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  • Category: Olympic Games
  • Founded: Sep 30, 2006
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#4062 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Sun Nov 14, 2010 1:58 am
Subject: Small airlines sue over Olympic restrictions
juliancheyne
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http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Small+airlines+over+Olympic+restrictions/3811166/story.html


Six Lower Mainland airline operators are suing the federal government over security restrictions imposed during the Olympic Games that they say resulted in more than $1 million in losses.

The carriers and flight schools want to be compensated for loss of revenue and increased expenses from Jan. 29 to March 24.

The restrictions mainly affected operators at Boundary Bay Airport and Squamish Airport.

For example, solo flights by student pilots at Boundary Bay were banned. Sightseeing flights were also cancelled and there were some restrictions on night flights.

Pat Kennedy, chief operating officer for the Pacific Flying Club, one of the six anticipated plaintiffs, said her company was "significantly restricted" in operations out of Boundary Bay.

Kennedy claims her company alone suffered $100,000 in losses.

Transport Canada, which approved the restrictive measures, could not be reached.



Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Small+airlines+over+Olympic+restrictions/3811166/story.html#ixzz15DZS8MrO


#4063 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Sun Nov 14, 2010 2:00 am
Subject: O’Rourke Olympic fee rises to £694m
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http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2010/11/10/fee-for-orourke-olympic-consortium-rises-to-694m/


The Laing O’Rourke-led CLM consortium overseeing the Olympics is set to pocket another £10m in performance payments bringing its fee for the job to £694m.

The rise came as 2012 chiefs highlighted cost-cutting measures on the project in response to the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Olympic Delivery Authority chief executive David Higgins said the Games’ budget had been reduced by £20m thanks to a series of efficiency savings.

But the effects of economies have been counter-balanced by a rise of £11m on the Aquatics Centre to speed-up construction work and an extra £10m in “performance management” bonuses for CLM for reaching “agreed milestones and savings achieved.”

The ODA’s latest financial report stated: “CLM’s enhanced payments are based on performance and they are incentivised to drive down costs across the programme.”

The extra £10m will see CLM’s fees to deliver the Olympics rise to £694m according to the latest final cost estimates for programme delivery. The other members of the consortium are Mace and CH2M Hill,

One industry source told the Enquirer: “You’ve got to hand it to O’Rourke, they know how to negotiate a contract.”



#4064 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Sun Nov 14, 2010 2:02 am
Subject: 2012 London Olympic Aquatics Centre 11M Over Budget
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The cost of the Aquatics Centre for the 2012 London Olympics has increased by 11 million due to challenges to the construction of the roof and air temperature guidelines. The project will cost 268 million to complete, up from the original cost estimate of 75 million.

The Aquatics Centre, designed by Zaha Hadid and built by Balfour Beatty, has undergone several redesign changes since the planning stages. Inspired by water in motion, the design features an undulating roof that resembles a wave. The centre is located on the southwestern edge of the park and is accessible via the Stratford City Bridge.

Despite this setback, the Olympic Games will cost less than expected, staying within its 9.3 billion budget due to money savings along the way.

Last month, organizers decided to eliminate plans for an 11 million fabric wrap that would cover the Olympic Stadium that would have served the dual purpose of image projection and spectator protection.

Other cuts have been made to ensure that construction will come under budget, an imperative given the state of the economy and the fact that Olympic construction is notorious for far exceeding the budget (I'm looking at you, 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal).

The Games came under fire this year when the Coalition Government prepared to make devastating budget cuts to all departments.

The government managed to leave the Olympic budget untouched.

However, they slashed funding for UK Sport by 28 percent. Liz Nicholl, CEO of UK Sport told the Associated Press last month, "Ministers have been clear throughout the process that they see the continued support of sports and athletes through to London 2012 as a priority, and this reduction will not have any significant impact on our goals."



Read more: http://entertainment.ezinemark.com/2012-london-olympic-aquatics-centre-11m-over-budget-16dab8197de.html#ixzz15DaPaVb0
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution No Derivatives


#4065 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Sun Nov 14, 2010 2:05 am
Subject: Ditched Olympic Stadium wrap exposes London 2012's failings
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http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/paulkelso/100013497/ditched-olympic-stadium-wrap-exposes-london-2012s-failings/


Given the economic climate the London 2012 Olympics were always likely to face cuts, but this week we had confirmation that these really could be the no-frills Games, in the case of the main stadium, literally so.

The Olympic Delivery Authority confirmed on Tuesday that a fabric “wrap”, intended to conceal the functional workings of the largely temporary stadium structure, had been scrapped to save £7m.

Instead of the innovative screen, which we were promised would feature a multitude of projected animations and ever-changing designs, visitors to the Olympic Park’s definitive venue will be greeted by the bare innards of the arena, the girders and breeze blocks currently painted an austere black

The decision is a classic example of the London project’s failure to get to grips with the stadium project and the issues surrounding its legacy.

At the launch of the stadium design in November 2007, a rather overblown all-star affair in a marquee on the stadium site, much was made of the wrap. It was the designer’s sole defence against the charge that aesthetics had been sacrificed in order to find an affordable, technically viable solution to the need for the stadium to be stripped back from 85,000 to 25,000 seats after the Games.

They promised a variety of options, from projecting the flags of competing nations or the pictograms used to represent each sport, which is the design that features in the computer-generated images still being used by the media.

Neither was the wrap purely decorative, they said. It was necessary to help prevent wind inside the stadium affecting the ability of athletes to challenge world records, as well as offering shelter to spectators in the event of – perish the thought – rain.

“This is not a stadium that’s going to be screaming from the rooftops that it’s bigger and more spectacular. This is just a cleverer building,” said Rod Sheard, the lead architect, back in 2007.

With the wrap gone – apparently the wind issues no longer apply – there is a danger the stadium will register barely a murmur, and Sheard for one is not happy. Sports minister Hugh Robertson said this week that fans of minimalist design will love it, a theory borne out by Lord Rogers, who has always loved an exposed duct or two and approves of the new wrap-free design.

But it is not only the stadium that the absent wrap leaves exposed. The decision also lays bare the muddled thinking that has dogged this particular venue.

The wrap was only required because of a design that prioritised stripping the arena  back to 25,000 seats in order to fulfil the commitment to an athletics legacy that was central to London’s bid.

