite level.

"Watching sport on the television is a completely different experience from sport on the playing field or running track. All the evidence we have is that the legacy plans we have round the city will close the gap."


NO - Will Self, author and Evening Standard columnist

With typically sardonic wit, Mr Self lambasted the Games, labelling them a "running and jumping festival".

He said providing sports facilities in schools would be a better use of money than paying for the Games.

He said: "I am not very interested in the Olympics. It is all about building a shopping mall out in Stratford. I live in London and have four children of school age. None of my kids have swimming lessons at school. Sporting facilities are parlous and pitiful.

"If you want new transport infrastructure why don't they just build it rather than use the excuse of a running and jumping festival? If you want to build social housing in the city why don't we just build social housing?

"I am not a cynic. My problem with what Tessa Jowell has said is they are the real cynics. They don't believe you can do anything to help people in the city without involving the private sector. They don't believe anything could be done without a corporate logo slapped on it. They don't believe anything could be done without appealing to people' basest instincts.

"It is good, old-fashioned boosterism at the end of the day. Wait for the economic downturn and see if these figures hold up.

"I don't want to be a Cassandra about this - maybe it will all come off fantastically. I would rather my kids do not have to take a 45-minute bus journey to their nearest playing field. That would inspire them."

He said having seen dilapidated stadia in Montreal in the Seventies, he was fearful of the after-effects of the 2012 Games if costs are not well managed. "It could really go dreadfully wrong - the city (Montreal) was almost bankrupted by the maladministration. You cannot manipulate London as if it were a planned city. It has its own anarchic and strange ways. It is bigger than the Labour Government, it will be bigger than the Conservative Government.

"London is more likely to be paralysed than galvanised."


MAYBE - Kate Hoey MP, Commissioner for Sport

Ms Hoey said strategic plans had to be put in place to increase sport participation for the Games to be considered a success.

She said: "There is excitement about the Olympics but it will only be truly good for London if it leaves a real sporting legacy for every Londoner. I don't think we are going to see the funding or the commitment at a national level - there is no joined-up thinking.

"We really do need in London a programme that increases participation. It will be a wonderful show for everyone but it is not good enough just to have a legacy for the Olympic Park and some regeneration aspects. Every Londoner in four years' time must feel they have seen some improvement in their area.

"They will live with the increased cost if they see a tangible sporting legacy. We are still to create that long term sport legacy but we do not have very long. If anything we have left it rather late in starting."

She said more must be done to ensure young people were motivated by the Olympics enough to take up sport and strive for excellence. "The Olympics cost a huge amount of money. I am not griping about the cost. It is about what is happening at grass roots. There has to be a financial budget for some legacy projects and if we have not got that we have to be honest about it."


NO - Andrew Gilligan, Evening Standard columnist

He said: "I think the Olympics has some claim to be the greatest con trick in the contemporary world. I have no doubt London's stadia will be ready on time, but the absolute empirical evidence is that it is largely a fraud.

"Some of the main winners always turn out to be on drugs. This 'festival of health' is supported by McDonald's and Pepsi Cola. Apart from Barcelona, hosting the Games has left cities at best not better off and at worst with considerable debt. Anything described as an 'Olympic legacy' seems to be happening already without the Games." He said the first proposal for housing redevelopment in Stratford was submitted as early as 2003.

"Out of a total budget of £9.3billion, £1.7billion is earmarked for regeneration and infrastructure - that is 18 per cent in every pound, not 75p (as Ms Jowell claimed). That proportion can only shrink."

He said the Games would damage London's economy and tourist industries. "Three of our Royal Parks will have to be closed throughout most of the summer. For the duration of the Games London will be turned into an armed camp. We can't give the Olympics back - we have to make the best of it."

Mr Gilligan said plans for lesser arenas such as basketball events should be scrapped, making use of existing facilities instead. "It is already too late to cancel the main stadium, the giant pudding, but if we act now we can prevent further host cities from conforming to this daft IOC template. We hear stirring objectives which no one can disagree with but no explanation whatsoever of how we are actually going to bring that about."


YES - Lord Coe, chairman of the 2012 organising committee

Lord Coe said London needed the Games to ensure it had world-class facilities to foster elite athletes. He said lack of facilities in London were caused by poor political decisions, and admitted it should not have taken the Games to regenerate east London.

He said: "I am proud that sport has brought this timeline forward and yes, has created a shopping centre in east London. What has changed is the ambition. We don't need 9,000 homes to stage the Games, we don't need to clean up rivers. But why not do it at the same time?

"There are 3,000 people working on the Olympic site, and there will be 20,000 in four years' time. I am very proud that sport has played the hidden social worker again.

"There has not been a single London swimmer in the last two Olympic Games or World Championships. If the swimming pool is closing in your borough it is not about the Olympic Games, it is about bad political judgments. London is a third world city for sport. The greatest drive for sport participation is the well-stocked shop window. This city will do extremely well out of these Games.

"Let's do it very very well and recharge a generation that people have ignored for far too many years. This is our chance to pull back some of the territory we have lost."

The former Olympic champion said he wanted to introduce sports which do not have "handholds" in inner cities. "There is a whole generation of Londoners who do not know anything about equestrian sport. One of the driving factors was getting some of these sports into the inner city."

Starting gun to sound for London 2012
07.07.08
Evening Standard

London becomes the next Olympic host city in a matter of weeks when Boris Johnson is handed the Olympic flag from his Beijing counterpart at the closing ceremony of the summer Games.

Games organisers are hoping optimism about the 2012 project will surge across the nation rivalling the heady atmosphere of the triumphant bid win three years earlier.

A strong showing by British athletes, tipped to win 12 golds in Beijing, should ensure that the four-year run-in to the 30th Games of the modern Olympiad begins on a high.

Attention will then quickly shift to progress on the 500-acre Olympic Park in Stratford where the multi-billion pound construction of new venues including a stadium, aquatics centre, athletes' village and velodrome, moves up a gear next year.

By 2010 it will be Europe's biggest building site, employing around 20,000 workers creating a world-class sports venue and a new City centre for Stratford against a fixed deadline.

Already Games organisers have coped with the fallout from their controversial choice of logo. Potential pitfalls lie ahead in anything from their choice of Games mascot to the cost and availability of tickets.

Next year the first venues will begin to appear from the once desolate industrial landscape of the Lower Lea Valley.

By 2011 the work of Olympic Delivery Authority will - if all goes to plan - be largely done as they begin to hand over the venues for testing.

In the year preceding the Games, London will be magnet for major championships in anything from taekwondo to table tennis.

Delegations from the 200 or so participating nations will make frequent trips to the UK to pick a training camp or see for themselves if the venues come up to scratch.

The coming months will also mark the start of unprecedented scrutiny as Parliament and the Greater London Authority step up their interest - not least in Games chiefs' pledges that the budget - the most controversial aspect of the Games - does not exceed £9.3bn.

Public interest in the Millennium Dome and Wembley is likely to seem nothing as compared to the London Olympics.

But the biggest test of success will not come until after the Olympic circus has moved on. Only then will it become apparent whether the London Games has succeeded where so many white-elephant generating Games have failed - by creating a lasting legacy.

To believe right now that it can be done is a triumph of hope over experience.

Well last night was interesting to say the least, there was no new information or arguments.

There was an endless Pro Boris agenda running throughout the whole evening , with the same predictable arguments and endless ramblings about the legacy which 'thanks to Boris' is now being put into perspective!

A long and some what dissapointing evening, It was frustrating to hear that Boris could do know wrong , any one who questioned him was quickly hushed or talked over! Grrr..

Will the Olympics be good for London?
Benedict Moore-Bridger, Evening Standard
09.07.08


NO - Will Self, author and Evening Standard columnist

With typically sardonic wit, Mr Self lambasted the Games, labelling them a "running and jumping festival".


Who cares what this self-important little man thinks anyway? Is he a regeneration specialist? Does he have a history of sporting excellence? No. He's a nobody that has as much 'insight' into the Games as a frog.

The fact that Kate Hoey has gone from being completely against the Games to now being a 'Well maybe they're not that bad' shows that the London 2012 people are working in the right direction.

If this general feeling of (often media-generated) economic gloom continues over the next couple of years then, despite any over-spend, maybe the Olympics will be the feel-good boost the country needs. And with so many construction jobs being shed, any building work because of the Olympics has to be welcomed.

The Tories won't be too scathing because they're hoping to be in power by 2012 and know that the eyes of the world will be on Britain. In fact if Gordon Brown waited until 2010 to call an election and the Tories swept in, they'd probably spend their honeymoon period geeing up some national pride for the Olympics.

In fact if Gordon Brown waited until 2010 to call an election and the Tories swept in, they'd probably spend their honeymoon period geeing up some national pride for the Olympics.

You can be rest assured of course that Gilligan and the Evening Standard will suddenly be all pro-2012 if that happens.

I think it is realy interesting what is happeningn in the Uk at the momometn there is a downturn in the economy but really it is happening everywhere.

I think a lot of GB unpopularity is to do with the press using the downturn to publicly flog him and also perpetuate an anti scottish feeling in England.

Cameron is getting the headlines but i doubt for any second he has the vision to do the job adequately.

Willbe interesting to see what happens in 2010 if the economy has recovered by then

And as the business presenter on this morning's BBC Breakfast said, "We're not in recession. Despite all the gloom the economy is still growing."

Meanwhile one of the panellists on last week's BBC Question Time reminded the audience that for many years the British economy was gloomy, with the odd upturn every so often. It's only because we've experienced such a long period of a good economy that we've forgotten how to live in a downturn.

FaulknerBrowns reveals its 2012 White Water Canoe Centre
(http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=725&storycode=3118137&c=2&encCode=00000000017c8ad5)10 July, 2008
bdonline.co.uk

By Marguerite Lazell

The Olympic Delivery Authority has unveiled designs for the Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre by FaulknerBrowns Architects. The scheme, which also includes landscaping by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, has now been submitted for planning.

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/Pictures/468xAny/w/w/t/Broxbourne___facilities_buildingWEB.jpg

The venue will be built on land owned by Hertfordshire’s Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, and will be managed by the authority in legacy mode for both leisure canoeing and kayaking, and elite competitions. The site is currently an overflow car park for the River Lee Country Park showground.

The building includes a café, changing rooms, offices, spectator facilities, storage and water pump/filtration facilities. The wet facilities will be on the ground floor, which will be a masonry structure, with other elements on the first floor, where there will also be a timber-decked terrace. During the Olympics there will be 12,000 temporary seats, which will be removed at the end of the games.

Michael Hall from FaulknerBrowns said: “The challenge has been to create a modern white water facility with its requirement for exciting but consistent high flows of water in a flat landscape. Our designs for the venue facilities building have been conceived as a simple timber form which appears to float in the landscape from distant views.”

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/Pictures/web/t/l/i/Broxbourne_landscapingWEB.jpg

FaulknerBrowns reveals its 2012 White Water Canoe Centre
(http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=725&storycode=3118137&c=2&encCode=00000000017c8ad5)10 July, 2008
bdonline.co.uk

By Marguerite Lazell

The Olympic Delivery Authority has unveiled designs for the Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre by FaulknerBrowns Architects. The scheme, which also includes landscaping by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, has now been submitted for planning.

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/Pictures/468xAny/w/w/t/Broxbourne___facilities_buildingWEB.jpg

The venue will be built on land owned by Hertfordshire’s Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, and will be managed by the authority in legacy mode for both leisure canoeing and kayaking, and elite competitions. The site is currently an overflow car park for the River Lee Country Park showground.

The building includes a café, changing rooms, offices, spectator facilities, storage and water pump/filtration facilities. The wet facilities will be on the ground floor, which will be a masonry structure, with other elements on the first floor, where there will also be a timber-decked terrace. During the Olympics there will be 12,000 temporary seats, which will be removed at the end of the games.

Michael Hall from FaulknerBrowns said: “The challenge has been to create a modern white water facility with its requirement for exciting but consistent high flows of water in a flat landscape. Our designs for the venue facilities building have been conceived as a simple timber form which appears to float in the landscape from distant views.”

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/Pictures/web/t/l/i/Broxbourne_landscapingWEB.jpg

now find those ODA planning documents :)

Athletes' Village cuts continue as Make tower is mothballed
10 July 2008
AJplus.co.uk

Make's 30-storey residential tower at the heart of the £2 billion London 2012 Olympics Athletes' Village has been mothballed, the AJ can reveal.

http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/images/Athletes%20Village%20Legacy%20Mode_resized_250_tcm23-319756.jpg

Last week it emerged developer Lend Lease had scaled back the number of homes proposed to house the London 2012 Games' 17,000 athletes from 4,200 to 3,300 (AJ online 03.07.08).

According to a source close to the Make project, the design team had been 'aware the development was likely to stop' for some time. However it is unclear whether a sister tower by Ian Simpson Architects has also been put on the back-burner.

Neither Lend Lease nor the Olympic Delivery Authority were available for comment.

Meanwhile it has emerged that Make's Middlesex Hospital scheme for developer Candy & Candy has also been held up – but is expected to restart later in the year.

'NO - Will Self, author and Evening Standard columnist'

'NO - Andrew Gilligan, Evening Standard columnist'

:rofl:

Evening Standard people are such a sad and miserable bunch.I kinda feel sorry for them.

I think a lot of GB unpopularity is to do with the press using the downturn to publicly flog him and also perpetuate an anti scottish feeling in England.



People blaim Gordon Brown because he was the chancellor that borrowed and never saved when times were good. He is the man who encouraged low interest rates thus fueling the massive borrowing which caused the housing crisis we now have.

People couldn't give a toss that he is Scottish, it's his general uselessness and dithering they don't like.

An alternative ammended version of Zims post:

People blame Gordon Brown because he was the chancellor that borrowed to try and sneak some mildly progressive policies under the radar when times were good. He is the man who freed the bank of England who, in turn, encouraged low interest rates thus helped the banks fuel the massive borrowing which contributed to the housing downturn we now have.

Some people couldn't give a toss that he is Scottish, others, the more pointy headed cretins such as those at the SubStandard use it as a convenient stick to beat him with, it's his progressiveness they don't like. They are scared of intellectuals as they may lose real debates with them.

The vested interests of the (Mainly) English right fuel portrayals of him as dithering and useless and laud far lesser men just because they represent thier short sighted world view.

Its all about perceptions.

Right now I percieve the dead hand of the rightards screwing with our olympic dream for the usual, tiresome reasons, ie the sacrifice of the future on the altar of the almighty bottom line.

CO

PS - Huvet, if you read this I know I owe you a reply!

