Livingstone to push Olympic bid
London today was named as one of the official candidate cities for the 2012 Olympic Games along with Paris, New York, Madrid and Moscow. London is among the favourites to win the games, however Paris, with much of their infrastructure already built, is currently the bookies favourites.
Barbara Cassani, the head of the London Olympic bid said she was confident of the strength of the bid, saying: “What we believe is that the London bid offers the best combination (for) creating a new legacy for the city. We are building an Olympic park, we are cleaning up the environment and creating an environment where new jobs and homes can into the east end.”
“But we are also taking advantage of world class facilities such as Weymouth sailing and Wimbledon etc.”
A major element of London’s bid revolves around the regeneration of derelict facilities around Stratford in the East End. Among plans for the site include a huge aquatic centre and athletics stadium on the site of Picketts Lock. In a boast to the bid the Evening Standard yesterday revealed that planning permission for the new facilities has been granted, with work on clearing the site expected to begin within the next few months.
Speaking after the announcement, Ken Livingstone said that it is now essential to ensure a “strong London presence” at every international sporting event, arguing: “A lot will depend on the mood our Olympic athletes manage to generate. If they do as well as they did last time, that will be another big boost.'”
“I do think really the three strong runners are Paris, London and Madrid and in that order and the good news for us is that very often the early front-runner is then overtaken in the last stretch; that’s happened two or three times in the last decade or so.”
Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat candidate also welcomed the short listing. He sought to stress the benefits that successful games would bring, saying it would be “great for jobs, great for getting more sporting facilities and great for the pride of London and Londoners.”
Steven Norris, the Conservative mayoral candidate, also joined Ken Livingstone in expressing his delight that London has gone through to the next stage. However he called on the Government to ‘put their money where their mouth is’ and provide real support to London.
“All we have had so far are warm words from Labour ministers but no actual money. The Olympics will benefit the whole country and it shouldn’t be just Londoners who pay for it.” He stated.
The London bid’s funding package envisages £2.376 billion of public funding, with the majority to be raised within London. With the exception of £1.5bn from the National Lottery up to £625 million is expected to be raised from London Council Tax, with the potential of the remainder £250 million from the London Development Agency. This division of funding has caused disquiet in some areas of London, with many querying why London should bear the majority of the cost.