“It’s a stadium that delivers on everything we said we would deliver on; a stadium with track and field as its primary legacy; a stadium that will be reduced from 80,000 seats in Olympic mode to a 25,000-seater community base,” Lord Coe said at the time.

In fact economic realities mean that football will be the biggest beneficiary. Athletics does not pay its own way, leaving West Ham, Tottenham and stadium management group ISG bidding to take on the arena. The terms of the Olympic Park Legacy Company’s tender document do not even demand that the main stadium retain a track, though there must be an athletics legacy funded by the new tenants.

Spurs and their American partners AEG won’t hesitate to rip out the track and offer an athletics legacy on the warm-up facility next door, though West Ham, backed by Newham Council, will retain athletics in the main arena.

Meanwhile the short-listing process has been delayed without explanation from the OPLC, which is doing little to inspire confidence that it can solve a riddle that has defied a neat solution in the five years since London won the Games. The OPLC’s prevarication has also cost London the chance of staging the 2015 World Athletics Championships.

If this carries on much longer, those responsible might want to reinstall the wrap so they have somewhere to hide.



#4066 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Sun Nov 14, 2010 2:07 am
Subject: Troops to get Olympics tickets
juliancheyne
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5g8LRTIyQzoCDkKtd_HaqNSsIYSFw?docId=B2925281289474948A000


Troops and their families are to get 10,000 tickets to the London 2012 Games, organisers have announced.

Full details of how the tickets are to be shared out have yet to be confirmed but it is part of a tie-up between London 2012 and the Tickets for Troops organisation which counts the Prime Minister's wife Samantha Cameron as a patron.

She said: "It is fantastic that so many of our heroic troops will be able to cheer on our sporting heroes at the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in 2012.

"I am thrilled that 10,000 troops and their families will be able to enjoy this important national event."

The deal is part of a London 2012 Ticketshare scheme where proceeds from prestige tickets are being used to provide tickets to worthy causes.

Lord Coe said: "At this time of year it is especially apt that we take time to think of our servicemen and women so I am delighted that the Ticketshare scheme will include them - and their families. The Games are rightly a source of great national pride - as are those who serve in the forces and I look forward to seeing some of them at the Games in the summer of 2012."

Olympics minister Hugh Robertson, himself a former Army major, said: "London 2012 will be a time for national celebration and pride and I am delighted that some of our forces will be able to attend the Games, given their dedication and commitment to our country.

"As a former serviceman myself, I know that our troops and their families will really appreciate this opportunity to enjoy the sporting spectacle of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games first hand."

Tickets for the Games go on sale in March 2011. All serving members of the armed forces and those medically discharged since the start of military action in Afghanistan in 2001 are eligible to register for tickets at www.ticketsfortroops.org.uk

 
.

More than 200,000 tickets to sporting, cultural, entertainment and cultural events have been secured for members of the forces and their families since Tickets for Troops was set up in 2009. London 2012 is urging people to sign up online - at www.tickets.london2012.com

 
- to register an interest in getting tickets.




#4067 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Sun Nov 14, 2010 2:10 am
Subject: 2018 bid team alarmed by BBC's World Cup exposé
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/2018-bid-team-alarmed-by-bbcs-world-cup-expos233-2131894.html


The BBC is to screen a Panorama documentary titled Fifa's Dirty Secrets less than three days before football's global governing body votes on the venue for the 2018 World Cup.

The programme, presented by the veteran investigative journalist Andrew Jennings, is being billed within the BBC as an inquiry into "corruption allegations against some of the Fifa officials who will vote on England's World Cup bid", according to internal BBC emails seen by The Independent. Jennings "exposes new evidence of bribery and accuses some executives of taking kickbacks", the emails say.

The timing is hugely contentious. The BBC plans to transmit it at 8.30pm on 29 November, just as Fifa officials and representatives of candidate countries – including Prince William, David Cameron and David Beckham – gather in Zurich for the vote.

The England 2018 bid team, which is due to make its presentation at 11am on 2 December, is fearful that the programme could scupper hopes of winning a tournament which is estimated to be worth £3bn to the British economy. "This could be the final nail in the coffin," said a source last night.

The bid team will be concerned to learn that Panorama promises that its investigation also covers the "Fifa financial bonanza if England hosts the World Cup" – suggesting the England bid itself comes under scrutiny.

The Fifa president Sepp Blatter, who has the deciding vote in the event of a tied ballot, has a long-held animosity towards Jennings, who is author of a book called Foul! The Secret World of Fifa: Bribes, Vote Rigging and Ticket Scandals. Jennings describes how he confronted the head of Fifa at the Abou Nawas Hotel in Tunisia in 2004, asking difficult questions about payments made to a Fifa official. "I'm not his favourite reporter," he wrote of his relationship with Blatter.

Such is the bid team's concern about the impact of the programme that its chief executive, Andy Anson, visited BBC director general Mark Thompson last week to ask him to move the transmission date. He was given short shrift. "We have been absolutely clear that the editorial independence and impartiality of the BBC is critical and sacrosanct," said a BBC source.

Mr Cameron has been desperately trying to shore up the England bid, mindful of the kudos that Tony Blair enjoyed after helping to win the 2012 Olympics for London. Yesterday in Seoul he went out of his way to meet Chung Mong-joon, vice-president of Fifa and, as president of Korea's FA, one of the 24 members of the executive committee who will decide where the 2018 tournament is played. "I was spending much more time on the World Cup than on the G20," said Mr Cameron.

Mr Blatter was invited to Downing Street last month to hear a presentation on England's bid and meet a delegation that included the Prime Minister, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt and the England manager Fabio Capello.

Following an investigation by The Sunday Times last month into alleged Fifa corruption – leading to two executive committee members being suspended – the Fifa president made dark comments about the British media. "One can ask whether such an action is appropriate, trying to set traps for people. It is a deeply rooted problem [with the UK media]," he said. "Who is benefiting from this situation and who is being harmed? We are asking ourselves why did it happen and why did it happen specifically by English journalists? We are looking at that."

The former sports minister Richard Caborn claimed the BBC's decision to screen the programme so close to the crucial vote showed that schedulers were primarily concerned with ratings. He has lobbied the programme makers to delay the transmission date.