An alternative ammended version of Zims post:

People blame Gordon Brown because he was the chancellor that borrowed to try and sneak some mildly progressive policies under the radar when times were good. He is the man who freed the bank of England who, in turn, encouraged low interest rates thus helped the banks fuel the massive borrowing which contributed to the housing downturn we now have.

Some people couldn't give a toss that he is Scottish, others, the more pointy headed cretins such as those at the SubStandard use it as a convenient stick to beat him with, it's his progressiveness they don't like. They are scared of intellectuals as they may lose real debates with them.

The vested interests of the (Mainly) English right fuel portrayals of him as dithering and useless and laud far lesser men just because they represent thier short sighted world view.

Its all about perceptions.

Right now I percieve the dead hand of the rightards screwing with our olympic dream for the usual, tiresome reasons, ie the sacrifice of the future on the altar of the almighty bottom line.

CO

PS - Huvet, if you read this I know I owe you a reply!

Hallelleija someone who see through all of this pish!

GB was made to think (by the press) that he was extending a lead in the opinion polls and so fuelled the great brown bounce headlines, then when he takes heed of them considers the options it is all over the place that there is going to be an election. Upon consideration of the figures he decides not to go for it robbing the press of their chance to have the headline about the shortest serving british prime minister so they turn ugly and have sysyematically portrayed the guy as a ditherer and played on his unfashionable persona.

then we have the gutter press playing the English nationalist card which in turn has been helped by the polarisation from the SNP in Edinburgh to a point where Brown was put in a position of saying is he Scottish or British he chooses British to appease 85 percent of the population and then the howls start up in Scotland to batter him up there. I wonder what the headlines would have sai9d if he had chosen Scottish first? He was simply in a position where he was going to get battered whatever he said. Once this is done the press turn around and blow every little thing out of proportion to make it look like his fault.

The simple fact of the matter is the gutter press (not the English population per se) simply can't stomach a disproportionate amount of Scottish people in high profile positions (even if it is on merit) therefore the hacks are hell bent on a change of government and getting the little home counties darling at the helm!

Hallelleija someone who see through all of this pish!

GB was made to think (by the press) that he was extending a lead in the opinion polls and so fuelled the great brown bounce headlines, then when he takes heed of them considers the options it is all over the place that there is going to be an election. Upon consideration of the figures he decides not to go for it robbing the press of their chance to have the headline about the shortest serving british prime minister so they turn ugly and have sysyematically portrayed the guy as a ditherer and played on his unfashionable persona.

then we have the gutter press playing the English nationalist card which in turn has been helped by the polarisation from the SNP in Edinburgh to a point where Brown was put in a position of saying is he Scottish or British he chooses British to appease 85 percent of the population and then the howls start up in Scotland to batter him up there. I wonder what the headlines would have sai9d if he had chosen Scottish first? He was simply in a position where he was going to get battered whatever he said. Once this is done the press turn around and blow every little thing out of proportion to make it look like his fault.

The simple fact of the matter is the gutter press (not the English population per se) simply can't stomach a disproportionate amount of Scottish people in high profile positions (even if it is on merit) therefore the hacks are hell bent on a change of government and getting the little home counties darling at the helm!

Your whole post screams of anti-Englishness. The English gutter press (I'm sure the Sun doesn't employ a single Scot), the English who dislike Brown (Did Labour win the last election with no English votes?), the English who can't take a disproportionate amount of Scots (who of course are all better than the English politicians - though it is hard to believe that Darling is chancellor on merit :lol:), the home counties darling (guess when the last pm from the home counties was? - Brown? Nope, Scot. Tony? Nope, Scot. Major? - Nope, London. Thatcher? Nope, Lincolnshire. Callaghan? Nope, Portsmouth. Wilson? Nope, Yorkshire.), etc.... . Cameron wasn't even born in the home counties (he was born in London). So are you saying a part of the country should be denied equal representation? ;) You would rightfully be angry if someone said Scots shouldn't be PM, but its okay if you do some polemic against south-east England? Also as I know that you used home counties as a wider term, are you trying to say that the 10-20 point lead of the Tories is only down to the press? :bash:

I don't give an 'f' if GB is Scottish or not, but you can hardly claim that GB has had a good time as PM. The floods, the snap election chaos, the 42 days, the Henley byelection, etc... . Objectively speaking he has been a good chancellor and a dreadful PM. Speaking such a truth has nothing to do with Anti-Scottishness.

As for the Britishness issue, don't you realize there are people who are British first and English/Scottish/Welsh/Irish second? Don't you realize it should be a requirement for a UK PM to feel British? I think it would be good if more people feel British first and etc... second. From my UK pov I feel British first, mainly English (though I also have Scottish relatives I dearly love) second.

Your whole post screams of anti-Englishness. The English gutter press (I'm sure the Sun doesn't employ a single Scot), the English who dislike Brown (Did Labour win the last election with no English votes?), the English who can't take a disproportionate amount of Scots (who of course are all better than the English politicians - though it is hard to believe that Darling is chancellor on merit :lol:), the home counties darling (guess when the last pm from the home counties was? - Brown? Nope, Scot. Tony? Nope, Scot. Major? - Nope, London. Thatcher? Nope, Lincolnshire. Callaghan? Nope, Portsmouth. Wilson? Nope, Yorkshire.), etc.... . Cameron wasn't even born in the home counties (he was born in London). So are you saying a part of the country should be denied equal representation? ;) You would rightfully be angry if someone said Scots shouldn't be PM, but its okay if you do some polemic against south-east England? Also as I know that you used home counties as a wider term, are you trying to say that the 10-20 point lead of the Tories is only down to the press? :bash:

I don't give an 'f' if GB is Scottish or not, but you can hardly claim that GB has had a good time as PM. The floods, the snap election chaos, the 42 days, the Henley byelection, etc... . Objectively speaking he has been a good chancellor and a dreadful PM. Speaking such a truth has nothing to do with Anti-Scottishness.

As for the Britishness issue, don't you realize there are people who are British first and English/Scottish/Welsh/Irish second? Don't you realize it should be a requirement for a UK PM to feel British? I think it would be good if more people feel British first and etc... second. From my UK pov I feel British first, mainly English (though I also have Scottish relatives I dearly love) second.


Erm are you on crack? I never once in that post said the ENGLISH gutter press, i said gutter press and furtermore mentioned the SNP polarising Scotland against GB in the same way in Scotland (jibe at them aswell) i am struggling to see how the post was anti english when i had a swipe at Scottish politicians aswell. maybe i should read my post again and throw in some massive chips on my shoulder until i get that anti englishness slant you are looking for!

I am certainly not anti-English having an English father and most of my family being English.

my point is (if i did not convey it well enough before) there is simple sensationalism going on here about perpetuating change for the sake of it.

The Economy has slowed there is still no recession it is a global slowdown and the UK is no worse off thean any other industrialised nation, FULL STOP!

Furthermore I never said GB should not feel british first, all i was saying if that he was questioned much more on the issue as a Scot, when was the last time Blair, Major or Thatcher were asked that question?

Erm are you on crack? I never once in that post said the ENGLISH gutter press, i said gutter press and furtermore mentioned the SNP polarising Scotland against GB in the same way in Scotland (jibe at them aswell) i am struggling to see how the post was anti english when i had a swipe at Scottish politicians aswell. maybe i should read my post again and throw in some massive chips on my shoulder until i get that anti englishness slant you are looking for!

No, I'm not on crack. :lol:

You said the gutter press are playing to the English nationalists, face it mate, the English nationalists (English Democrats for example) are a tiny group of people compared to the SNP (relative to population), England is not the threat to the union and I don't see how the press is supporting 'English nationalism' which hardly exists away from the football and rugby field!

I am certainly not anti-English having an English father and most of my family being English.

Well glad to hear that. :)

my point is (if i did not convey it well enough before) there is simple sensationalism going on here about perpetuating change for the sake of it.

The Economy has slowed there is still no recession it is a global slowdown and the UK is no worse off thean any other industrialised nation, FULL STOP!

Agree 100% and sorry if I misunderstood. :) I also agree that the press is to a large degree shit and their reporting creates imo half of all problems in the UK.

Furthermore I never said GB should not feel british first, all i was saying if that he was questioned much more on the issue as a Scot, when was the last time Blair, Major or Thatcher were asked that question?

Well, the reality is that there is no minority nationalist party in regional government in England (unlike Scotland), hence there is no need to question the loyalty of the English to the Union. When a time comes (and I hope it never comes) when an English nationalist party wins 30 or so % of the English vote, I will be first to protest, but right now, it's very unfair to compare English nationalism with Scottish, because they play in two very different leagues.

Though Blair is also a Scot having been born in Edinburgh.

5th Studio’s transformation of the River Lea Valley goes with the flow
11 July 2008
bdonline.co.uk
By Ellis Woodman

Industrial infrastructure and open spaces along east London’s River Lea will form the spine of a design framework devised by architect 5th Studio for the area’s transformation into dynamic parkland

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/Pictures/web/n/h/l/wood.jpg

Emerging from the ground just to the west of Luton, the River Lea tracks a 68km journey through the wilds of Essex and east London, feeding finally into the Thames at Canning Town, opposite the Millennium Dome. It has represented an important boundary at least since Roman times, providing an edge to Danelaw, and more recently dividing the counties of Essex and Middlesex and the London boroughs of Newham and Tower Hamlets. Thanks to Abercrombie’s 1944 London Regional Plan, the land that borders its final 26km is mostly parkland — the largest open space in London.

But while its upper reaches are spectacularly bucolic — a haven for horse riders, cyclists, bird watchers, and anglers — the Lea remains a working river, which is hemmed in by industrial use for its final meandering 3km through the area known as the Lower Lea Valley. It is also cut across by heavily trafficked roads, by trains heading east from Liverpool Street and Fenchurch Street stations, and by those of the Docklands Light Railway. Anyone hoping to walk from the north end of the park to the Thames needs to be both determined and fearless.

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/Pictures/web/u/e/r/big_map_ready.jpg

By 2020, the journey should be considerably easier. That is the anticipated completion date of an epic programme of works to open the Lower Lea Valley to much greater public use. At present, the project takes the form of a design framework that has been developed by 5th Studio, working with the German landscape architect Latz & Partners. Recently published, it sets in place a vision that will guide a series of competitions and direct commissions over the next 12 years.

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/Pictures/web/t/c/i/exoticconnector_ready.jpg

The impetus for change has come from transformations that are already under way. Towards the northern end of the site, the 2012 Olympic Park is being constructed, a wholesale piece of urban restructuring that has seen the demolition of a large number of light industrial buildings. The framework aims to identify how this new public resource can be integrated into Abercrombie’s larger scheme, and also how the valley as a whole might enjoy a more expansive interface with the Thames.

The strategy proposed for achieving these ends is very different from the “slash and burn” approach adopted by the designers of the Olympic Park. A limited amount of compulsory land purchase may be undertaken, but the intention is that much of what is already in place will stay. Given that the landscape is characterised by such operations as builders’ merchants, waste recycling facilities, and factories producing fast food, it is clear that this will be a very different park to any that yet exists in Britain.

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/Pictures/web/p/f/w/view_04_ready.jpg

“It is understood that objects of industry can bring character and animation to spaces of recreation”

Where it does find some parallel is in a park realised by Latz & Partners during the nineties outside the German city of Duisburg. Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord occupies a 200ha site, a large part of which was formerly a coal and steel production plant. Rather than wiping away the traces of these activities, the practice reframed the enormous buildings and machines that remained through a series of discrete landscape interventions and by introducing a range of cultural and leisure uses. The park’s character might be thought of as a post-industrial variant on 18th century notions of the sublime. The formula has proved wildly successful, attracting half a million visitors each year to a landscape previously given scant regard.

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/Pictures/web/o/y/w/abbey_mills__aerial_ready.jpg

In contrast, the Lower Lea Valley is still very much a working environment, and the plan aims to maintain it as such. In common with Duisburg-Nord, the scheme demonstrates an understanding that the objects of industry — whether they be buildings, infrastructural elements or piles of waste waiting to be shipped off to foreign climes — can bring character and animation to spaces of recreation. The two schemes are also alike in that they are collage-like assemblies of distinct environments — a very different sensibility from the ambition evident in the renderings of the Olympic Park, where landscape and buildings will be united in a singular expression.

The Lower Lea Valley scheme has been conceived as nine territories, which will be skewered by a new ground surface incorporating a series of bridge links in order to radically improve accessibility. The architects have dubbed this primary element the Fatwalk in recognition of the fact that it constitutes both a route and a place in its own right. Its minimum width has been gauged to accommodate a mix of riders, cyclists and walkers, but at many points it claims a more expansive territory, enabling other activities to take hold.

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/Pictures/web/g/a/e/mill_meads_ready.jpg

Among the environments that are envisaged along the way are a forest within which seven listed gasholders form clearings. The retained structures can potentially be given over to new uses, one scenario being that they become London’s equivalent to the Eden Project’s biomes.

Twenty thousand homes are to be built in the area in the next decade — one of the project’s fundamental drivers — and a number of major housing schemes are proposed for sites fronting the Lea. Here, the framework aims to “catch and steer” these developments towards an outcome that contributes to the idea of the park. In particular, it identifies how a language of planting and exposed drainage channels might extend the perception of the park deep into this edge condition. Where there is industry, the impulse has been to encourage building owners to simplify the relationship between public and private space by allowing the Fatwalk to run hard against the walls of their big sheds. Where there is infrastructure, landscape interventions of a comparable scale are proposed.

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/Pictures/web/x/x/h/Dock_Perspective_V02_ready.jpg

“A spoil heap set to be created by the construction of Crossrail is reimagined as a faux volcano”

The uncultivated nature of the place is embraced as a quality. In one area termed the Exotic Wild by the architects, the spoil heap set to be produced by the construction of Crossrail is reimagined as a faux volcano. It sits in relation to an artificial cliff that extends out of a wildlife park, consuming the elevated Docklands Light Railway as it does so. The Tyrannosaurus rex that populates the drawing of this area is, one trusts, no more than indicative.

The area that stands to be transformed most dramatically is the East India Dock Basin, where the Fatwalk meets the Thames. This is a place particularly rich in history, being the point from which the Virginia settlers sailed, and it is also where the East India Company ran its globe-spanning operation. It enjoys an extraordinary position on the river, standing at the head of the meander encompassing Greenwich Reachits present condition suggests nothing of that significance. There is a nature reserve here but, cut off from the surrounding fabric by road and railway, it is barely used.

The proposed scheme resolves the access issues and populates the now disused basin with a floating lido and platforms that will offer wildlife different types of habitat. On land, there is to be a café, alongside which an orchard will be established, a memory of a feature which stood here in the 18th century. A river boat connection is proposed, as well as facilities to buy a picnic and hire a bike — or even a horse.

