The 'real' costs of regeneration
A new budget is being negotiated for the 2012 Olympics to include extensive regeneration work in east London. The original funding package is expected to be substantially increased, possibly by £2bn, to take account of work needed to prepare the site for 40,000 new homes after the games, David Higgins, chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority, said yesterday.
He told the Commons culture, media and sport select committee, that the creation of the new homes and 60,000 jobs in the Lower Lea Valley had not been planned at the time of the bid. "It seems crazy to complete the games and then in 2013 fit out the entire site," he said. The ODA wanted to use the games as a catalyst for the regeneration of some of London's most deprived boroughs.
A new budget will be submitted to the DCMS, which will in turn have to agree it with the Treasury. The existing funding package is £2.375bn to build the Olympic village and venues, plus an additional £1.044bn set aside for infrastructure work.
Higgins said: "We do not want to take a lot of short cuts and do a lot of superficial regeneration of the valley. The responsible thing to do is to look at what all government departments intend to spend in the Thames Gateway in the next five years. We need to co-ordinate the expenditure." It is thought that could push the Olympic project's total price tag up by between £1.5 to £2bn.
He would not be drawn on the likely additional costs of security for the games. He said London 2012 would take responsibility for in-venue security, but the police and Home Office were responsible for the broader budget outside.
From: London Games set for £2bn budget increase for new homes, Andrew Culf, October 25 10 06, The Guardian
More at: Joined-up costing
See also: Costs rising
Tessa's version
The cabinet was given an upbeat assessment of London's preparations for the 2012 Olympics yesterday by Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, who said it was substantially ahead of other host cities at this stage of the process. She told ministers that London was two years ahead of Sydney at the comparative stage.
All the costs of the project were being re-examined to ensure the games deliver value for money. Negotiations are under way with the Treasury to put together a revised funding package which is likely to be agreed by the end of the year.
The cost of building venues, infrastructure and regeneration is put at £3.42bn, but the budget may be expanded to include up to £2bn of extra regeneration work associated with building 40,000 homes and creating 60,000 jobs. The security budget is expected to exceed the £220m in London's bid document.
Opposition MPs and the Central Council for Physical Recreation attacked the government this week for failing to devise a strategy for using the games to increase participation in sport.
From: Olympics work 'ahead of time', Andrew Culf, sports, Guardian, 27 10 06
More at: Three Card Trick
Submitted by Martin Slavin on Fri, 27/10/2006 - 21:49.
by
The Realist among the Dreamers
'He [Higgins] told the Commons culture, media and sport select committee, that the creation of the new homes and 60,000 jobs in the Lower Lea Valley had not been planned at the time of the bid.'
SOME FORGOTTEN DREAMS.
Some extracts from London’s Candidate File which was delivered to the International Olympic Committee in November 2004
From: Volume 1–Theme 1 Concept and legacy page19
"Benefiting the community through regeneration The Olympic Park will be created in the Lower Lea Valley, 13 km east from the centre of London. This area is ripe for redevelopment. By staging the Games in this part of the city, the most enduring legacy of the Olympics will be the regeneration of an entire community for the direct benefit of everyone who lives there.
The Olympic Park will become a hub for east London, bringing communities together and acting as a catalyst for profound social and economic change. It will become a model of social inclusion, opening up opportunities for education, cultural and skills development and jobs for people across the UK and London, but especially in the Lea Valley and surrounding areas.
From: Volume 1–Theme 1 Concept and legacy page 23
1.3 London’s long-term planning strategy
A key role for the Games
The Mayor of London’s plan for the city, adopted in 2004, provides the framework for spatial development to 2016.
Its overall objective is to develop London as an exemplary sustainable world city, with strong, long-term and diverse economic growth, social inclusion, and fundamental improvements in the environment and use of resources. It focuses investment and growth in the east of the city, recycling brownfield land to create high quality new mixed sustainable communities located around strategic transport nodes.
The London Plan identifies staging the 2012 Games as the ‘major catalyst for change and regeneration in east London, especially the Lea Valley, levering resources, spurring timely completion of already programmed infrastructure investment and leaving a legacy to be valued by future generations."
From: Volume1–Theme 2 Political and economic climate and structure Page 37
Ken Livingstone – newly re-elected Mayor of London:
"Every Olympics is memorable for those who take part, but London Games would be remembered by everyone.
Remembered by the athletes as the Games where every single Olympian and Paralympian found a community in London that shared their language, their culture and their faith, and whose support inspired them to perform their very best.
Remembered by Londoners for the new homes, the new jobs, the transformation of east London and the creation of London’s most significant new park for over a century. Remembered by the rest of Britain for spreading the excitement and the benefits of the world’s biggest sporting event across the country."
SEB HAS A PUBLICITY NIGHTMARE DENYING THE TRUTH
London Games chief rejects budget overrun claims, Karolos Grohmann, Reuters, Apr 3, 2006,
"London 2012 Games chairman Sebastian Coe has rejected reports the cost for infrastructure work for the Olympics could balloon by up to two billion pounds. On Sunday, media quoted Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) chief executive David Higgins as saying redeveloping funds for the Lower Lea Valley area where the Games will be held, would be higher than initially estimated. The reports said the redevelopment cost would rise by about two billion pounds."
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The London Development Agency are committed to building up to 42,200 homes in the region, up to 2016
I have done extensive research into the LDA's plans for housing regeneration in the region and submitted my conclusions to the Olympic site CPO Inquiry. In September I submitted a written response to the public consultation on the Lower Lea Valley Opportunity Area Planning Framework draft document produced by the LDA. My best estimate from published figures, included in these documents, is that they have for some time been planning on providing 42,200 new homes up to 2016 in the regeneration area, of which the Games are apart.
So reading the above statements from project leaders cited above is like watching different members of the 'Top Table' having a go at the three card trick. Because they know, in the age of the sound bite, very few remember their past moves.
Martin Slavin
WHERE DO YOU DRAW THE BOTTOM LINE ?..