Andrew Jennings: The journalist Sepp Blatter loves to hate

Distinguished by his mop of grey hair, Andrew Jennings is a buccaneering investigative reporter with 30 years' experience. He has made sport, and in particular the political chicanery of staging the Olympic Games and the World Cup, his specialist subject. As such he has become the bête noire of Juan Antonio Samaranch, the late former president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and more recently of Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, who has banned him from his press conferences.

Jennings delights in confronting targets on camera and once challenged a Scotland Yard detective by ambushing him on a country jog and running alongside him in a suit, firing off questions. His award-winning investigation into Olympics corruption in 2000 led to a book, The Great Olympic Swindle. His Panorama programme in 2004 exposed a Bulgarian IOC member accepting bribes for London's Olympic bid.

In his investigations into FIFA, Jennings has previously targeted Jack Warner, the Trinidad & Tobago football executive, who featured in a Panorama investigation, The Beautiful Bung: Corruption and the World Cup, in 2006.

In that programme, over images of Blatter, Jennings said: "This is one of the most unpopular men in world football, and he controls it. His name is Sepp Blatter and his organisation is in a bit of trouble, and I'm another. My name is Andrew Jennings and Mr Blatter can't stand me." After the broadcast of Panorama's FIFA's Dirty Secrets, Blatter is likely to like Jennings even less.



#4068 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Sun Nov 14, 2010 2:12 am
Subject: Londoners already offering homes for rental during 2012 Olympics
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http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2010/11/11/londoners-already-offering-homes-for-rental-during-2012-olympics/

The 2012 Olympics may be providing the capital with all sorts of new facilities, improved public transport, and an influx of tourists when London finally opens its gates to athletes and spectators in 18 months time. But for some savvy Londoners, 2012 is also proving to be an opportunity to earn a bit of extra cash on the side. As reported by Bloomberg, many London residents are already seeking the opportunity to rent out their properties to visitors during the Olympic period, much as the residents of SW19 take advantage of the influx of foreigners during the two weeks of The Championships at Wimbledon.

It is expected that over 320,000 people will travel to London for the 2012 Games, a considerable increase on the 250,000 that visited Barcelona in 1992, or the 150,000 who made the trip to Athens in 2004. And with hotel space in the capital limited, home-owners are offering themselves and their properties up as an alternative option. According to Bloomberg, property website LondonRentMyHouse.com already has 100 properties listed for 2012, with more and more signing up every day.

However, home owners need to heed the examples of the 2008 Beijing and 2000 Sydney games, where demand drove up prices to unreasonable rates, which may have contributed to empty seats.



#4069 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Sun Nov 14, 2010 2:16 am
Subject: London 2012: Olympics Souvenirs Made Abroad
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http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/London-Olympic-Games-2012-Most-Merchandise-And-Souvenirs-Made-Outside-UK-Says-Orla-Chennaoui/Article/201011215800542?lpos=UK_News_News_Your_Way_Region_3&lid=NewsYourWay_ARTICLE_15800542_London_Olympic_Games_2012%3A_Most_Merchandise_And_Souvenirs_Made_Outside_UK%2C_Says_Orla_Chennaoui

More than 90% of merchandise being sold on the official website for London 2012 is being made outside the UK, Sky News has discovered.

Of the 446 items for sale on the site, 67% are made in China and 18% in Turkey, while only 8% bear the hallmark "Made in the UK".

China not only manufactures the largest number of products, but the most popular ones - including the Olympic and Paralympic mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville.

Olympics organisers are expecting to raise £1bn from the sale of 2012 merchandise.

They are keen to stress that, while most of the souvenirs are made abroad, the majority of licensees are British.

London 2012 Chairman On Sky News’ Finding

"If you go through each of the licensees they're virtually all UK companies," said Paul Deighton, chief executive of the London Organising Committee.

"There are one or two who source their manufacturing from overseas, but that's really only in the case when there's no manufacturing left for that kind of product in the UK."

London 2012 Chairman Lord Coe said: "Where it is at all possible to procure British manufacturing, we will.

"Those licencees, where they have a domestic output potential - we will encourage that."

One Birmingham-based company, however, feels its specialist product could have been made at home.

London Olympics

Vaughtons made the Olympic and Paralympic medals for the 1908 London Games.

They were hoping to be considered for the lucrative contract of producing lapel pin badges for the Games, which are traditionally among the best sellers of any Olympics.

That contract went instead to Chinese company Honav, who manufactured the badges for the Beijing Games.

"We feel betrayed, there's no doubt about that, we feel disgusted, betrayed," said managing director Steve Hobbis.

Paul Deighton On Jeff Randall

Paul Deighton insists most products are licensed to UK firms

He admits that fulfilling the entire order may have been difficult for one UK company, but believes it would have given a boost to the entire industry.

"We couldn't have done it all. We would have maybe contracted out soldering, some of the stamping, maybe some of the enamelling. It could have been dealt with around the trade, around the area.

"There's lots of companies in the UK that could have assisted and at least they would have been made in the UK.

"It would have given a massive boost to the industry."

The fact remains that the organising committee LOCOG have to raise a total of £2bn in order to be able to stage the Games - even if that means the London 2012 souvenirs are not quite as British as they might appear.




#4070 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Sun Nov 14, 2010 2:21 am
Subject: London 2012 Olympics: 'spin before substance’ raises concerns of Olympic Legacy
juliancheyne
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/news/8127744/London-2012-Olympics-spin-before-substance-raises-concerns-of-Olympic-Legacy.html


The Government will launch its long-awaited Olympic Legacy Programme on Monday amid concerns from some sports governing bodies that the coalition has been more interested in favourable headlines than consulting widely on their plans. 

“To help shape the programme we have consulted with some individual national governing bodies. Unfortunately it has not been possible to engage widely because of the Government’s desire for a strong and positive impact at the point of announcement,” wrote Phil Smith, Sport England’s director of sport.

Sport England and the Department for Culture Media and Sport sources rejected concerns that this indicated spin was more important than substance in a project that has been a priority of sports minister Hugh Robertson.

It is understood that chief executives in three leading Olympic sports have given their endorsement to the programme.

The sources said that once the governing bodies saw the substance of the proposals, which will not be revealed to them until Monday, they would approve. “This is going to be a win for the sport because it is a fresh pot of money that they can access,” said one source.