Through these interventions, the place promises to fulfil its role as a gateway to the park and also provide one of those rare points in London — like Parliament Hill, Primrose Hill or Greenwich Park — which affords an understanding of a city-wide scale.

2012 Media Centre IBC/MPC

from building.co.uk

ODA finally confirms contract win which will see Media Centre turned into mixed-use office and business space after Games

The Olympic Delivery Authority has signed off the deal for Carillion to build the £400m media centre for the 2012 Games.

Carillion and its consortium partner Igloo have been expected to win the deal for months, but it is understood that the signing of the deal was delayed over issues with the legacy use of the 1.3m sq ft centre.

The ODA said today that the International Broadcast Centre and Main Press Centre hub would be transformed into mixed use office and business space after the Games, providing a legacy of over 8000 jobs in Hackney.

The ODA said it expects planning permission and final designs to be agreed later this year, which it said would trigger the private sector finance for the scheme to be in place ready to start construction next Spring as planned.

Tom Russell, Group Director for Olympic Legacy at the LDA, said: "The importance of the IBC/MPC project to our regeneration objectives cannot be overstated. In providing over 1m sq ft of high quality office and business floorspace, it will lead the economic revival of East London, attracting high quality businesses and jobs to the area. Much remains to be done to ensure that this potential is realised, but the appointment of Carillion Igloo is a significant milestone in this process.”

ODA Chief Executive David Higgins said: “We now have world class teams in place to deliver four of the ‘big five’ Olympic Park venues. The agreement to develop the IBC/MPC will represent a significant private sector investment into the regeneration of Hackney, which has some of the highest unemployment levels in the country.

I imagine it will turn into an east London version of Chiswick Park.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3031/2614157526_9fe411b977_b.jpg

lol...this made me chuckle...

http://www.london2012.com/blog/2008/07/10/london-2012-goes-pink-for-the-day.php

http://www.london2012.com/photos/blog-archive/prideblog2340x185.jpg

London 2012 goes pink for the day
Craig, Government Relations team, 10 Jul 2008

Diversity is one of many things that make London such a great world city. It’s also no surprise that it is therefore also one of the reasons that the London 2012 bid for the Games won way back in Singapore in 2005.

It counts in so many ways – every country that will send teams to London will have people already here that can speak their language and often have a satellite culture, which will help make athletes and visitors feel welcome. One strand of London’s diversity that is globally renowned is the strength and size of its gay community, so the London Organising Committee teamed up with the London Development Agency to take over a prime corner of Trafalgar Square for the annual Gay Pride event.

According to organisers, over 800,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people – plus parents, friends, supporters and a fair few surprised but game shoppers – took part in the celebrations, marching through London in their best Sunday wear and pitching up at Trafalgar Square where we spoke to hundreds of people about the Games and what it means to them. The Deputy Mayor on stage called for London to attract ‘World Pride’ in 2012, as that would be our Olympic year – a sentiment happily endorsed by us in London 2012. It seemed supported by the crowd too, if the popularity of our 2012 stickers was anything to go by.

And so another London pride was over. It has to be said that you don’t really know what diversity is until you’re busy sticking large neon-pink 2012 stickers onto thighs of men wearing nothing but black studded hotpants, a feather headdress and industrial amounts of body-glitter.

DarJoLe:

Great news on the Lea Valley, thanks as usual.

Living in Chingford we use the Lea Path for walking and cycling quite a bit (both up to Waltham Abbey and down to the Olympic site where we normally join the Greenway - see my avatar).

This is all exciting stuff, the selfish part of me hopes it doesn't become TOO popular though!

CO

PS - Have you been to Thames Barrier Park? the plans for the canoeing centre at Broxbourne look similar to it's cafe/visitor centre, very cool for a modernist building IMHO.

Yes, Thames Barrier is one of my favourite parks in London. Clean, modernist lines yet has enough character to pul it off. Plus not many know about it so it's a sort of hidden gem.


http://farm1.static.flickr.com/186/394428524_5bebf4ca59_b.jpg

Yup, thats the one!

My little boy (5 1/2) enjoyed scampering down those very grass banks!

I agree, very much a hidden gem but for how long? :)

I'm a big fan of the art deco style flats that sit to the right of your picture too.

Anyway,sorry all for the slight detour from topic!

CO

PS I have memories of this area from about 1988 when Jean Micheal Jarre did his Docklands concert, what a difference 20 years makes.

Bow99 on flickr. The first foundations of the stadium are visible.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3222/2665526198_de70a0c0f8_b.jpg

the site is huge! Impressive amount of construction London is handling at the moment.

It's about the size of Hyde Park if not bigger. So yeah, huge. Shame most Londoners don't even know what's happening on their doorstep.

http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/std/siteimages/eveningstandard/2012/2012-games1.jpg
http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/std/siteimages/eveningstandard/2012/2012-games2.gif

http://image.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Arts/Arts_/Pictures/2008/07/15/ha460.jpg

Whitewater Centre

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/news_images/10097_2_Broxbourne2big.jpg

Site plan:

1- http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/news_images/10097_1_broxbourne1big.jpg

2 - http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/news_images/10097_3_broxbourne3big.jpg

Don't blame Zaha Hadid for the soaring costs of the Olympics
The Aquatic Centre is the architectural saving grace of the bad-tempered, secretive and ill-mannered London 2012 Olympics project
July 16, 2008 10:45 AM

The stunning design of the Olympic Aquatic Centre by Zaha Hadid. Photograph: HO/EPA


It's an old, old story; you could say it's antique. Architect designs major public building. Costs soar. Shock! Horror! The latest subject of this story is Zaha Hadid, the celebrated British architect currently at work on the design of the Aquatic Centre, the architectural showcase of the 2012 London Olympics.

Reports in yesterday's press seemed to confirm that Hadid's ambitious and rather beautiful building is going way over budget and that, by implication, the architect is to blame. It's the showy quality of her design, all those gracefully billowing curves that are at fault. If only she had knuckled down and designed something as dull as the Olympic Stadium itself, she would be off the hook, smelling not just of chlorine but of roses . . .

But, there are costs and costs. The figures quoted in the press reports are 'gross' costs as opposed to 'net' costs of the unjustly vilified project. 'Net' costs are those the actual structure of a building demands of a budget. In the case of the Aquatics Centre, these have risen by 20% as the design has been altered to meet the shifting demands of her client, the Olympic Delivery Authority. The 'gross' cost of the project includes any amount of consultants' and lawyers' fees, an enormous contingency for rising costs that have nothing directly to do with the architect. In the case of the Olympics' buildings, these are all prodigious.

Exactly the same very expensive cheap shots were fired at the Richard Rogers Partnership a few years ago during the design and construction of the National Assembly for Wales. As the 'gross' costs rose, nearly all of them due to political interference and ever rising consultants' fees, Rogers was blamed not just by ill-mannered and sometimes ill-informed local politicians but also by the press that still, for reasons I have never been able to fathom, likes to put the boot into any architect engaged on a major public building project. The 'net' cost of the Welsh Assembly building was a very reasonable one.

The trouble is that when costs rise in such a spectacular fashion, and especially when buck-passing politicians and faceless quangoes are involved, it's easy to lay the blame at the door of the architect. In this, the Olympics Delivery Authority and the politicians associated with it are behaving exactly as any of us have come to expect. And, yet, they should be thankful to Hadid and her spirited team. The Aquatics Centre is the architectural saving grace of the bad-tempered, secretive and ill-mannered Olympics project. It was her design, as Ken Livingstone said, that helped turn the Olympics London's way.

Hadid is too sensible to fight back against such claims; I'm doing it for her and her architects here, because it seems so wrong for politicians, bureaucrats and the press (sorry) to knock such a truly Olympian talent when this is so very much needed. She did not have this problem with her recent buildings in Germany, including the magnificent Phaeno Science Centre at Wolfsburg. But then she had decent, well-informed clients who knew how to support an architect and great architecture. In the architectural appreciation event, Britain's Olympics team wins no medals.

Don't blame Zaha Hadid for the soaring costs of the Olympics
The Aquatic Centre is the architectural saving grace of the bad-tempered, secretive and ill-mannered London 2012 Olympics project
July 16, 2008 10:45 AM

The stunning design of the Olympic Aquatic Centre by Zaha Hadid. Photograph: HO/EPA


It's an old, old story; you could say it's antique. Architect designs major public building. Costs soar. Shock! Horror! The latest subject of this story is Zaha Hadid, the celebrated British architect currently at work on the design of the Aquatic Centre, the architectural showcase of the 2012 London Olympics.

Reports in yesterday's press seemed to confirm that Hadid's ambitious and rather beautiful building is going way over budget and that, by implication, the architect is to blame. It's the showy quality of her design, all those gracefully billowing curves that are at fault. If only she had knuckled down and designed something as dull as the Olympic Stadium itself, she would be off the hook, smelling not just of chlorine but of roses . . .

But, there are costs and costs. The figures quoted in the press reports are 'gross' costs as opposed to 'net' costs of the unjustly vilified project. 'Net' costs are those the actual structure of a building demands of a budget. In the case of the Aquatics Centre, these have risen by 20% as the design has been altered to meet the shifting demands of her client, the Olympic Delivery Authority. The 'gross' cost of the project includes any amount of consultants' and lawyers' fees, an enormous contingency for rising costs that have nothing directly to do with the architect. In the case of the Olympics' buildings, these are all prodigious.

Exactly the same very expensive cheap shots were fired at the Richard Rogers Partnership a few years ago during the design and construction of the National Assembly for Wales. As the 'gross' costs rose, nearly all of them due to political interference and ever rising consultants' fees, Rogers was blamed not just by ill-mannered and sometimes ill-informed local politicians but also by the press that still, for reasons I have never been able to fathom, likes to put the boot into any architect engaged on a major public building project. The 'net' cost of the Welsh Assembly building was a very reasonable one.

The trouble is that when costs rise in such a spectacular fashion, and especially when buck-passing politicians and faceless quangoes are involved, it's easy to lay the blame at the door of the architect. In this, the Olympics Delivery Authority and the politicians associated with it are behaving exactly as any of us have come to expect. And, yet, they should be thankful to Hadid and her spirited team. The Aquatics Centre is the architectural saving grace of the bad-tempered, secretive and ill-mannered Olympics project. It was her design, as Ken Livingstone said, that helped turn the Olympics London's way.

Hadid is too sensible to fight back against such claims; I'm doing it for her and her architects here, because it seems so wrong for politicians, bureaucrats and the press (sorry) to knock such a truly Olympian talent when this is so very much needed. She did not have this problem with her recent buildings in Germany, including the magnificent Phaeno Science Centre at Wolfsburg. But then she had decent, well-informed clients who knew how to support an architect and great architecture. In the architectural appreciation event, Britain's Olympics team wins no medals.


It was known a year ago that the Aquatics Centre was not going to cost the £75 million of the original estimate, so what's all the fuss about? :dunno:

Talk about flogging a dead horse. :ohno:

Does anyone know if the main stadium is going to have a roof in legacy mode? Or have any images?

Does anyone know if the main stadium is going to have a roof in legacy mode?

Depends who buys it after the Games.

Work to build the foundations for the Aquatics Centre has started two months earlier than planned.

The venue will form a stunning gateway to the Olympic Park both during and after the Games and will provide new world-class swimming facilities that London is currently lacking.

The announcement comes as the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) outlined its progress against the 10 milestones it set out in April 2007 to achieve by the Beijing 2008 Games.

Virtually all these milestones have been completed on time, including the tunnelling and cabling project to allow power for the Park to be switched underground. More than 200km of electrical cabling has been installed into the two 6km long tunnels. The completion of the tunnels will enable over 50 overhead pylons to be taken down across the Park.

More than 190 buildings have been demolished across the Park to make way for construction to start on three of the five main venues – the Olympic Stadium, the Olympic Village and now the Aquatics Centre.

The ODA has now published the 10 new milestones that it aims to achieve by 27 July 2009 – three years from the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. These include the removal of the overhead pylons across the Park and the completion of the foundations of the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre.

Olympics Minister, Tessa Jowell said: ‘The Aquatics Centre will provide desperately needed swimming and diving facilities for elite and community use and leave a lasting sporting and social legacy that will benefit east London and beyond for many years.
‘The ODA should also be congratulated on delivering virtually all its major milestones to Beijing. This should inspire confidence as we move in to the next crucial big build stage of the project.’

The Olympic Delivery Authority has announced 10 new milestones that mark the start of the 'big build'.

The big build: foundations

In July 2008 the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) set out 10 new milestones that the ODA plans to achieve for ‘the big build: foundations’ phase by 27 July 2009 - three years from the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The milestones listed on the right mark the beginning of the next phase of the London 2012 project.

Milestones to 27 July 2009

1 Almost all of the Olympic Park will have been cleared and cleaned. The overhead pylons will have been removed and the erection of the new perimeter security fence will be underway.

2 Seven bridges will be structurally complete, 10 further bridges and underpasses will be under construction and the building of the permanent roads will have started. The refurbishment of the waterways in the Olympic Park will be complete.

3 The new primary substation at Kings Yard will be substantially complete, with the new equipment also in place to transmit permanent power to the Olympic Park from the wider national network. The construction of the new Energy Centre will be well underway.

4 The foundations of the Olympic Stadium will be complete. Work on the upper seating structure and roof will be underway.

5 The foundations of the Aquatics Centre will have been competed with work on the building’s structure well underway.

6 Work will have started on the foundations of the Velodrome and International Broadcast Centre/Main Press Centre.

7 Contracts will have been let, designs agreed and work will be about to start on the Handball Arena. The design of the Basketball Arena will have been agreed, and the process of appointing construction contractors will be underway.

8 Building work will be underway on the majority of the Olympic Village plots.

9 Significant progress will have been made on the transport projects that are increasing capacity to support the Games. Of the 25 underway, 13 will be nearing completion.

10 Outside of London the ODA works at Weymouth and Portland will have been completed and ready for use. Construction work will have also started on the Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre.

June 2008 photos up on the ODA website:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3139/2676611399_e989d36038_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3233/2676609913_57f5d61c2d_b.jpg

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http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3100/2676596279_390ff7b616_b.jpg

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http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/2677410950_0bd7d1046e_b.jpg

4 The foundations of the Olympic Stadium will be complete. Work on the upper seating structure and roof will be underway.

5 The foundations of the Aquatics Centre will have been competed with work on the building’s structure well underway.

6 Work will have started on the foundations of the Velodrome and International Broadcast Centre/Main Press Centre.

So in less than 12 months we will be seeing the structure of the Stadium and aquatics centre well above ground and the foundations of the IBC/MPC and Velodrome. Its all quite exciting. :)

@DARJOLE

Thanks for posting. Can you explain what's u/c now in Stratford City ? I cant figure out exactly, is it the shopping centre and an office building further west?

