Letter to the East London Advertiser

THE Olympics Development Agency has missed yet more deadlines for relocating our cycle circuit at Hackney Wick which closed last November.

London's 2012 Olympics has been nothing but a total loss for road-race, time-trial and mountain-bike cross-country that we used to do so successfully at Eastway.

The London Assembly commissioned research into the long-term benefits of hosting the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. The research, produced by London East Research Institute at the University of East London, examines the lasting impact of hosting the summer Games had on Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney and Athens, measuring their achievements in nine key areas including employment, urban renewal, skills and sports participation.

© Mike Wells, 0 77 99 152 888, mikejwells@yahoo.com

Synopsis

For more than a century what will be the Olympic Park was home to some of the nation’s dirtiest industries. Within, and surrounding, what will be the Olympic Park some 7,500 people were employed in the chemicals industry. A new document reveals a second case of radioactive waste dumped in 1953 in a former landfill site within the Park. An Environment Agency analysis shows higher than normal levels of radioactive material in the River Lee. The article examines the historical information available, includes quotes from experts and lawyers, and is critical of the LDA’s work in the Park, which local residents fear puts them at risk. Mike Wells is also a photographer. The article comes with photographs.

Arts Council England chief executive Peter Hewitt has warned that the government’s decision to divert more Lottery funding towards the 2012 Olympics will deprive arts organisations across the country.

EXPERTS are being urged to apply for membership of a new, independent panel aimed at ensuring the legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Specialists with experience of a major construction project or public event, and with social, environmental, and economic backgrounds are needed to form the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012.

The LDA estimate that in the 'red line area' alone, somewhere between 11,000 and 12,000 jobs could be created (private conversation). Later projections are as high as 35,000 (E. Goodwyn and K Munn, October 11, 2006). However, it is clear that social actions and relationships, development plans and economic strategies, have all been defined by a discourse of uneven development, that of poverty in the Lower Lea Valley and Olympic boroughs (a continuing product).

The emerging debacle of the escalating costs of the Games are providing the most disingenuous twists of logic and language. Ken Livingstone now states that the rising costs are not associated with the Games but with the ‘Legacy’, as if it were a leech that had insinuated itself into the proceedings. ‘Legacy’, we were told when the bid was successful, was one of the reasons which helped win. ‘Legacy’ was all about regeneration of an area typified as a black hole, despite it housing over 250 businesses, housing low-wage families and individuals and having a significant urban wildlife associated with the waterways and derelict land.

Stadia

Maintenance costs for redundant stadia are significant. Kevin Blowe (2005) extrapolates:

In Sydney, underused venues are costing taxpayers A$46m (£18m) a year to keep afloat and will lose money for at least another decade. The Super Dome, where the closing ceremony was held, recently went into receivership. Six months after the Athens Games, the Greeks face a £6.25bn debt and £60m a year for the upkeep of its unused facilities.
Radical Activist Network newsletter, Spring 2005 www.radicalactivist.net