The substance of the Olympic legacy has been a major issue for London 2012, which was won on a promise to transform sport in the UK. In the wake of the Comprehensive Spending Review, which produced 30 per cent cuts across sport and £160 million of school sports funding withdrawn altogether, the legacy package has become even more important.

It is understood that the legacy package will be entirely funded from the National Lottery.

It appears that the programme, which has been prepared in association with the British Olympic Association, will provide funding for facilities and volunteering programmes. It may also offer recipients some form of Olympic branding.



#4071 From: Katy Andrews <katyandrews2012@...>
Date: Mon Nov 15, 2010 4:21 pm
Subject: Meeting tomorrow evening
katyandrews2012
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There is a meeting onTuesday evening (16th)this week of the Users' Forum for
W'stow and Leyton Marshes with reps of the the Lee Valley Regional Park
Authority - who have been trying to de-designate Leyton Marshes as Metropolitan
Open Land so they can build a budget hotel on our Lammas Lands beside Lea Bridge
Road.
We gather this is part of the Olympics Legacy Masterplan - give us your public
open spaces and we'll give you a cheap and nasty hotelwith a few local jobs for
chambermaids, cleaner, portersand kitchen hands on minimum wages (I think this
is what they call "regeneration opportunities").
 The meeting is at 7pm at the ICE RINK by Lea Bridge (NOT at the Waterworks
Centre or Riding Centre, as previously).
 There will be a presentation by the Park abouit the Northern Olympic Fringe
Legacy Masterplan - which envisages high-rise flats on Marsh Lane Fields as well
as various developments on open space in the Lee Valley Regional Park.
 PLEASE come along if you possibly can and make your feelings known and please
pass this message on to anyone you know that might be interested to come and
find out more (and if necessary make a bit of a fuss).
Katy.

#4072 From: "leedelta07" <leedelta07@...>
Date: Mon Nov 15, 2010 5:23 pm
Subject: WANSTEAD: Olympic police HQ protest stepped up
leedelta07
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PROTESTS are being stepped up this weekend over controversial plans to use part
of Wanstead Flats as a police base during the London Olympics.

During the Take Back Wanstead Flats event on Sunday, November 21, opponents will
gather at the popular beauty spot to mark out a 'living map' of the proposed
site, which hosts fairgrounds and other events during the summer months...

Monday 15th November 2010 * By James Ranger
http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/8637851.WANSTEAD__Olympic_police_HQ_protes\
t_stepped_up/

#4073 From: Edward Hill <edhill@...>
Date: Mon Nov 15, 2010 5:48 pm
Subject: Re: Meeting tomorrow evening
edwardhill85
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Hi Katy

Blackheath is also Metropolitan Open Land, and LOCOG are currently trying to find ways of legally obtaining the right to use a part of if called Circus Field.  They need this so that they have space for facilities connected with the Greenwich Park Equestrian Olympics.

I cannot come tomorrow night, but I recommend that you contact Lionel Lewis who is a solicitor who has been involved in the NOGOE campaign in Greenwich, and in particular with the question of Metropolitan Open Land.  I am cc'ing this email to him so that you can get in touch.

Very best wishes   ....Edward
Edward Hill 
020 8858 9217



On 15 Nov 2010, at 16:21, Katy Andrews wrote:

There is a meeting on Tuesday evening (16th) this week of the Users' Forum for 
W'stow and Leyton Marshes with reps of the the Lee Valley Regional Park 
Authority - who have been trying to de-designate Leyton Marshes as Metropolitan 
Open Land so they can build a budget hotel on our Lammas Lands beside Lea Bridge 
Road.
  We gather this is part of the Olympics Legacy Masterplan - give us your public 
open spaces and we'll give you a cheap and nasty hotel with a few local jobs for 
chambermaids, cleaner, porters and kitchen hands on minimum wages (I think this 
is what they call "regeneration opportunities").
  The meeting is at 7pm at the ICE RINK by Lea Bridge (NOT at the Waterworks 
Centre or Riding Centre, as previously).
  There will be a presentation by the Park abouit the Northern Olympic Fringe 
Legacy Masterplan - which envisages high-rise flats on Marsh Lane Fields as well 
as various developments on open space in the Lee Valley Regional Park.
  PLEASE come along if you possibly can and make your feelings known and please 
pass this message on to anyone you know that might be interested to come and 
find out more (and if necessary make a bit of a fuss).
Katy.



#4074 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Mon Nov 15, 2010 11:35 pm
Subject: Olympic stadium contamination clean up costs revealed
juliancheyne
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http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=18975&channel=0&title=Olympic+stadium+contamination+clean+up+costs+revealed+

Cleaning up the Olympic stadium site will cost almost 13 million according to the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA).

The bill covers removal of radioactive and toxic waste the worst of which affected the banks of River Lea, which runs through the east London site.

In total the final clean-up bill will be 12.7 million with much of the work taking place on the ground where the Olympic stadium is under construction.

Years of heavy industry on the site has left the contamination with tests by the Environment Agency also finding pollution the River Lea which will need further work to clean.

Around 60,000m3 of contaminated soil was taken out from the site and almost as much ground water has also been remediated.

The Environment Agency said the costs were 'no great surprise' as it was only a small part of a huge sum spent on decontamination of the Olympic Park.


#4075 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Mon Nov 15, 2010 11:38 pm
Subject: Toxic waste clean-up on Olympic site cost taxpayers £12.7m
juliancheyne
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/nov/12/toxic-waste-clean-up-olympic

East London site was left 'grossly contaminated' by chemical storage facility demolished to make way for stadium
Banner Chemicals vacated its facility on the banks of the River Lea in east London in 2006 where significant quantity of industrial solvents had mixed with the groundwater. Photograph: Oda/EPA

The government has spent £12.7m cleaning up a part of the Olympic site in east London that was "grossly contaminated" with toxic waste left behind under a chemical storage facility that was bulldozed to make way for the main stadium.

The contamination, on a site formerly occupied by Banner Chemicals Group, is so severe that the remediation process will continue long after the Games finish, according to Environment Agency officials.

Banner Chemicals vacated its facility on the banks of the River Lea in east London in 2006. Later investigation revealed that a significant quantity of toxic industrial solvents had mixed with groundwater. Some of the heavier chemicals had sunk through the groundwater to a depth of 40 metres and entered the bedrock below.