I cant figure out exactly, is it the shopping centre and an office building further west?

The shopping centre has begun yes. I think the stray box building is the new Marsk & Spencer but I'm not sure. I doubt it is a tower.

There's a new rendering of the inside of the handball arena in this pdf.

http://www.london2012.com/plans/olympic-park/getting-ready/milestones.php

It looks like it will have seating coloured in the 2012 brand; which is a bit strange because the handball arena is a permanent venue, is it not? I wonder if the temporary stadium seating will be like it.

Here's a snap of the Olympic Stadium site I took on the way to work this morning. You can just see the first pillars appearing.

http://i34.tinypic.com/29duwp3.jpg

http://i33.tinypic.com/5nowme.jpg

The shopping centre has begun yes. I think the stray box building is the new Marsk & Spencer but I'm not sure. I doubt it is a tower.

Oki I see! thanks

..

Is the warehouse (in pic 5) staying? I think it's in the Hackney Wick area and, if converted, would prove a lovely contrast to the new architecture. It could be similar to the buildings at Westferry (Museum of Docklands etc) that sit by the new buildings of Canary Wharf.

Is the warehouse (in pic 5) staying?

Yes, it will become part of the Energy Centre and after the Games be converted to a visitor centre for local schools detailing sustainable technology.

http://www.london2012.com/photos/olympic-park/energy-centre.jpg

That's the one that backs onto the Lea isn't it?

If so, thats great.

CO

Abandoned, derelict, covered in graffiti and rubbish: What is left of Athens' £9billion Olympic 'glory'?

from mail online:

The security guards were furious.
Rushing out from under the shade of an olive tree - one of the few natural things remaining in an urban wasteland surrounded by steel fences topped with razor wire - the two uniformed guards made it clear that attempts to glimpse Helliniko, one of Greece's Olympic 'glories', were strictly forbidden.

'You are not allowed here!' one guard barked, as a car crammed with more security men, summoned by radio, screeched to a halt in front of me.

'These Olympics are closed. For ever!


'Olympic glories': Gipsies now live in a tent in front of the beach volley venue at the Faliron complex in Athens


'You must not stay here. Go! Now! It's illegal! 'Everything here is illegal!'

'Criminal' might be a better word.


Four years after an outpouring of national delight, when the Olympic Games returned to their spiritual home in the shadow of the Acropolis, the security men were trying to hide evidence of the most scandalous abuse of public money in Olympic history.

After the guards had gone, I ducked through a gap in the venue's fence.

The reason for their agitation became painfully clear.

If waste was an Olympic sport, Greece should be world champions.

Inside, beneath rusting floodlights, lay devastation - formerly glorious Olympic stadiums were now derelict, covered in graffiti.

This is where more than £9 billion was spent to bring the 2004 Games 'home'.

I picked my way through the detritus - empty beer cans, food wrappers and other rubbish.

In 2004, the sound of thousands of cheering fans from around the world filled the huge space.

Now there's an eerie silence, broken only by the sound of tattered EU flags flapping in the wind.

It was not supposed to be like this. The benefits of the Athens Olympics were meant to last for generations.

The Olympic 'legacy' - the favourite buzzword of London's Olympic planners - was meant to be visible to all, transforming the chaotic Greek capital as if Apollo, the god of harmony and civilisation, had smiled on it.

That has not happened. Graffiti covers a stadium at the Faliron site

A staggering 21 out of 22 venues lie abandoned since an event lasting just three weeks was held, and the magnificent stadiums are now over-run with rubbish and weeds.

But the most striking 'legacy' has been the huge sums spent - and wasted - on venues to hold sports with little following in Greece.

And yet the madness does not end there: annual 'maintenance' of the empty sites has cost almost £500million since the event.

Four years on, the Greek authorities unconvincingly insist they are still involved in 'active negotiations' to find buyers.

For planners of the London 2012 Olympics, it is a cautionary tale. The fear is that London may repeat the mistakes of Athens.

When the British capital was awarded the Games in 2005, we were promised they would regenerate the East End, one of the country's most economically-deprived areas.

But as the projected cost of the London Olympics spirals out of control, these vows are looking decidedly hollow.

Many experts now claim the only beneficiary of 2012 will be big business.


Meanwhile, they argue, the area's poorer communities, whose opinions have largely been ignored, will be trampled upon and left with little more than deserted, rubbish-strewn stadiums.

Unless urgent action is taken to return the focus to the people the Games are supposed to help long-term, London could be faced with its own Greek tragedy.


Abandoned: The walkway to the main Heliniko Olympic complex is choked with rubbish four years after it hosted the games

http://i34.tinypic.com/a2f5w9.jpg

Back in Athens, the scene at Helliniko, on the outskirts, is all that remains of a clumsy desire to spur interest in obscure sports such as kayaking, handball and baseball among football-mad Greeks.

None took off - even when officials tried to generate interest by using the baseball stadium for football.

They soon discovered the triangular pitches of the American sport were not suited to a game played on rectangular grass fields.

After trying to encourage locals to use the facilities, the Athens authorities appear to have given up.

A once stunning bridge across the motorway to take thousands from the yachting complex to the baseball stadium, has been closed, the stairs piled high with waste concrete from nearby building sites.

Spiralling walkways, constructed to allow wheelchair users to travel between venues, are barricaded, their lights smashed.

Inside, plastic bags and bottles move through empty boulevards.

In parks designed to allow families to play, benches have been toppled and the paths are barred by guards.

Three miles north, in the Faliron complex - for the tae kwon do competitions (it's a martial art, in case you were wondering) and beach volleyball - gipsy squatter camps have sprung up.

Tents have been erected on grounds that, before the Olympics, were playing fields for children.


And rubbish is everywhere. Fountains are broken and rusting. Pools of water form from broken drains.

At the Olympic Village, six miles from the city centre - where 72,000 invited dignitaries, including Tony and Cherie Blair and former U.S. President George Bush Snr and his wife Barbara, watched the spectacular opening ceremony - the scale of the extravagance is also a sight to behold.

While concerts and football matches have been held here since 2004, the magnificent new stadium is in a sorry state.

Apart from a group of security guards, just a few athletes were training inside the pool.

Nothing else moved, except rubbish in the wind.

A 20,000-seat tennis stadium lies empty. So does the cycling stadium. And the Olympic diving area. And the hockey facilities. The list goes on.

These empty stadiums represent a nation so caught up in the desire to prove it was 'modern' that the true cost of such Olympian vanity was overlooked.

Indeed, many of these now decrepit facilities were completed just days before the opening ceremony.

It seems the thirst of Greek politicians for glory by association - backed by billions of pounds in European funding (your money and mine) - over-rode antiquated notions, such as whether this was value for money and how it would improve the lives of Greeks in the future.

Cash was spent with abandon, and the price is still being paid.

While the country's budget has plunged into the red by more than six per cent - some say the borrowing costs of the event have reached £35 billion - the Olympic legacy dominates political life in Athens.

'We didn't find a plan for the post-Olympics development of the venues,' says Fani Palli-Petralia, a New Democracy politician.

'When a city gets the Games, it should make a business plan for big changes and then decide what the country needs for the day after the Olympics. This did not happen.'

When Britain's 2012 bid was chosen - with London's bid beating Paris - commentators and politicians rightly applauded the fact that Britain would stage these ancient Games for the third time in the country's history.

It was a chance to show Britain at its best, building what politicians pledged would be a legacy lasting many years after the final race.

Amid predictions that London would be transformed, Tony Blair hailed the victory as a 'momentous' day for the capital.

Like Athens, London has been dogged by traffic gridlock for years.

There were claims the International Olympic Committee would demand improvements to the capital's public transport system, ending misery for millions, and encouraging tourists.

Yet, four years before the first starting pistol has been fired for London 2012, there are echoes of Athens.

While Athenians complain they were shunted from their homes to make way for Olympic developments in deprived areas - with soaring property prices and rising rents forcing others out after the events - similar complaints emanate throughout East London.

'The Games have been presented by the Government and the Olympic delivery bodies as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help regenerate one of the UK's most economically disadvantaged areas,' says the New Economics Foundation.

But, the think-tank adds, it seems that big business will be the main beneficiaries, with little money trickling down to poor communities.

London 2012 may be going in the same direction as previous Games in its failure to live up to regeneration promises.

While much of the funding for the Athens Games came from Brussels, the London Olympics will be funded primarily by the British taxpayer, with a smaller proportion from private business.

Indeed, fears have recently been voiced that the £9.3billion budget has already spiralled to four times the original estimate.

Earlier this month, aware of the perils underscored by the Athens scandal - not to mention the Millennium Dome fiasco and the year-long delays in building a new Wembley football stadium - the organisers of the London Olympics changed the venue for some sporting events.

'Minority interest' sports such as fencing, table tennis and wheelchair basketball will now be played at the existing ExCel centre in London's Docklands, while sports such as handball will share space at the planned 12,000-seat basketball stadium.

In addition, an 80,000-seat stadium for the Olympics will be dismantled and reduced to a capacity of 25,000.

Lord Coe, the former Olympic athlete and chairman of London 2012, explained: 'We have always said that our intention was to build truly sustainable venues which will provide a strong elite and community legacy for sport for generations to come, long after the final race has been run in 2012.

'These small changes to our temporary venue locations. . . are designed to maximise the sporting legacy we leave behind, as well as to optimise the experience for athletes and spectators.

'We want to build only what can be used to maximum effect after the Games.'

Back in Athens not all has been lost.

As a sweetener for joining the EU, more than £20billion was pumped into creating the city's metro system.

Air conditioned and gloriously efficient, gridlock and pollution have been cut.

In London, by contrast, ' enhancements' to Tube lines - many given the green light, including the East London line extension - is all that is planned to coincide with the 2012 Games.

While there are also much-lauded ideas to introduce high-speed Olympic 'Javelin' trains, making journeys from St Pancras to East London in just six minutes, these will operate only for the three weeks of the Olympics, before chaos reigns again on the roads.

Only time will tell whether our own planners can avoid the lessons of Athens' Greek tragedy of empty stadiums we are all still paying for.

http://i38.tinypic.com/2ec12xy.jpg

Forlorn: This once proud pool is now dry but now abandoned



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I dont think Londons going to be a greek tragedy??

in one line he says

"empty venues and white elephants and budgets going out of control" and in the next he is making an issue about not building a temporary fencing venue when instead a convention/exhibition building is built instead regardless of the games. He moans about a dismantled stadium but then talks about the large empty olympic venues.

What a f@#$ up.

Yeah - I was trying to grasp what he was saying about the London bid from the Athens one.

So, 21 out of 22 permanent venues in Athens is not being used now. London wont have anywhere near 22 new permanent venues in the first place.

typical gutter press trying to make news where there isn't news Athens is a regional city at best London is oneof three world capital and the financial capital of the world the sheer diversity of london will mean that the venues are used again and again and again.

Look they built a big tent with no idea of what to do with it and it came up trumps.

I mean what is the worste thay could happen?

Aquatics centre doesn't get used errrr i am pretty sure British swimming will be based there after the Olympics.

The stadium will not be used, erm i am sure there will be a grand prix athletie evet held there and it will become the home of British athletics

The hockey centre errr pretty sure both England and great britian will need a home after the Olympics.

The BMX track, yeah cos london's youth culture will not wan to use a state of the art BMX track and the cyclists will not use the velodrome and everything is going to blow up and it is not value for money and it is a disgrace and hurray the olympics are here isn't it great we are wonderful BRITAIN BRITAIN yeah yeah best olympics ever blah blah blah

seems it was a fuss about nothing.

scum hacks!

If one day passes after the Olympics where the remaining venues are not being used the press will make out the Olympics was a waste. Welcome to Britain.

Yeah - I was trying to grasp what he was saying about the London bid from the Athens one.

So, 21 out of 22 permanent venues in Athens is not being used now. London wont have anywhere near 22 new permanent venues in the first place.

somebody should tell the people at Lords, Wimbledon, the Dome, Excel etc. that suddenly all their venues will become white elephants.

You have to remember the Mail's hatred of foreigners, the EU and publicly funded infrastructure. It saturates everything they write.

The Olympic 'legacy' - the favourite buzzword of London's Olympic planners - was meant to be visible to all, transforming the chaotic Greek capital as if Apollo, the god of harmony and civilisation, had smiled on it.

I was waiting for the bullshit, vacuous, irrelevant link to London, and here it is.

For planners of the London 2012 Olympics, it is a cautionary tale. The fear is that London may repeat the mistakes of Athens.

You mean our plan has no similarities to theirs whatsoever but irresponsible gutter press idiots like you justify your awful jobs by perpetuating such fears.

When the British capital was awarded the Games in 2005, we were promised they would regenerate the East End, one of the country's most economically-deprived areas.

Ummm sorry did I just bloody fast forward into the future? We were Promised? We WERE promised? How the hell does he know the outcome, the legacy, the effects on the East End when the Olympics haven't happened yet, for another four BLOODY YEARS!

But as the projected cost of the London Olympics spirals out of control, these vows are looking decidedly hollow.

Your evidence for this? I'm sorry but can I see yoru evidence for this please? Why are you trying to derail and to denigrate the effects of all those involved? People will actually buy into this crap. Too many people do not think beyond a shallow level, hence why these rags are so popular.

Many experts now claim the only beneficiary of 2012 will be big business.

And the housing created? The apartments? The park? The walks, the everything else? The temporary main stadium now looks like a very clever stroke as it ensures we are not left with a hulking massive white elephant!

Meanwhile, they argue, the area's poorer communities, whose opinions have largely been ignored, will be trampled upon and left with little more than deserted, rubbish-strewn stadiums.

Gobsmacking statement, and I know I have said it but this confirms to me that large sections of our press are utterly irresponsible.

Unless urgent action is taken to return the focus to the people the Games are supposed to help long-term, London could be faced with its own Greek tragedy.

What? what urgent action would this be then? You just know this idiot will be watching the games just like many others. He/She (I couldn't be bothered to check) is probably excited by it. Shit they are probably even going to it!

These empty stadiums represent a nation so caught up in the desire to prove it was 'modern' that the true cost of such Olympian vanity was overlooked.

This article is a thinly veiled attempt to attack London's efforts. Why does this happen here. How the hell can we shoot ourselves in the foot, and actually enjoy it. its perverse.

Indeed, many of these now decrepit facilities were completed just days before the opening ceremony.

It seems the thirst of Greek politicians for glory by association - backed by billions of pounds in European funding (your money and mine) - over-rode antiquated notions, such as whether this was value for money and how it would improve the lives of Greeks in the future.

