Essex, highest point 147m, is not a county noted for its mountains. It was therefore perhaps no surprise that inspectors from the International Cycling Union deemed the county’s Weald Country Park just too flat to host the 2012 Olympic mountain bike competition. Any proposed course would not challenge the riders sufficiently, they said.

A new report 'Feeding the Olympics' from the Soil Association, Sustain and the New Economics Foundation, calls on London 2012 to deliver on their promise to be the greenest and healthiest Games in terms of the food they provide, and sets out how this can be done:

"This report is a call to action for everyone involved in catering for the London 2012 Olympic Games, to ensure that the food served before, during and after the Games is local, seasonal and organic as was promised in London’s bid

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.

Monday, April 02, 2007

After 100 years of history, today's the day that the Manor Garden Allotments at the heart of the 2012 Olympic site are finally closed. Or at least that was the plan. The London Development Agency wanted everybody (and their vegetables) off the land today so that the site could be levelled and transformed into the central concrete walkway down the spine of the Olympic Park. But, what do you know, the allotments have had a reprieve. Until July. It's only another three months, but that's better than bulldozing several acres of fledgling potatoes and carrots before they've even had a chance to grow.

any rare and ultra-photogenic endangered species in Olympic lands that could aid the campaign?

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.

THE 2012 Olympics will be powered by a giant wind turbine which will tower over the game park in East London. The 120-metre high turbine will stay on the site after the Games to power local amenities and housing over its 20-year lifespan.