"We thought that this would be a dirty site but it turned out to be much worse than we expected, grossly contaminated," said Stuart Hayes, a hydrogeologist at the Environment Agency who is overseeing the clean-up operation. So far, only the topsoil has been cleaned. The next and much more difficult stage is to clean up the deeper pollution, said Hayes.

The Environment Agency says that "no one business can be identified as having caused specific pollution," but Hayes and his colleague at the agency Ian Moxon said the nature of the contamination indicated that the pollution had almost certainly come from the Banner facility.

Banner Chemicals said it was not aware of groundwater pollution when the site was bought to accommodate the Olympic development. The company said that the history of industrial development on the Olympic site meant that the pollution could have originated from a different source.

The £12.7m cost of the clean-up, which was revealed to the Guardian in a Freedom of Information Act request to the Olympic Delivery Authority should not be covered by tax payers, said Darren Johnson, chairman of the London assembly environment committee.

"We are talking about a lot of public money here, and it's money that could have been better spent buying more electric cars for the Olympic fleet or installing more renewable electricity. The polluter should pay, and I plan to raise this issue formally with the mayor of London," he said.

According to the London Development Agency, Banner Chemicals Group was paid £12.6m for the land before the Olympic development began.

Tests by the Environment Agency have detected a plume of vinyl chloride in groundwater – a product of the breakdown of chlorinated solvents, one of the main chemicals handled by Banner. Dr Jason Gerhard, a hydrogeologist based at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, described this as particularly worrying. "Vinyl chloride is one of the most toxic organic compounds found in groundwater and it can cause damage to the liver and nervous system." Chlorinated solvents can persist for decades in groundwater and are converted into vinyl chloride by microbes.



#4076 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Mon Nov 15, 2010 11:41 pm
Subject: Bid to get a million Britons into sport runs out of steam
juliancheyne
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http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23897633-bid-to-get-a-million-britons-into-sport-runs-out-of-steam.do


A government target to get one million more Britons playing sport was abandoned today as the Coalition unveiled a strategy to create a sports legacy from the London Olympics.

Amid growing signs that the official benchmark for creating a more sporting nation by 2012 would be missed — with only one in five Londoners taking regular exercise — a new £135 million government strategy will focus instead on improving community sports facilities.

Stricter safeguards for playing fields and preventing school-leavers from dropping out of sport with a targeted coaching scheme were among the measures aimed at capitalising on the Olympic effect.

Minister for Sport Hugh Robertson unveiled today's plan amid mounting concern that coalition cuts were undermining sports legacy plans.

Labour's £140 million free swimming scheme has been axed, and the ring-fence around a £160 million school sports scheme was removed last month.

The Places People Play strategy will benefit from a £135 million cash injection over the next five years.

All the money will come from the National Lottery, which is now the main source of funds for grassroots facilities after drastic government cuts to funding of community sports were announced last month.

The move was made possible after the coalition Government plundered the Big Lottery fund, and allocated lottery cash instead to the original four “pillars” of arts, heritage, charities and sport.

In the programme, to be run by the Government's grassroots agency Sport England, there will be a £50 million fund for facilities, £30 million for improving regional venues, £10 million to protect playing fields and £32 million to target people aged 14-25 with training courses.

Mr Robertson called it “the cornerstone of a grassroots legacy from hosting the Olympic Games”.

Shadow Olympics minister Tessa Jowell said: “The legacy promise that we made in Singapore was to transform a generation of young people through sport. This additional money is welcome, but it goes nowhere near replacing the funds that the Coalition have already taken away from sport, particularly sport in schools. However they dress it up, the Olympic Legacy promise that we made to this country's young people is yet another promise that has been broken by the Coalition Government.”



#4077 From: "leedelta07" <leedelta07@...>
Date: Wed Nov 17, 2010 3:57 pm
Subject: Peoples Olympics Marathon slap in face for Lord Coes 2012 Marathon
leedelta07
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THE `People's Marathon' has been launched as a slap in the face for the 2012
Games organisers who have snatched the prestigious Olympics Marathon event away
from East London.

An angry London Citizens annual assembly at Walthamstow launched the fight back
last night to bring the marathon back to the East End.

Some 2,000 delegates from organisations, voluntary groups, churches, mosques and
youth clubs across London stood up en masse when the vote was called to show
contempt for Lord Coe's Olympics committee switching the 26-mile race to the
West End.

The People's Marathon ideal is being set up by Telco, The East London Citizens
Organisation, in partnership with the East London Advertiser which began the
fight back last month...

...The proposed People's `alternative' would run from The Mall through the City,
Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Newham "ending up where it should" at the Olympics
stadium being built at Stratford.

The move comes a week after Tower Hamlets' new mayor, lawyer Lutfur Rahman,
threatened Lord Coe's Olympics organisers with High Court action for breaching
their pledge to run the marathon through East London...

Mike Brooke, Features Editor Wednesday, 17 November, 2010
http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/people_s_olympics_marathon_slap_in_fa\
ce_for_lord_coe_s_2012_marathon_1_729253

#4078 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Thu Nov 18, 2010 1:59 am
Subject: School sports funding cuts will destroy 2012 legacy, says Olympic hero
juliancheyne
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/17/school-sports-funding-2012-olympics

Gold medallist Darren Campbell attacks cuts to £162m of ringfenced money for network of school sports partnerships

Olympic gold medallist Darren Campbell today claimed that government plans to axe £162m in ringfenced funding for school sport would destroy the legacy of the 2012 Games and damage future medal hopes.

The coalition plan, as outlined in the comprehensive spending review, to stop funding a national network of 450 school sport partnerships, delivered through a body called the Youth Sport Trust, has provoked a backlash from opposition MPs and sports figures.

They claim that withdrawing the ringfenced funding will effectively destroy large parts of the network, and leave the co-ordinators who administer it out of a job, because it is unlikely that enough schools will continue to contribute to keep it going.

"We talk about the London 2012 legacy, but if you have not got the infrastructure, there will not be a legacy. To rip the whole thing apart, I just don't get it," said Campbell, the former sprinter who acts as an ambassador for the Youth Sport Trust.

With the International Olympic Committee arriving in London yesterday for a three-day inspection visit of preparations for the 2012 Games, the issue of its legacy will be particularly sensitive.