And yet that is the central tenet of our games, as opposed to the Greeks. Although of course Boris wants it to be more about the sports than the legacy.

'We didn't find a plan for the post-Olympics development of the venues,' says Fani Palli-Petralia, a New Democracy politician.

'When a city gets the Games, it should make a business plan for big changes and then decide what the country needs for the day after the Olympics. This did not happen.'

Ah but it is here, because our plan is exactly that, to focus on after the games. This is the aim of the London Olympics, and we simply do not know the outcome yet. As this is the aim, we are already light years ahead of the Greeks.

When Britain's 2012 bid was chosen - with London's bid beating Paris - commentators and politicians rightly applauded the fact that Britain would stage these ancient Games for the third time in the country's history.

It was a chance to show Britain at its best, building what politicians pledged would be a legacy lasting many years after the final race.

Amid predictions that London would be transformed, Tony Blair hailed the victory as a 'momentous' day for the capital.

The games haven't happened yet fool. By the way this is a shallow attempt to build praise, only to knock them down harder

Like Athens, London has been dogged by traffic gridlock for years.

Yes but London is nothing like Athens.

There were claims the International Olympic Committee would demand improvements to the capital's public transport system, ending misery for millions, and encouraging tourists.

Yet, four years before the first starting pistol has been fired for London 2012, there are echoes of Athens.

No there is not. We already have a well established system.

While Athenians complain they were shunted from their homes to make way for Olympic developments in deprived areas - with soaring property prices and rising rents forcing others out after the events - similar complaints emanate throughout East London.

Can anyone show me any evidence of this please?

So lets get this straight then. We are actually using our brains, utilising some common sense and vision and actually using already very popular, well established venues that will not fall into decay after the games.

In addition, an 80,000-seat stadium for the Olympics will be dismantled and reduced to a capacity of 25,000.

A good thing then.


Back in Athens not all has been lost.
In London, by contrast, ' enhancements' to Tube lines - many given the green light, including the East London line extension - is all that is planned to coincide with the 2012 Games.

Yes silly London. You should be building a whole new Greek style system, crossrail should be started tommorow, mag lev trains should be shipped in immediatley from Japan/China and the infrastructure will be built in 6 months. Hover cars should be readied immediatley. The Mail will pay for all of this.

Only time will tell whether our own planners can avoid the lessons of Athens' Greek tragedy of empty stadiums we are all still paying for.

What a waste of time this article was.

It's too late now anyway. We all know full well London will pull off the best games, in iconic fantastic venues designed for future use, in a city renowned for making the most of a situation and having a good damn party. But it doesn't matter, because even if everything does go off without a hitch, people will still moan. They'll walk around the Olympic Park, and say oh isn't this great, but they'll in the next breath say well it had better be for 9.3 billion. They'll enjoy the sports events, but if there's a queue for the Olympic Javelin, they'll stick the boot in and call it a disaster.

It's the British way.

You have to remember the Mail's hatred of foreigners, the EU and publicly funded infrastructure. It saturates everything they write.


Oh, and isnt the Mail owned by the same people who own the Standard?

Yep, virtually the same paper.

Oh, and isnt the Mail owned by the same people who own the Standard?
and the Metro & London Lite, oh and the other London freebie the London Paper is the Telegraph group, no wonder Ken needed the Londoner.

The current Olympic boroughs receving funding through the ODA are Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Waltham Forest, Newham and Greenwich, as they are hosting a substantial number of events.

Boris is putting forward that Westminster become one as well.

This will mean further dilution of the ODA budget.

Great!

The first section of the Olympic Route Network, a new road that will link all the venues in the Park and after the Games become one of the main road transport routes around the sites has been carved out by the stadium.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3290/2689399957_c9dbceea12_b.jpg

On the way to Lovebox:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3035/2690182294_4ac2d80cfb_b.jpg

On the way back from Lovebox:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3151/2689450423_9d82149228_b.jpg

The first section of the Olympic Route Network, a new road that will link all the venues in the Park and after the Games become one of the main road transport routes around the sites has been carved out by the stadium.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3290/2689399957_c9dbceea12_b.jpg

On the way to Lovebox:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3035/2690182294_4ac2d80cfb_b.jpg

On the way back from Lovebox:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3151/2689450423_9d82149228_b.jpg

Hope you had a great time at Lovebox, shame I was working this year.

Just to warn you they are getting very jumpy about security now.
A couple of my friends were stopped from taking photos through the gateway along Angel Lane and told to wait until the police arrived!
They ran off & left the security guard standing there, but it does smack of a police state when you can get branded as a terrorist just for taking an interest in your local surroundings.

Just to warn you they are getting very jumpy about security now.
A couple of my friends were stopped from taking photos through the gateway along Angel Lane and told to wait until the police arrived!

Hang on - they were standing outside the site and the security guard thought he had the power to detain them? I'd have politely told him he was mistaken and walked off - he'd be causing a lot of trouble for himself and his employers had he actually done anything...

The current Olympic boroughs receving funding through the ODA are Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Waltham Forest, Newham and Greenwich, as they are hosting a substantial number of events.

Boris is putting forward that Westminster become one as well.

This will mean further dilution of the ODA budget.

Is that so they can fund the re-investigation into the Parliament Sq pedestrianisation plans or put that new pedestrian crossing in Oxford Circus :lol:

When the British capital was awarded the Games in 2005, we were promised they would regenerate the East End, one of the country's most economically-deprived areas.

Ummm sorry did I just bloody fast forward into the future? We were Promised? We WERE promised? How the hell does he know the outcome, the legacy, the effects on the East End when the Olympics haven't happened yet, for another four BLOODY YEARS!


I usually don't bother to reply to your ott posts, Darjole is bad enough.

Yes we were promised that these games were about legacy and regeneration. Your iconic Livingstone stated on television that the projected costs of the games were a con in order to gain the regeneration after the games.

Darjole continues to post articles without reference or source; but it is significant that even he has stopped banging on about legacy.

These games were predicated entirely on their legacy, we were promised by both the ODA and the GLA that they would have a greater benefit than, to quote Will Self, two weeks of running and jumping.

I give you the same challenge as Darjole - demonstrate the legacy, demonstrate the regeneration.

Don't post splenetic bile about others views unless you can address the legacy and regeneration we were, indeed, promised.

To date, the legacy is an olympic park that Foreign Office Architects walked away from because of bureaucratic/political interference; an Aquatic Centre that's iconic design has been diluted by bureaucratic/political interference.

The Olympic village is in disarray.

You best read the bid, read the sainted Ken's statements when we won the bid.

We were promised legacy. It is stupid of you to dismiss that promise.

I've said this elsewhere. Headlines won't build the venues on time and within budget, so I'd rather let the reality of the progress on the ground be what counts come July/August 2012.

If this massive urban park, venues, stratford, transport link and environmental legacy is not regenerating the east end then I simply don't know what its called.

I usually don't bother to reply to your ott posts, Darjole is bad enough.

Yes we were promised that these games were about legacy and regeneration. Your iconic Livingstone stated on television that the projected costs of the games were a con in order to gain the regeneration after the games.

Darjole continues to post articles without reference or source; but it is significant that even he has stopped banging on about legacy.

These games were predicated entirely on their legacy, we were promised by both the ODA and the GLA that they would have a greater benefit than, to quote Will Self, two weeks of running and jumping.

I give you the same challenge as Darjole - demonstrate the legacy, demonstrate the regeneration.

Don't post splenetic bile about others views unless you can address the legacy and regeneration we were, indeed, promised.

To date, the legacy is an olympic park that Foreign Office Architects walked away from because of bureaucratic/political interference; an Aquatic Centre that's iconic design has been diluted by bureaucratic/political interference.

The Olympic village is in disarray.

You best read the bid, read the sainted Ken's statements when we won the bid.

We were promised legacy. It is stupid of you to dismiss that promise.

Huvet your beginning to sound like a stuck record from where I am in Stratford the development appears to be nearly all legacy and very little olympics. here's an example, the new layout for Stratford station from london2012.com (http://www.london2012.com/plans/transport/getting-ready/stratford-regional-station.php)

http://i29.tinypic.com/30il376.jpg

http://i27.tinypic.com/10r4j8p.jpg

The Station was always going to be expanded for Stratford City (http://uk.westfield.com/stratfordcity/vision/a-new-city/shopping-leisure.html) (red sections) but Westfield have unloaded much of the cost onto the Olympics (green sections). Note all the extra lifts that are required for the Paralympic Games quite a legacy.

Master Plan from Westfield's Stratford City (http://uk.westfield.com/stratfordcity/vision/context/master-plan.html) site.

http://i30.tinypic.com/axbu4o.jpg

Zones 1,3 & 4 used to be the old marshaling yards and had only one owner and were buried under all the subsoil extracted from this end of the Channel Tunnel rail link, raising ground level up to 15m.
You can see it in this Wikimapia (http://wikimapia.org/#lat=51.5450273&lon=-0.0075746&z=15&l=0&m=a&v=2) link.

Zones 5 & 6 were Clays Lane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clays_Lane) Housing Cooperative & industrial estate. many different owners.
Now unified by compulsory purchase orders & flattened in the name of the Olympics and merged with zones 3 & 4 for the Olympic Village (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=641814).

Zone 2 used to be a collection of breakers yards, taxi repair yards cement works & disused warehouses along Carpenters Road. Now unified by compulsory purchase orders & flattened in the name of the Olympics. It is to be the link between Stratford City (http://uk.westfield.com/stratfordcity/vision/a-new-city/index.html) & the main Olympic site as well as the site for corporate hospitality. After the Olympics it will become office blocks as part of an extended Stratford City (http://uk.westfield.com/stratfordcity/vision/a-new-city/index.html).

New Prescott Lock (http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/olympics/prescott/index.php) to stabilize the Bowback Rivers and prevent the smelly mud flats being exposed at low tide. Developers are already moving in to build luxury riverside accommodation. Just look at the Spirit of Stratford (http://www.spiritofstratford.com/) development.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y68/El_Greco/1866_2_100020Stock2015020high20St20.jpg

The power lines (http://www.london2012.com/news/archive/2006-04/olympic-regeneration-powers-ahead.php) are being put underground and the 52 pylons carrying them removed.

The southern transport mall - cleared for Olympics - residential afterwards. Olympic warm up area, once a collection of brownfield sites, cleared & unified for the Olympics - residential/mixed use after. The sale of areas like this after the games was always going to be used to pay back the loan taken out for the Olympic development.

Quite a legacy and I haven't mentioned the stadia which should be a legacy in their own right. London is scandalously short of top quality training facilities for swimming & athletics. Crystal palace is hard to reach & there are no high diving facilities in London!
As for what "legacy" means perhaps we do need a clearer definition.

The IOC & Seb Coe's idea of legacy is probably first class sporting venues in London for future athletes. Boris' to be commercially viable an "O2 (http://www.theo2.co.uk/) North", do you really want to see the Aquatics Centre turned into another Leyton Leisure Lagoon (http://www.gll.org/centre/leyton-leisure-lagoon.asp)?

As for the cost, this I'm sure could be handled better. How many different QUANGOS (http://tpa.typepad.com/bettergovernment/2008/05/quangos-the-uns.html) have their fingers in the Olympic pie? There are so many unelected unaccountable people involved its almost like China. However leaving it up to commercial forces & competition to keep cost down doesn't work either. There was only one bidder (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article2821094.ece) for the stadium build.

The Olympic Village (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=641814) was always going to be part of the Stratford City (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=544744) development. With the "credit crunch" Lend Lease have seen their expected profits fall (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4180097.ece). Just like the Banks & Northern Rock the free market is great when the going is good but it is straight to the public coffers to bail them out when the going gets tough.

A classic case of heads we win tails you lose.

So Huvet please tell tell me what you perceive "legacy" to mean, it's obviously not how I understand it.

I've said this elsewhere. Headlines won't build the venues on time and within budget, so I'd rather let the reality of the progress on the ground be what counts come July/August 2012.

If this massive urban park, venues, stratford, transport link and environmental legacy is not regenerating the east end then I simply don't know what its called.

It's just like The Life of Brian.

"Yes, but apart from the urban park, the olympic sized swimming pool, the new national velodrome, a 25,000 seater athletic stadium, the revitalised waterway, Stratford City, the media centre/business centre and the new housing developments what have the olympics ever done for us?"

Darjole continues to post articles without reference or source;

All my articles are posted with a source.

I give you the same challenge as Darjole - demonstrate the legacy, demonstrate the regeneration.

Have you even read this thread? Seen the photos? Been to the area? Looked at what is planned around the Olympic Park post-2012?

I guess not. Do some homework.

So Huvet please tell tell me what you perceive "legacy" to mean, it's obviously not how I understand it.

I don't think even huvet knows what legacy means. Legacy isn't just what appears in 2013 but over a long term period after the Games, Stratford City will continue to grow, the Olympic Park will extend down to the Thames, new neighbourhoods will be built down the Lea and this fractured part of East London will actually become rejuvenated part of London re-stitched back into the urban fabric of its neighbours.

I'd love to say the Olympics will also mean pedestrianising Parliament Square but I've given up on anything happening in Central London now we have a 'cutbacks cutbacks cutbacks' Tory mayor intend on spending the bare minimum for the city.

I personally think that our stadium design and usage gives us the best possible chance of a decent post games legacy. The reduction in seating in both the main stadium and the aquatics centre will us with sensibly sized highly useable facilities. Using the same venues for multiple events reduce the chance of white elephant structures for minority sports. The comparisons made to Athens that I have been read about are not valid.

I also dont agree with critics of the stadium design either. I think they are fine and in the case of the aquatics centre they are exceptional. Every previous host has talked about legacy and then blown vast sums of money on showcase venues that have little or no practical purpose once the show has left town. London doesnt need to do that. We already have global prestige and dont need to prove anything to anyone. I think putting together a highly practical games that provide a lasting legacy will lead to a major re-evaluation by future hosts on how they go about their own games. It will also do far more to enhance our reputation than building a vast stadium that wows the world and then rots away for the next twenty years.

I personally think that our stadium design and usage gives us the best possible chance of a decent post games legacy. The reduction in seating in both the main stadium and the aquatics centre will us with sensibly sized highly useable facilities. Using the same venues for multiple events reduce the chance of white elephant structures for minority sports. The comparisons made to Athens that I have been read about are not valid.

I also dont agree with critics of the stadium design either. I think they are fine and in the case of the aquatics centre they are exceptional. Every previous host has talked about legacy and then blown vast sums of money on showcase venues that have little or no practical purpose once the show has left town. London doesnt need to do that. We already have global prestige and dont need to prove anything to anyone. I think putting together a highly practical games that provide a lasting legacy will lead to a major re-evaluation by future hosts on how they go about their own games. It will also do far more to enhance our reputation than building a vast stadium that wows the world and then rots away for the next twenty years.

Nicely said! I agree! :)

Can't wait until 2012... So excited...

I think putting together a highly practical games that provide a lasting legacy will lead to a major re-evaluation by future hosts on how they go about their own games. It will also do far more to enhance our reputation than building a vast stadium that wows the world and then rots away for the next twenty years.

this is an important note. the Olympics comitee have been increasingly aware of the cost of hosting the games as it slowly became more and more extravagent and how this was ultimately removing them ever further away from the idea of being a truely inclusive global phenomena. Any future olympics will have to be affordable as it seeks to spread to new cities.

It's just like The Life of Brian.

"Yes, but apart from the urban park, the olympic sized swimming pool, the new national velodrome, a 25,000 seater athletic stadium, the revitalised waterway, Stratford City, the media centre/business centre and the new housing developments what have the olympics ever done for us?"

:lol:

Despite the extra investment the Olympics will bring to the east end, providing a deadline for a lot of other projects to be completed across London that might have dragged on, it's worth pointing out that a lot of the developments around Stratford - Stratford City etc would have happened anyway.

Don't get me wrong, I welcome the Olympics and the national pride it brings but the land it will sit on would not have remained brown field for very long.

I dont know, look at Battersea!

Despite the extra investment the Olympics will bring to the east end, providing a deadline for a lot of other projects to be completed across London that might have dragged on, it's worth pointing out that a lot of the developments around Stratford - Stratford City etc would have happened anyway.

Don't get me wrong, I welcome the Olympics and the national pride it brings but the land it will sit on would not have remained brown field for very long.

Thats where the word acceleration comes in . Many projects do happen due to the hosting of the Games but many are accelerated and brought out of the dust by hosting the Games.

Despite the extra investment the Olympics will bring to the east end, providing a deadline for a lot of other projects to be completed across London that might have dragged on, it's worth pointing out that a lot of the developments around Stratford - Stratford City etc would have happened anyway.

But not the extent that they will now. Stratford City was pretty much only the shopping mall and what is now the Olympic Village. In today's climate I doubt the housing that is now the Village would have been built, and I expect the mall would have been delayed.

We wouldn't be getting any of the adjoining Olympic Park, which would have been bought by scrupulous developers with random apartment blocks dumped down on it to cash in on the effects of Stratford City; there would be minimal investment in cleaning up the soil and the rivers and I doubt any re-landscaping as we're getting with the Olympics would have happened.

Stratford City wasn't a grand enough project as such to create enough energy to keep the regeneration ongoing for generations, as it will be with the Olympics.

It's just like The Life of Brian.

"Yes, but apart from the urban park, the olympic sized swimming pool, the new national velodrome, a 25,000 seater athletic stadium, the revitalised waterway, Stratford City, the media centre/business centre and the new housing developments what have the olympics ever done for us?"


THAT is the post of the year!!!!!!!!


Have a pint on me, my good man!! :cheers:

is there a thread on this site about the work quintain estates are going to do at wembley stadium? i only come to this part of the forum and when i browse i get lost! i did a search and that didn't help either.
just wanted to know if any work has started yet

my guess is a lot of the work will be going on while wembley stadium is being used for the 2012 olympics

is there a thread on this site about the work quintain estates are going to do at wembley stadium? i only come to this part of the forum and when i browse i get lost! i did a search and that didn't help either.
just wanted to know if any work has started yet

To be honest, I haven't come across a thread about this at all (not since Wembley Stadium reopened anyway).

I know that the Arena has reopened cos Madonna did it and the official website of the project is at http://www.wembleycity.co.uk/ but I'm not sure how far they've got yet.

Anyone around north west London fancy taking a few photos? (although, strictly speaking, they should go in a seperate thread in the Transport, Urban Planning and Infrastructure section).

http://www.london2012.com/news/image-library/venue-images/previews/aquatics-centre-during-the-games-internal-.jpg
http://www.london2012.com/news/image-library/venue-images/previews/aquatics-centre-after-the-games-internal-.jpg
http://www.london2012.com/news/image-library/venue-images/previews/aquatics-centre-after-the-games.jpg

http://i28.tinypic.com/vpduf8.jpg

LONDON 2012 WEB SITE HAS CHANGED!

www.london2012.com
:cheers:

All my articles are posted with a source.



Have you even read this thread? Seen the photos? Been to the area? Looked at what is planned around the Olympic Park post-2012?

I guess not. Do some homework.


Hmm shame Huvet does post any sources as all he seems to do is spew derogatory rants directed at people who do actually do report what is actually happening.

What exactly are you trying to prove Huvet? What did you think the olympics was/are going to be? why do yo somehow feel cheated?

Do you write for either A) The Standard, B) the Mail or C) the Express or is it all three??

is there a thread on this site about the work quintain estates are going to do at wembley stadium? i only come to this part of the forum and when i browse i get lost! i did a search and that didn't help either.
just wanted to know if any work has started yet

http://www.wembleycity.co.uk/

Its very easy after reading so many negative comments and news articles to forget what an Amazing event for London this really is, and how these games will transform an enormous area of the Capital. I watched the promotion video early with a strong sense of pride, I just wish other people could see the Olympics with a little pride.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crxms85wnkg

Coe ready for reality to bite as London prepares for Beijing experience
Four years tomorrow the capital's Games begin and real work starts now, the chairman says
Paul Kelso
The Guardian, Saturday July 26 2008
Article history

Sebastian Coe will travel to Beijing at the head an 80-strong team of staff. Photograph: Lee Mills/Action Images

For the 250,000 athletes, coaches, officials and sponsors descending on China in the next fortnight, the start of the Beijing Games marks the culmination of four years of preparation and expectation. For a 110-strong delegation from the UK, however, the lighting of the Beijing flame is just the start. Four years tomorrow, the London Olympics will begin in a stadium that is not yet built at the heart of a park that is currently little more than 270 acres of earthworks and a host of good intentions.

For the team delivering the London Games Beijing represents a crucial staging post on the road to 2012, a final opportunity to witness a summer Games in practice before they have to do it themselves.

It also marks the point at which the city takes responsibility for the Olympic flag and all the pressures and scrutiny that come with it, a moment that will be marked by an eight-minute performance at the closing ceremony and the physical transfer of the flag from the International Olympic Committee president, Jacques Rogge, to London's mayor, Boris Johnson.

In Beijing seven years of preparation are about to reach a climax that will help define China for decades to come. For London the build-up to their own moment of truth starts now and the next three weeks will be crucial in helping ensure the 2012 Games are a success.

The Beijing Games also mark the halfway point in Sebastian Coe's tenure as chairman of the London organising committee (Locog), and he will travel to China at the head of an 80-strong team of staff from Locog and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) who will study operations in China first-hand as part of a knowledge-sharing "observer programme".

Joining the team will be another 30 government representatives including four ministers, their private secretaries and press officers, as well as representatives of the police, ambulance service and fire brigade, health authorities, the home office, the Ministry of Defence and the security services. Few areas of British public life will not be impacted by London 2012 and they will all be on hand to see what a Games looks like close up.

Coe will also be updating the assembled IOC membership on London's progress so far and reassuring anyone who asks that his Games will be ready. In political and practical terms Beijing matters for London and Coe is under no illusions that the real work of delivering the Games starts now.

"The first thing I want to take out of Beijing is the on-the-ground experience of witnessing a Games at close quarters, a chance that only happens once in the lifetime of a host city," he said this week.

"The IOC have been very complimentary about the planning we have done and the physical work on the park but the operational aspects of running a Games remain a very complex part of the project and our teams, be they involved with media, venues, operations or the athletes' village, need the experience of seeing the games at first hand."

As important as the practical realities will be the symbolic moment when London's Olympiad begins. Coe is looking forward to the moment the penny drops that London is next but is preparing for the unparalleled levels of scrutiny that will come with it.

"At the handover, domestically there will be a moment when the nation realises 'Oh God, it's us next', and I want that to happen. But perhaps the biggest change is not in the domestic day-to-day, but level of international scrutiny that is coming our way," explained Coe.

"After Beijing when the New York Times, the Melbourne Age or Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung want to write about the Olympics they will be writing about London and we will be their first port of call. It's not going to be Beijing, blogs and air conditioning, it's going to be us. The level of international interest will increase just as dramatically as the domestic scrutiny."

Coe is confident that the project is well-placed to shine in the spotlight that will swing its way at the end of August despite a turbulent year marked by continued domestic concern over the £9.3bn construction budget and a change of mayor in London.

The greatest concern surrounds the spiralling cost of the major venues - the projected cost of all of the "big five" venues has increased since November and there is every chance that it will rise again as the economic climate deteriorates - and difficult negotiations between the ODA and Lend Lease over the level of public subsidy for the Olympic village. Johnson's election has also disturbed the cosy consensus between the mayor's office and Olympics minister, Tessa Jowell, but with three of the four members of the Olympic board now having held the Tory whip at some stage in their career - the BOA chairman, Lord Moynihan, is the other - his rise has been less disruptive than it might have been.

More positively Coe can point to a mark of "9.75 out of 10" from the IOC for progress so far and an advanced commercial programme that has seen six tier-one sponsors already signed up for in excess of £325m, more than any other host city has ever had on board going into the preceding Olympics. Many of them have also activated community programmes intended to deliver on Coe's lofty promise during the bid that the Games will transform sport in the UK forever.

Coe's enthusiasm for the transformative effect of London 2012 is genuine and enduring and, while he acknowledges the "static" surrounding the funding issue, he says progress in the next year, which will see venues begin to rise from the mud in east London and the launch of the cultural Olympiad, will help bring the country together behind the project.

"As a nation I don't think we are anything other than slow burn, we don't make our minds up too quickly and, when we make our minds up, we stick to it," he said. "But I am happy with where we are in terms of public perception, although I don't kid myself that we haven't got a process of engagement that we will have to drive all the way through to 2012.

"But when I go around the country I'm not in what I call budget or logo mode. Instead I've got people showing me what they are doing on the ground. I went to a comprehensive school in inner-city Middlesbrough last week and I was chatting to kids who are fast approaching national standard in rowing only two years after first getting into a boat.

"They are rowing on a purpose-built lake by the [River] Tees barrage and my one frustration is that I am not able to let the whole nation see some of the astonishing things happening in its regional backyard as a result of getting these Games."

http://i28.tinypic.com/vpduf8.jpg 2012 Celebrations in the UK major cities:.

LIVERPOOL will get into the Olympic spirit with a massive outdoor summer party.

The Clayton Square big screen, in the city centre, will be the focal point for the “Handover” celebrations which will see the country start the final run-up to the 2012 Games.

The event will be held on August 24, when the Beijing Olympics comes to a close.

As-yet-unnamed sporting heroes will be on the guest list to share their Olympic hopes and experiences with the public.

There will also be a mass 15-minute sing-a-long, led by a Liverpool-based choir, of three songs.

One will be a simple choice to get everyone warmed up, the second will be a song with Liverpool connotations and a national song, being arranged by National Youth Choirs.

The song for Liverpool has yet to be picked, although organisers have suggested songs like I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside for Blackpool and Delilah for Swansea.

On the big screen, passers-by will be able to watch the Beijing Games closing ceremony, where London mayor Boris Johnson will be handed the Olympic flag, marking the start of London’s tenure as summer host city for 2012.

Liverpool is one of 30 towns and cities across the country chosen to take part in the nationwide party.

Sebastian Coe, chairman of London 2012, said: “On the afternoon of August 24, the Olympic flag will pass from the mayor of Beijing to the mayor of London in the Olympic stadium in Beijing.

“Just as the nation celebrated London winning the bid, we invite the nation to celebrate the start of our four-year journey to 2012.”

Studio Egret West turns up the colour for Olympic visitor centre
(http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=426&storycode=3119275&c=2&encCode=00000000017def1a)28 July, 2008

Studio Egret West has completed a feasibility study for a 2012 Visitor Centre in Stratford, east London, to provide local people with more information about the games.

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/Pictures/468xAny/x/j/d/SEW_Olympic_visitor_centre.jpg

The centre is envisioned on top of a multi-storey car park near Stratford Station with panoramic views of the entire Olympic site – a location chosen after the practice noticed it on route to a meeting with Newham Council. An earlier idea to use Stratford Town Hall courtyard was rejected.

The playful design comprises seven different coloured boxes which fit together to form an interlocking puzzle, or can stand apart as independent exhibition spaces. The visitor centre will provide information about the games, including how they will be delivered, their impact on the local community and the opportunities they will generate.

is that a joke.. a visitor/infomation centre tucked away in either a courtyard or on top of a multi story carpark?give me strength.that is the dumbest idea i have ever heard.. why not a prominant public area, you know where people will get the most out of it. now im a games supporter, but that is a reason to moan.

they havnt even done any research as to where they could put it.. "on route to a meeting with Newham Council."

This is in a prominent location, right opposite Stratford station and high enough to allow fantastic views over the Park.

Youre right there DarJoLe, I've looked over at it from that "Eyrie" myself but... even I have to laugh at this one.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, roll up, roll up and take a look at the Olympic park, please enter via the sclerotic and clunky but very retrochic 1970's lift, oooops, mind that puddle of ancient urine sir, yes madam those hyroglyphs on the wall are believed to date from the famous, Spud the Vandal's first riegn in the period 1974-77, note the traditional use of F**k in that Hiku about Millwall FC"

LOL

:)

CF

I would suspect that as part of the building of this visitors centre, they'll also ensure the route up to the centre is also more pleasant. And it's not as if they'll be short of parking anyway!

I think it looks fine. For a temporary structure to help showcase the Olympics they can afford to be a bit funky and quirky. Looks like there will be a large viewing room as part of the structure. it reminds me of the viewing room Cardiff had to showcase its docks redevelopment. A big tube with a glass wall at one end.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/07/29/article-0-021BFF6800000578-364_468x278_popup.jpg

holy shit that is awe inspireing

Now you see why it bugs me when know-it-alls say what London is doing isn't good enough for them or the Olympic movement. They've either got impossibly high standards, are blind to what is going on, or have a grudge.

Open your eyes! These overhead shots we're seeing every week or so now will begin to show outlines of venues in a few months; they really show the scale of what's going on.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/07/29/article-0-021BFF6800000578-364_468x278_popup.jpg

What's going to be built on the island in between the Olympic Stadium and the Aquatics Centre?

Handball and basketball are in completely the wrong place.

Will people be walking from the International Train station to the stadium. Some of the places appear to be a long way from the transport links that are being built ?

Will people be walking from the International Train station to the stadium. Some of the places appear to be a long way from the transport links that are being built ?