"Five years ago, when London won the bid for the Olympics, we made a promise to the international community and the people of this country – to transform a generation of young people through sport," said shadow Olympics minister Tessa Jowell, who still sits on the 2012 board and has riled government counterparts by speaking out on the issue.

"With the eyes of the international community on London, the coalition government is placing this legacy in danger, in clear contradiction to everything that the Olympics should mean for our country."

At a select committee-style hearing at which around a dozen Labour MPs quizzed Campbell, school sport co-ordinators and headteachers about the changes, it was claimed that primary schools in particular would be adversely affected.

"In 1997, Labour inherited a school sports system in the doldrums. We changed all that to ensure that every child had the opportunity to take part in high-quality sport, including competitive sport. All this is now under threat," said shadow education secretary Andy Burnham.

"Just when we are working to inspire young people across the globe through our international Olympic and Paralympic legacy, our own children are being let down. It's good that David Cameron is supporting our World Cup bid in Zurich, but he needs to pay more attention to the damage his government is doing to the grassroots of sport here in the UK."

The row has led to a war of words over Labour's record. It points to an increase in the number of pupils able to take part in two hours or more of school sport a week – from 25% to more than 95% – while the coalition claims that the money invested through the Youth Sport Trust was not spent efficiently and there was not enough focus on inter-school competition.

"Labour's approach on school sport failed," said a government source. "Despite billions of spending last year, the proportion of 11- to 15-year-olds who played sport each week actually fell and one in five children still do not play competitive sport against other schools.

"We will provide support for a competitive school sport revolution by giving thousands of young people the chance to take part in competitions within and between schools, with the best competing at Olympic and Paralympic-style school sport competitions in 2012. If the Labour party believes continuing their failed approach is the answer, then they need to explain which other areas of public expenditure should be cut to fund it."



#4079 From: Katy Andrews <katyandrews2012@...>
Date: Thu Nov 18, 2010 5:09 pm
Subject: Wanstead Flats SUNDAY 21st November
katyandrews2012
Send Email Send Email
 
Reclaim the Flats!
Encircle the area the Police want to fence off during the 2012 Games!
2pm at the Fairground area by Central Road on Sunday afternoon.

Please do come along - the policeoriginally wanted the facility at Leyton
Marshes; they may try to move it back there if the Wanstead people are
successful, and we will then need Wanstead's help to stop it on our marshes!

We don't want it anywhere on our hard-won public open spaces!!

Hope to see everyone on Sunday 21st.
Katy.

#4080 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Fri Nov 19, 2010 1:28 am
Subject: London 2012 Olympics: organisers heavy-handed approach harms very people they should be helping
juliancheyne
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/8141607/London-2012-Olympics-organisers-heavy-handed-approach-harms-very-people-they-should-be-helping.html


British sports have been left high and dry by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games in its edict about tickets for 2012.

Many national governing bodies believed that they would be able to access a pool of tickets – for which they pay face value – to use to market or promote their sport.

What better way to drive membership than having the opportunity for new members to win some Olympic tickets? Or reward hard-working, long-standing volunteers. Or even generate some revenue through private donor programmes?

For several years the sports understood that they would have access to these tickets, outside the public ballot, but they would have to pay for them.

But they also understood that they could use the tickets in a third party sense to help raise revenue or membership. Sports are now upset the goalposts appear to have moved and providing them solely for staff smacks of favouritism and insider dealing.

The sports have already been squeezed by the joint marketing agreement between the British Olympic Association and Locog that has drained the total amount of money available for sports sponsorship arrangements.

This joint deal has enabled Locog to go to the market place as the only significant Olympic player and as a result, more than £650 million has gone into the Locog budget by way of corporate sponsorship.

The sports, many of whom struggle to stay afloat, are unable to use the London 2012 Olympic Games in any corporate sense, lest it impact on the existing Olympic sponsors.

As of this week, the organisers also have a new concern over the timing of Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton and its potential impact on the March ticket launch or July’s one-year-to-go celebrations.

Locog, of course, is trying to protect the integrity of ticket sales, which need to raise £500 million towards its £2.15 billion operating budget.

But it seems bizarre that the sports and their athletes – which are central to the Olympic Games – are hamstrung in their attempt to make maximum use of a very small number of tickets.

A benefit of new members, more athletes, a bit more money, is a legacy worth striving for. Surely the sports could be allowed a little leeway?



#4081 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Fri Nov 19, 2010 1:36 am
Subject: London 2012 Olympics: sports warned they must not use free ticket allocations to reward loyal fans
juliancheyne
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/8140958/London-2012-Olympics-sports-warned-they-must-not-use-free-ticket-allocations-to-reward-loyal-fans.html

Plans by UK Athletics to reward loyal fans with tickets to the 2012 Olympics from its own allocation have been vetoed by London organisers. Instead, it will hand out tickets to its own staff.


Each of the governing bodies of the 26 Olympic sports in Britain has been given the right to buy tickets for the Games ahead of next year’s public sale, with the deadline for applications on Friday.

Individual sports can expect to receive anything from a few hundred to several thousand tickets in the case of high-capacity Olympic competitions, such as athletics and hockey.

But the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games has imposed strict rules barring sports from making any of their tickets available to the public, insisting that they are reserved exclusively for the people who run or organise their sport or for the governing bodies’ sponsors.

The edict has forced UK Athletics to abandon an idea to use the tickets to drive a new membership scheme. Its plan was for supporters to earn loyalty points by attending other athletics meetings, with those with most points earning the right to buy Olympic tickets.

“Our initial plan was to buy as many as we could and use them for athletics fans who support the sport year in, year out,” said a UK Athletics insider.

“They would apply using some sort of fan club element and we were going to use it to drive a membership scheme. But the problem is that we can’t use them in that way at all.

“It would have been a fantastic way to drive membership, but we’re just not allowed to do it, which is such a shame. I tend to think we’re missing the point here. This could have been a great way for sports to modernise their fan clubs.”

UK Athletics now plans to distribute its tickets to sponsors such as Aviva and McCain, while all of its employees, including administrative and secretarial staff, will be offered two tickets for a day’s action during the Games.

“It will be a thank-you to them because they all contribute in some way, shape or form,” the UK Athletics source said.

Locog insists that members of the public should have access to tickets only through the general sale, which opens in March, and not through governing body allocations.