There will be a huge bridge linking the two, part of which forms the roof to the Aquatic Centre training pool.

The bridge will diverge off north and carry spectators to the Velopark.

It's not that far. Especially when you see the scale of the buildings being built, and how compact the park actually is.

What's going to be built on the island in between the Olympic Stadium and the Aquatics Centre?

It will be mainly a pathway linking the southern entrance security zone (just south of the trainlines) to the cross bridge between the stadium and Aquatic Centre. After the Games the path will be thinned out and turned into parkland.

This masterplan shows how wide these paths will be to carry the crowds. Since this masterplan was released the fencing arena has been scrapped and the basketball arena will be moved to take its place.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1068/649542893_5939257be4_b.jpg

Thanks Darjole, the path sizes give an idea of how many people will be at the site in 2012... Walking through an area of parkland between the two stadia after the games will be lovely :)

Cool :)

Mega-Network on Tap for London Olympics

Nick Heath
Businessweek.com - 1st August 2008

Work is already beginning on a super-powered communications network for the 2012 Games from Nortel and BT

A network capable of streaming the equivalent of 50,000 DVDs every second is being built for the London 2012 Olympic games.

Nortel will deliver the equipment for the communications backbone of the games as part of a four-year contract.

The value of the deal has not been disclosed but Nortel has also signed up as a tier one sponsor of the Games and the minimum investment for that tier one status is £40m.

Paul Deighton, CEO of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, says the network needs to link 205 international sporting organisations, 20,000 worldwide media, nine million spectators and more than four billion TV viewers "absolutely flawlessly".

Deighton said: "Having Nortel and BT in place at this early stage is incredibly important because our network joins together the 26 sports in the Olympic games and the 20 sports in the Paralympic games.

"It also has to link to the outside world and match the huge demand for pictures and information, be it to TVs, mobile phones, social networks or whatever else is being used in 2012. It all has to work absolutely flawlessly over the three weeks of the games."

BT will oversee the delivery of the network while Nortel provides the equipment, Atos Origin will deliver software, Panasonic the big screens and Samsung is looking after mobile communications.

BT is already working on implementing the system and Nortel is expected to start delivering the equipment "straight away".

Deighton said that the share of the overall £2bn Olympic budget allocated for technology is effectively capped, preventing overspends on the projects.

The network will offer wide area networks, wireless local area networks, a call centre and fixed telephone infrastructure.

Nortel will also provide communications infrastructure at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.

I don't know if such a large and high quality version of this image has been posted before:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/Fatmonkey/London/LondonOlympic.jpg

^nice image, what are those blob structures surrounding the stadium (they look like something out of Naboo)

They're stalls, toilets, food units, merchandise etc. Those will be all around the park and are easily moveable (like little bubble caravans).

Here's the view from the top of the multi-story car park this morning, site of the proposed visitor centre.

http://i38.tinypic.com/aemtkw.jpg

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/Pictures/468xAny/x/j/d/SEW_Olympic_visitor_centre.jpg

what are those blob structures surrounding the stadium

new affordable housing :toilet:

I wonder if they will try and angle the views of the stadium to get canary wharf in or the city of london, will be interesting to see how the beeb showcase the city

Olympic legacy too big for us to cope with, says LDA's new boss
Katharine Barney, Evening Standard
05.08.08

The role of developing an Olympic legacy could be dropped from the portfolio of the Mayor's troubled economic agency, it was revealed today.

Instead a new and separate legacy body would be set up in an effort to slim down and reshape the London Development Agency.

The move was revealed by the agency's interim chief executive Peter Rogers who also said many other community projects would be dropped in order to focus on bigger schemes.

Mr Rogers said: "What I saw here was not a well-functioning organisation.

"The agency had suffered from weak leadership, lacked strategic directions and criteria applied to investments was not best practice."

The decision comes in the wake of the findings of a forensic audit panel ordered by Boris Johnson in his first few days as Mayor. The panel found that "tens of millions" of pounds had been wasted.

A further investigation into alleged misappropriation of funds in relation to Ken Livingstone's former race adviser Lee Jasper is being carried out by police.

The appointment of Mr Rogers followed Mr Johnson's decision to get rid of chief executive Manny Lewis with a payoff of more than £200,000.

Mr Rogers said cash had been "spread around too thinly". He said: "I am refocusing the LDA on its priorities of longterm growth for London, on producing skills and providing jobs.

"Such a long-term strategic view was not apparent in this agency."

The new business model will mean fewer staff, with 173 job losses, losing the Olympic focus and new strategic goals to stimulate development.

Mr Rogers, former chief executive of Westminster council, said: " The Olympics legacy is too big to be defined by a single agency."

Mr Rogers said the agency's most important task was to win back the trust of senior business leaders.

Helen Hill, policy director at the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: "It definitely makes sense for the LDA to adopt a much more strategic approach in future and leave delivery to the experts on the ground."

A spokeswoman for London First, the business lobby organisation, said: "With its strong new leadership and a slimmeddown mandate, the LDA has the chance to foster economic development and regeneration, which it was set up to develop."

That stadium is beginning to make my skin crawl..

After what looks to be an immense 2008 games, with a stadium to match the hype.. our main venue, which lets face it, is what you remember from the whole package, is going to be completely and utterly forgettable. :(

Successful Olympics have happened in other 'forgettable' stadia.

The last thing the Olympic movement needs is yet another showcase stadium that turns into a white elephant. Past hosts have hardly covered themselves in glory in this regard.

If London delivers successful, well budgeted games that provides re-usable facilities for the future I think it will lead to a complete rethink of how the hosting of future games should be approached.

That stadium is beginning to make my skin crawl..

After what looks to be an immense 2008 games, with a stadium to match the hype.. our main venue, which lets face it, is what you remember from the whole package, is going to be completely and utterly forgettable. :(

No people remember what happened inside the stadium actually.

I'd be absolutely amazed if Beijing hosts a better Games than Sydney 2000; and yet the general concensus seems to be that Beijing's stadium is an arcitechtural wonder, certainly compared to Sydney's relatively functional stadium.

The stadium design is not what most people 'remember from the whole package' is it? Becuase if it is, Sydney would be way down in the list of most memorable Games for me rather than sitting-pretty at the top of pile.

Maybe I'm at odds with popular opinion. Maybe most people really do judge an Olympics by its stadium. I'd like to think I'm not though.

That stadium is beginning to make my skin crawl..

After what looks to be an immense 2008 games, with a stadium to match the hype.. our main venue, which lets face it, is what you remember from the whole package, is going to be completely and utterly forgettable. :(

I think you're being incredibly hard on the London stadium.

For me, it's got 2 great features that no stadium has had recently.

1) That it's an unashamedly athletics stadium. It'll have giant athletes plastered on the outside of it! All other stadiums have just been that - a stadium, which any sport can be played in. Part of that was because, with those other stadiums, that was the plan for after the games - try and flog it off as a football stadium.

2) Colour! All stadiums, including your great Beijing one, have been either grey or white.

Looking at Beijing, architects and people who are interested in this sort of thing might look at the Beijing stadium and go 'Wow - that's really impressive'. But, can you imagine what the people at home, watching TV reports from outside the stadium are going to be thinking? I think they'll be saying 'What the hell is all that scaffolding behind the reporter? It looks like a giant diasater set.

Surely a successful Olympics is a combination of good planning, excellent execution, and probably most importantly a fantastic atmosphere. Sydney gave it in spades through its people; London will do the same AND in venues designed to maximum potential to exploit this party atmosphere.

It's nice to think the Olympics could be held in architectural wonders every time, but the wow factor of a venue is very far down the list compared to what goes inside them.

I said this on the world forums and was rubbished out of there for speaking the truth; London has the best selection of both iconic and functional venues in globally-famous locations unrivalled by any other Olympic Games. LONDON is what people will remember, the city and its people. Quite simply, I doubt any city after London will be able to pull off a more atmospheric games for a long time

For me, it's got 2 great features that no stadium has had recently.

1) I believe one of the shortest distances between the running track and the first row of spectators in Olympic history, thanks to the bowl structure, which will create an electric atmosphere for athletes and spectators alike.

2) Extensive wind testing of its light roof and enclosed bowl configuration that will actually enhance athlete's performance on the track when split seconds count between winning and losing.

I think you're being incredibly hard on the London stadium.

For me, it's got 2 great features that no stadium has had recently.

1) That it's an unashamedly athletics stadium. It'll have giant athletes plastered on the outside of it! All other stadiums have just been that - a stadium, which any sport can be played in. Part of that was because, with those other stadiums, that was the plan for after the games - try and flog it off as a football stadium.

2) Colour! All stadiums, including your great Beijing one, have been either grey or white.

Looking at Beijing, architects and people who are interested in this sort of thing might look at the Beijing stadium and go 'Wow - that's really impressive'. But, can you imagine what the people at home, watching TV reports from outside the stadium are going to be thinking? I think they'll be saying 'What the hell is all that scaffolding behind the reporter? It looks like a giant diasater set.


The mosaic athlete montages surrounding the stadium, I actually like that feature, but its the roof structure, I just hate how much it resembles some old rig, I fully acknowledge the ethos and morale of 2012, but I still think the stadium is too far a compramise, for which the message of 'eco-friendly' will not likely be interpreted in its price tag compared to a more 'shiney' design.

Surely a successful Olympics is a combination of good planning, excellent execution, and probably most importantly a fantastic atmosphere. Sydney gave it in spades through its people; London will do the same AND in venues designed to maximum potential to exploit this party atmosphere.

It's nice to think the Olympics could be held in architectural wonders every time, but the wow factor of a venue is very far down the list compared to what goes inside them.

I said this on the world forums and was rubbished out of there for speaking the truth; London has the best selection of both iconic and functional venues in globally-famous locations unrivalled by any other Olympic Games. LONDON is what people will remember, the city and its people. Quite simply, I doubt any city after London will be able to pull off a more atmospheric games for a long time

Far, far too early to judge that yet DarJoLe. Let's get the stuff built and ready first! London could better Sydney for atmosphere, but unforseen circumstances (the Great British weather being the most likely, a terrorist attack, god-forbid, being the worst-case) could mean its remembered less fondly.

I agree with 99% of what you have to say on these forums as you know, but that post came across as a little too confident for me. :shifty:

If we are still running around with America starting wars I fear we may face a lot of boycotting & protests in 2012.

I never realised how rundown the whole area was.

http://www.derelictlondon.com/id1434.htm

PROGRESS SURGES AHEAD ON CONSTRUCTION OF OLYMPIC STADIUM


London 2012

The construction of the Olympic Stadium is surging ahead with the start of the work on the concrete supports for the lower tiers of seating and the abutments for one of the main pedestrian access bridges, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has announced.

A pre-cast concrete batching plant has been set up on the south part of the Olympic Stadium site to cast almost 200 rakers, the concrete structures that will support the seating units for the lower 25,000 permanent seats. The concrete will be supplied from the batching plant on the Olympic Park site which will reduce vehicle movements in the local area.

The work is also now underway on the abutments that support the first of the five pedestrian footbridges over the waterways that surround the Stadium site. During the Games the bridge will be one of the main connections for spectators to and from the Stadium to the east of the Olympic Park.

Eight tower cranes, each between 48 and 60 metres high, have also now all been erected in the Stadium ‘bowl’, ready for the ramping up of the concrete and steel work. These are now the tallest visible landmark across the Olympic Park construction site at the present time.

ODA Chief Executive, David Higgins said: “The Olympic Stadium site is now a hive of activity and over the coming months we will see the Stadium structure start to rise from the ground. This is a challenging project and we are not complacent about the challenges that lie ahead but we have made a strong start. Real progress is being made every day on the site.”

In May this year, construction started on the Stadium site three months earlier than originally planned and was witnessed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown who had an opportunity to meet workers on site.

The piling work to create the permanent foundation for the Olympic Stadium is expected to complete in September.

There is an A4 booklet doing the rounds of the libraries called '2012 Design' which has the first concept designs of MAKEs handball arena inside. I'll scan it in later. Quite intriguing, it's a box structure similar to the Beijing Aquatic Centre, but with some kind of dark translucent muffled glass around it that will be able to glow after dark from the lighting inside the arena.

There's also an updated masterplan of the north of the park with the new sighting of the basketball arena in the velopark and BMX track in its legacy position behind the velodrome.

PROGRESS SURGES AHEAD ON CONSTRUCTION OF OLYMPIC STADIUM


London 2012

The construction of the Olympic Stadium is surging ahead with the start of the work on the concrete supports for the lower tiers of seating and the abutments for one of the main pedestrian access bridges, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has announced.


You know, it'll be interesting to see a poll from the public over preceptions of the work at the Olympic site and if people still think it'll be a disaster and over run or not.

I suppose the big issue now isn't time - I think most people think we can get it done on time, but just on whether it'll now stick to the revised budget.

Does anyone know if there have been more images released of the revamped Greenway? The part of the Greenway nearest me in Plaistow is unlikely even to get a lick of paint, but from West Ham to Stratford and then on to Victoria Park it's due for a makeover.

Timelapse of London 2012 site>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7547015.stm

Starting gun sounds for Athletes’ Village
8 August 2008
bdonline.co.uk

Planning has been granted for the first element of the 2012 Athletes’ Village in the Olympic Park in east London

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/Pictures/468xAny/e/b/w/Howells_N15_ready.jpg

The scheme, designed by Glenn Howells Architects with Niall McLaughlin Architects and Piercy Conner, will create 297 apartments and maisonettes in seven blocks, and includes 357sq m of retail space. The residential units, which vary between one- and four-bed, have been designed to meet level four of the Code for Sustainable Homes, and will have Secured by Design status.

The Olympic Delivery Authority’s design review panel praised the scheme, saying in its report to the planning committee: “Despite the relatively high density of development, the panel considers that the design teams are well on the way to creating liveable environments.

“We believe that the flat plans have been well thought out and should provide good to very good living conditions for owners and tenants.”

Are these just conceptual renderings showing the massing or is this how they will look when built?

Are these just conceptual renderings showing the massing or is this how they will look when built?

Very disappointing if they are. Incredibly dull . I had high hopes a few months back with two Make & Ian Simpson designed towers that would have been good markers for the Village. Instead we get these....

I love that it has different buildings. Sort of a community rather than 10 million flats that look exactly the same.

Those apartments look okay to me. Nothing special but okay.


A bit of gossip I heard from a tower crane operator I know. He says there will be up to 80 tower cranes across the entire site. Now that will be quite a sight.

The last thing the Olympic movement needs is yet another showcase stadium that turns into a white elephant. Past hosts have hardly covered themselves in glory in this regard.