It was swift to clamp down on British Wrestling earlier this week for conducting what was effectively a public sale by advertising on its website for governing body “members” to send in their ticket requests before tomorrow’s deadline. The item was later removed from the website.

British Swimming is hoping Locog’s rules on its tickets being only for people who “organise” the sport will stretch to volunteer organisers at community level, whom it hopes to reward with seats for the aquatics centre, though it remains unclear whether grassroots volunteers will be eligible or whether they will be classified as members of the public.

A Locog spokeswoman said volunteers might be considered but each case would be decided on its merits once all the governing bodies’ ticket requests had been received.

David Sparkes, British Swimming’s chief executive, said he had submitted a detailed “wish list” of ticket requests, including the names of deserving volunteers who had made outstanding contributions to the sport.

“It’s a great opportunity to reward people who give up so much of their time for no reward,” he said. “But if that is against the rules, so be it.”

Ticket applications from the governing bodies are being coordinated by the British Olympic Association, which will collate their requests before forwarding them to Locog.



#4082 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Sun Nov 21, 2010 2:10 am
Subject: Vancouver taxpayers stuck with Olympic village costs
juliancheyne
Send Email Send Email
 

http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Vancouver+taxpayers+stuck+with+Olympic+village+costs/3859982/story.html



Vancouver taxpayers are on the hook for millions of dollars a month in interest payments for the troubled Olympic village project, and there are no plans to start selling the empty condos again until next year.

Expenses for building maintenance and security and other costs are adding as much as $1.5 million a month to the multimillion-dollar interest payments.

Moreover, the court-appointed receiver Ernst & Young has the power to borrow as much as $7.5 million to carry out its job.

The figures emerged this week as part of the backdrop for the city's extraordinary demand to put Millennium Southeast False Creek Properties into a "negotiated receivership" over the $740 million it owed for two taxpayer-funded loans.

Under the deal, Ernst & Young has taken over the village, now called Millennium Water, on behalf of the city, which also will get access to a modest array of other commercial and personal assets pledged as security by Millennium's owners, Peter and Shahram Malek.

The carrying costs to the city are far less than the amounts the now-ousted owners of the former Olympic athletes' village had to pay, the city said Thursday. That's because the bank interest rate the city pays is less than half the rate it was charging Millennium Developments.

When the city stepped in Wednesday and took over the controversial real-estate development, Millennium was accruing interest on two taxpayer-funded loans at the rate of about $4.4 million a month. The city had agreed to loan the company money at a rate of seven per cent, far less than what Millennium had been paying under a previous arrangement with Fortress Management, an American hedge fund, but higher than what the city will have to pay.

At the time of receivership, Millennium's daily interest costs on a $560-million construction loan were $107,000. It also chalked up another $39,000 a day in interest on the balance of the $171 million it owed on the land it bought from the city.

In arranging the loans for Millennium, the city borrowed money at between 2.5 and three per cent, then tacked on four per cent to cover the city's carrying costs and profit.

Under the receivership deal, the city will only have to pay the base interest rate on the money it borrowed.



Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Vancouver+taxpayers+stuck+with+Olympic+village+costs/3859982/story.html#ixzz15sYJvJnU


#4083 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Sun Nov 21, 2010 2:12 am
Subject: Air transport group critical of Brazil's airports
juliancheyne
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jbmvk8GQBdnZ6b0hBGgUYp1WAwJw?docId=467a76828976409caf883b0a49c08092


RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil's overburdened airports cannot meet demand and are a "growing disaster" that could embarrass the country during the upcoming Olympic games and World Cup if they aren't improved, the head of the world's top airline association said.

The language used by Giovanni Bisignani, CEO of the International Air Transport Association, to describe Brazil's overwhelmed airports at an industry conference Thursday was some of the harshest criticism yet leveled at the nation on the topic.

"Brazil is Latin America's largest and fastest growing economy but air transport infrastructure is a growing disaster," he told industry leaders at a meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association in Panama. The organization represents 230 airlines around the world.

"To avoid a national embarrassment, Brazil needs bigger and better facilities for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics," Bisignani said. "But I don't see progress and the clock is ticking. The time for debate is over."

Brazil's robust economic growth has resulted in increased demands on air travel. Thirteen of the country's 20 largest domestic airports cannot accommodate existing demand, and the situation is critical in Sao Paulo, South America's biggest international hub, Bisignani said.

The rapid growth has resulted in regular and massive delays for air travelers in Brazil.

Experts have said aviation problems stem from chronic underspending on radar, runways and other infrastructure. Safety upgrades, backup systems and even training for air traffic controllers have been put off for years.

Bisignani's comments were pointed, but he isn't the first one to voice concern.

The International Olympic Committee has expressed doubt about the country's ability to upgrade airports ahead of the games. Earlier this year, Rio 2016 committee president Carlos Arthur Nuzman said the IOC's principal concern was the apparent lack of planning to revamp airports.

Committee spokeswoman Elaine Correia acknowledged improvements are essential, but said that the committee trusts the government will fulfill on time the promises it made in Rio's candidacy bid.

Brazilian business leaders have also sought the government's assurance that delays in these important infrastructure projects would not harm the country's image abroad.

Government officials, on the other hand, have repeatedly sought to calm anxieties over the country's preparedness.

Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim told the privately run Agencia Estado news agency on Friday that Bisignani's comments were vastly overblown, and made without real knowledge of the situation.

There are problems in Sao Paulo's airport, but construction in one terminal is almost over, and a new one is being built, Jobim said from the capital, Brasilia.

"These matters are being attended to," Jobim said. Infraero, the government agency that oversees airport infrastructure, is part of the Defense Ministry.

Rio is a sound tourist destination, and already hosts approximately 3 million foreign visitors a year. The World Cup is expected to increase tourism by 5 percent, and the 2016 Olympic games, by 10 percent, but according to Brazil's tourism board, Embratur, the country will invest an estimated $14.4 billion in Rio over the next five years to handle the flow.

Most of that money — 72 percent — will be used to bolster infrastructure, including roads, airports, hotels, and sports venues.

Sports Minister Orlando Silva has pointed out that Brazil's airport authority, Infraero, is set to invest $3.1 billion to guarantee that the airports in particular are ready before the World Cup. He has also sent observers to South Africa, which hosted the World Cup last year, to take note of how that country dealt with similar shortfalls.