If London delivers successful, well budgeted games that provides re-usable facilities for the future I think it will lead to a complete rethink of how the hosting of future games should be approached.

I couldn't care less whether the stadium is completely functional after the olympics, there's no excuse for the sort of design we have at the moment. Its honestly one of the worst stadiums I have ever seen & I can't believe we would sacrifice the incredible design we had originally only to be replaced by a stadium that truly defines the word 'mediocre'.

The main stadium uses only a fraction of the entire olympic budget, which in my understanding will be the highest amount of money ever spent on an olympic games in history. There isn't a single stadium in this country that is iconic, lets face it, wembley (apart from the arch) is pretty pants aesthetics wise. Isn't it about time we built one?

Beijing's stadium is amazing, now my favourite in the world, and for us the churn out this we should all feel ashamed, seriously. Obviously we no longer have any power in changing the design, it just annoys me that the original design would have beaten Beijing's, and the new design will beat almost nothing. Unbelievable.

There's no escaping the fact that becoming an olympic host city these days is all about the glory, and showing the world what the host city and entire country has to celebrate. For us to be the ones to try and start a 'revolution' for all future olympics to produce generically designed buildings that need to be 'sustainable' and 'functional' would be a big mistake, because it will never happen, the idea of hosting the olympics will remain the same, & rightly so.

I appreciate the efforts that our being made to create venues that will be used & be profitable after the games for years to come & I am all for this approach, so long as it doesn;t affect the quality of designs and construction that our used. We may not get a chance like this again for a very long time.

I couldn't care less whether the stadium is completely functional after the olympics, there's no excuse for the sort of design we have at the moment. Its honestly one of the worst stadiums I have ever seen & I can't believe we would sacrifice the incredible design we had originally only to be replaced by a stadium that truly defines the word 'mediocre'.

The main stadium uses only a fraction of the entire olympic budget, which in my understanding will be the highest amount of money ever spent on an olympic games in history. There isn't a single stadium in this country that is iconic, lets face it, wembley (apart from the arch) is pretty pants aesthetics wise. Isn't it about time we built one?

Beijing's stadium is amazing, now my favourite in the world, and for us the churn out this we should all feel ashamed, seriously. Obviously we no longer have any power in changing the design, it just annoys me that the original design would have beaten Beijing's, and the new design will beat almost nothing. Unbelievable.

There's no escaping the fact that becoming an olympic host city these days is all about the glory, and showing the world what the host city and entire country has to celebrate. For us to be the ones to try and start a 'revolution' for all future olympics to produce generically designed buildings that need to be 'sustainable' and 'functional' would be a big mistake, because it will never happen, the idea of hosting the olympics will remain the same, & rightly so.

I appreciate the efforts that our being made to create venues that will be used & be profitable after the games for years to come & I am all for this approach, so long as it doesn;t affect the quality of designs and construction that our used. We may not get a chance like this again for a very long time.

But isn't the olympic stadium only a bit boring because of its nature as a temporary structure. The iconic look of Beijing is partly because of its clout as a hefty solid piece of architecture. Temporary buildings whether the London Eye, Skylon or the pavillions that have been erected at the Serpentine Gallery, London over the years - or any other temporary structure - cannot have this same beefy design, because they have to....come apart again.

The iconic architecture for this games will be the aquatics centre, which will be a great asset to London. The stadium is obviously going to become community sports facilities (applaud) and how many times have you seen community facilities that are 'iconic'. Having one icon of the London games is really enough I think. The Olympics are iconic, London is iconic, the aquatics centre will be iconic...how many icons do you need for a single one month event? If anything is iconic...the concept the Olympics in London are being approached with is the greatest icon of all.

But isn't the olympic stadium only a bit boring because of its nature as a temporary structure.

Nope. They chose a boring design. Temporary doesn't imply bland.

^ Indeed you only need to look at the designs shortlisted for the British Pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 Expo to know dismantable/temporariness does not constrain design innovation and quality.

^ Indeed you only need to look at the designs shortlisted for the British Pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 Expo to know dismantable/temporariness does not constrain design innovation and quality.

yip expo pavillions are landmark structures when it comes to temporary structures. some of the best designs were created decades ago.

Pretty cool BGI showing the stadium building itself. Maybe its been posted before - first time I have seen it though.

wXkFvxmhPJI&hl

Very disappointing if they are. Incredibly dull . I had high hopes a few months back with two Make & Ian Simpson designed towers that would have been good markers for the Village. Instead we get these....

i think it looks great? :dunno:

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5817/ovlegacy1readyra1.jpg

I was referring to the plans that got planning permission on pg 124. That picture is old & not finalised plans.

Coe presses Johnson to back 2012 legacy plan
(http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/574c0a28-6581-11dd-a352-0000779fd18c.html)By Roger Blitz

Lord Coe has “leaned on” Boris Johnson to back his plan for the London Olympics stadium to become a permanent home for athletics, after the London mayor cast doubt on the financial viability of the idea.

The chairman of London 2012 held private talks with the mayor after Mr Johnson publicly voiced scepticism about the legacy plans for games venues and criticised the proposals for the £525m Olympic stadium beyond 2012. The London mayor told the Evening Standard there was no “convincing” argument for making athletics the centrepiece of the stadium post-2012, suggesting instead that it be used by a professional football club.

Mr Johnson has commissioned David Ross, co-founder of the Carphone Warehouse, to review the thinking about Olympic legacy, one of the cornerstones of London’s successful bid in 2005, led by Lord Coe.

But after talks with Lord Coe, the mayor is now prepared to go along with the athletics plan. “The mayor has made clear he wants to see a strong and sustainable legacy for the Olympic *stadium and is working closely with Seb Coe and the 2012 team to ensure that London has a flexible facility that can accommodate athletics as well as other team-based sports,” the mayor’s office said.

Lord Coe, in an interview with the Financial Times, said the mayor was justified in reviewing the legacy strategy, adding that he was pleased Mr Johnson recognised that “a large part of the legacy is his responsibility”. But he added: “He absolutely recognises that track and field is not unique but it is a primary purpose [of the stadium after 2012].”

One person close to the situation said the mayor and Mr Ross were “hamstrung” by Lord Coe’s commitment to the International Olympics Committee that athletics would be a permanent stadium legacy.

“Athletics is not an end use that will lead to a full stadium on many days of the year, but Boris was leaned on by Seb,” the person said.

Under current plans, the 80,000-seater Olympic stadium will shrink to a capacity of 25,000. The capacity is negotiable, but football clubs such as West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur have rejected suggestions of becoming the stadium’s anchor tenant because of the distance the running track would create between fans and the football pitch.

Travel fears for London's 2012 Games
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/aug/10/transport.olympics2012)Gaby Hinsliff, political editor
The Observer, Sunday August 10 2008

Boris Johnson was facing questions last night over plans to stage a cashless Olympic Games after yesterday's decision to fire the company responsible for running London's Oyster travel card.

The consortium behind Oyster had been in talks about providing a secure swipecard that would allow visitors to the 2012 Games to pay for their travel to venues and their entry tickets on the same swipecard, creating a 'plastic Olympics' where spectators did not have to carry cash.

But industry insiders said Friday's decision by Transport for London to break the contract from August 2010 would leave any future supplier with little chance of synchronising the technology in time.

Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat transport spokesman, said he had recently been briefed on the plans for secure ticketing involving Oyster. 'This is a worrying development,' he said. 'There is a genuine concern as to the impact on the Olympics, given the work I know was going on with regard to integrated ticketing for events and travel.'

The Transys consortium, which has held the contract for the past decade, declined to comment beyond a statement saying that London transport had changed in the 10 years it has held the contract and negotiations were taking place 'for the benefit of all stakeholders'.

But Shashi Varma, director of the Oyster programme of Transport for London, insisted it would still be able to deliver whatever the Games required with another contractor. 'We have had lots of negotiations with the Olympic Delivery Authority. When they settle down and figure out what kind of ticketing system they want, we will figure out what we need to do. But in some way shape or form Oyster is going to be used.'

^ Indeed you only need to look at the designs shortlisted for the British Pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 Expo to know dismantable/temporariness does not constrain design innovation and quality.

true but not in this context, when you build something temporary for 90'000 seated people and to hold strictly controlled sports then the cost and risk factor completely limits the structure. The risk factor of trying to create something clever and temporary like the serpentine exhibit spaces or some sort of expo, is negated by because of their miniscule size in comparison and they do not have such a terrifying deadline, ie the structures can be built off location tested and re-erected.

I personally lean toward the general idea that architecture is everything and we should apply the necassary cost. But I can also see that this can push things toward the self-indulgent and seeing as how just about every structure at the Olympics, the legacy and the games itself is so heavily scrutinised and the fragility of the far more important factor of image then it probably isnt worth pushing our luck. Imagine lots of iconic designs but only a few people in the party spirit.

true but not in this context, when you build something temporary for 90'000 seated people and to hold strictly controlled sports then the cost completely limits the structure. There is also the risk factor of trying to create something clever and temporary, ie like the serpentine exhibit spaces, they can get away with being playful because of their miniscule size in comparison and they do not have such a terrifying deadline.

I personally lean toward the general idea that architecture is everything and we should apply the necassary cost. But I can also see that this can push things toward the self-indulgent and seeing as how just about every structure at the Olympics, the legacy and the games itself is so heavily scrutinised and the fragility of the far more important factor of image then it probably isnt worth pushing our luck. Imagine lots of iconic designs but only a few people in the party spirit.

I do understand your view and while the design is bland, any olympic stadium with an aerial view at night(bright lights and all) looks amazing.

But I dont agree that good temporary design can't be achieved for large structures. The technology exists at a a reasonable price and decades of large temporary pavillion structures have proven that large temporary structure can have great designs.

www.nussli.de, have worked on many temporary concepts for olympic games and have even created the possibility of an entirely temporary 80,000 seat olympic stadium. Many of their designs are neithe bland nor miniscule.

Again I am not questioning the temporary bowl concept or the excellent sightlines and I don't even have a major issue with the design BUT a "better" "sexier" "architecturally impressive" design could have been achieved at the same cost. The current design is all about focussing on the best conditions for athletes and secondly playing it safe in terms of the building design.

Coe presses Johnson to back 2012 legacy plan
(http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/574c0a28-6581-11dd-a352-0000779fd18c.html)By Roger Blitz

“Athletics is not an end use that will lead to a full stadium on many days of the year, but Boris was leaned on by Seb,” the person said.

Under current plans, the 80,000-seater Olympic stadium will shrink to a capacity of 25,000. The capacity is negotiable, but football clubs such as West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur have rejected suggestions of becoming the stadium’s anchor tenant because of the distance the running track would create between fans and the football pitch.

It's well known that none of the football teams who could possibly fill it are interested. The athletics track makes it totally unsuitable as a football ground, as any Juventus fan could tell you. West Ham have a stadium that suits their needs, with room to expand. Spurs will be looking for a 60,000 seater venue, without a track.

Of course it won't be filled by athletics on a regular basis, but London should have a high-quality athletics facility as part of its 2012 legacy. I think the decision to shrink it and keep it for athletics is athe perfect solution.

There was no need for Boris to appoint a top businessman to revisit this old chestnut.

Well the most important thing about an athletics facility is of course the track and field. There is a whole lot more to it though. As a minimum there will be a good wieghts and cardio gym. Rooms for classes are also key. A sports injury clinic with all the consultation rooms and treatment facilities that go with that are essential. Offices, meeting rooms, teaching facilities etc.. That lot is often under the stands. To give the stadium over to a football club would be a loss of the whole centre of excellence. London has a reasonable number of running tracks, but only a couple of complete athletics facilities.

There was no need for Boris to appoint a top businessman to revisit this old chestnut.

oh leave him alone, he is so desperate to save money now i feel sorry for him, like a beggar rummaging through dustbins ;)

2012 tickets will be reused to fill seats
Matthew Beard, Sports News Correspondent
11.08.08
Evening Standard

London Olympics chiefs are proposing to "recycle" tickets to fill any empty seats at the Games.

They are planning to copy the scheme operated at the Wimbledon tennis championships where departing spectators hand over their day tickets for re-use.

Olympics minister Tessa Jowell said the ticket recycling scheme and planned public viewing areas would attract thousands more spectators to the Olympic Park, even if they had missed out in the initial ticket allocation.

The plans emerged amid criticism that many of the VIP seats in Beijing are empty. There are also concerns that the wider Olympic Green area in Beijing - the equivalent of London's Olympic park - has become a "no-man's land" for the general public.

Ms Jowell said: "London will be great fun. We will have live sites throughout London and people will be able to come into the (Olympic) park. The park will become a destination, even if you are not inside one of the venues.

"We will also have a system like Wimbledon where if people leave before the end then their tickets will go back into a pool to maximise spectator access. London is a city of fun, and there will be lots of fun."

In Beijing it was the third day that large numbers of people were not able to access the Olympic Green, which includes the Olympic Stadium, Water Cube and sponsor pavilions. Spokesman Sun Weide said as more events take place around the green, greater crowds are expected. Rain was also a factor today.

However, special passes are required for entry for people without accreditation or tickets to specific events.

Most of the ordinary Chinese can be seen on the outside, peering through a fence at the marvels they have helped finance through taxation.

^^ Great idea!

crowds and parties are the key!

Most of the ordinary Chinese can be seen on the outside, peering through a fence at the marvels they have helped finance through taxation.

Sounds like a poor show to me. All those drooling over the opening ceremony and having a go at London 2012 so soon should take note.

Hadleigh Farm in Essex has been announced as the London 2012 venue for Mountain Biking. (http://www.london2012.com/news/archive/2008-08/new-mountain-bike-venue-announced.php)

The venue will replace the original venue, Weald Country Park, after a change to the requirements for the sport meant that a more technical and challenging course was needed.

http://www.london2012.com/photos/venues/venue-hadleigh-farm-340x185.jpg

The new 550 acre site includes two major hills separated by a valley, which will be ideal for the technical climbs for the events. Spectators will be able to view the majority of the course.

The new venue has been approved by the International Cycling Union (UCI), British Cycling (BC), the International Olympic Committee, and the British Olympic Association.

Located near the village of Hadleigh in Essex, it includes grassland and woodland of Hadleigh Farm, land owned by the Salvation Army and countryside around Hadleigh Castle Country Park.

Discussions are underway to decide how the venue could be used as a Mountain Bike facility after the Games.

Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee, said: 'It is testament to the hard work of everyone in involved that we have been able to confirm an alternative venue for the Mountain Biking competition only seven months after the venue change was announced.

'In Hadleigh Farm we have a world class venue for Games time with the potential for an excellent facility for elite and community use post Games.'

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Hadleigh_Castle_panorama.jpg/800px-Hadleigh_Castle_panorama.jpg