In an interview with The Associated Press in June, Silva acknowledged the country isn't "at full speed" when it comes to transportation facilities, but said that improving airports was a top priority.



#4084 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Sun Nov 21, 2010 2:15 am
Subject: London 2012 must keep its promise over athletics legacy warns Sergey Bubka
juliancheyne
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http://insidethegames.biz/summer-olympics/2012/11137-london-2012-must-keep-its-promise-over-athletics-legacy-warns-sergey-bubka

November 20 – Sergey Bubka, one of the most influential figures in world sport, has tonight accused London 2012 of going back on its promise to guarantee a legacy for athletics after it hosted the Olympics and Paralympics.


The Ukrainan, the senior vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and an influential member of the International Olympic Committee, has warned London that it should honour the promise it made when it was bidding for the Olympics and Paralympics and that the Stadium should not be given to Premier League Tottenham Hotspur, who have already said that they will rip up the running track.

A visibly agitated Bubka stated that such a scenario would not only be a huge blow for athletics, but also see London completely backtrack on the plege they made when they were awarded the Games in Singapore in 2005 to have an athletics legacy at the stadium.

Bubka: "I call it a gentleman's agreement.

"It means when we say something, we shake the hand and we deal.

"In 2005 in Singapore, London promised to us to deliver [an athletics] legacy after the Olympic Games.

"It was guaranteed to us that the track would remain.

"I was chairman of the Evaluation Commission for the 2015 World Athletics Championships.

"We visited London [who bid to host the event before pulling out earlier this month] and we discussed all the information.

"The main criterion was that the track would remain.

"For me, I would not even discuss this issue because it was promised in 2005.

"What is the problem for the UK to maintain one Olympic Stadium [for athletics] with a history, with a track, with everything?

"Reduce the capacity in seating; yes that is fair and that was agreed, but continue to have athletics.

"This needs to be done to keep the faith also.

"To keep the faith in terms of what was asked and what was promised in 2005.

"If we need, we can talk [to the Olympic Park Legacy Company] but my point is why do we even need to talk about that?

"They just need to remember; we just need to remind them."

Earlier this week UK Athletics chairman Ed Warner admitted that Britain had a poor record of keeping promises it made when it bid for major events.

Britain were forced to pull out of hosting the 2005 World Championships when the Government failed to keep a written guarantee that then Prime Minister Tony Blair had made to fund a new stadium at Picketts Lock to stage them.

An earlier bid for the World Championships was also abandoned after the Government failed to keep its promise to build a track at the redeveloped Wembley Stadium.

Olympic_Stadium_aerial_view_November_2010_2

Bubka said: "The situation is getting very bad and very critical.

"The UK is a very strong athletic country.

"I think a country like London, with their great athletics history and powerful economy must have at least one major athletics track."

If Britain fails to keep its promise to retain an athletics legacy at the Olympic Stadium it could also be a major setback to Sebastian Coe, the chairman of London 2012, who has ambitions to be the next President of the IAAF.

His main opponent is expected to be Bubka, the 1988 Olympic pole vault champion and world record holder.

Bubka claimed that he is seeking urgent talks with Coe over the situation and will try to persuade him that the bid from Tottenham's Premier League rivals West Ham United, who have promised to keep the track, is the one chosen.

He said: "I know that Seb always tries [to ensure and athletics legacy] and that it is a very painful issue for him.

"I just hope the track will be maintained.

"This is not just about a building, this is about inspiring youngster in the UK but hosting major athletics events in a major venue in the country.

"This is about health and encouraging healthy lifestyles and about image and the image of London.

"I would say this is now a matter of dignity."

Bubka added that building another athletics venue separate to the Olympic Stadium should Tottenham take over the stadium, would be counter-productive.

He said: "The Olympic Stadium is the Olympic Stadium and is perfect for an athletics legacy.

"The plan was presented and everyone must stick to that so why do you need to move to somewhere else?

"If London wants to host the 2017 World Athletics Championships, there would be no chance [without the Olympic Stadium].

"For me, the promise, the gentleman's agreement on the track, is already done"


#4085 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Sun Nov 21, 2010 2:18 am
Subject: TUC urges IOC to ensure 2012 is exploitation free
juliancheyne
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http://news.uktemps.co.uk/uncategorized/tuc-urges-ioc-to-ensure-2012-is-exploitation-free/

As a delegation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) begins a three-day visit today (Friday) to the site of the London Olympics, the TUC is urging them to ensure that no workers involved in the delivery of the 2012 Games are exploited.
As the head of the Olympic movement, the IOC has a duty to ensure that the Olympics has ethical principles at its core, and this includes ensuring that workers are not badly treated, says the TUC.
The delivery of the London Games involves workers from around the globe, from the textile workers stitching footballs to the construction workers building the Olympic stadium and the various arenas.
The TUC is anxious for London 2012 to be free from the serious labour rights abuses that were uncovered in the run up to the last three Olympic Games - Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.
Before the last three Olympics, groups representing workers producing clothing, sportswear and toys found widespread evidence of poverty wages, child labour, union busting and forced overtime.
After several requests, the IOC met with international Play Fair campaign representatives in 2004. The IOC has since done little to implement the concrete and workable proposals made to it concerning how to eradicate exploitation from supply chains, and Play Fair campaigners are keen to meet with IOC officials again.
In the run up to London 2012, the TUC has agreed principles of co-operation with the Olympic Delivery Authority and LOCOG - which set standards for the London Games workforce.
In addition the TUC and Labour Behind the Label are running Playfair 2012, a campaign to ensure fair treatment of and respect for the rights of workers in all the supply chains producing sportswear and Olympic merchandise.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: ‘Being in the host city of the next Olympic Games gives the IOC a great opportunity to step up and publicly commit to ensuring that the rights of all workers involved in this and all future Games are respected, and that no-one is exploited in the name of the Olympic ideal.’


#4086 From: "paulthodge" <pt.hodge@...>
Date: Sun Nov 21, 2010 4:30 pm
Subject: Olumpic legacy down the plughole.
paulthodge
Send Email Send Email
 
#4087 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Sun Nov 21, 2010 11:04 pm
Subject: TUC urges IOC to ensure 2012 is exploitation free
juliancheyne
Send Email Send Email
 


 

http://news.uktemps.co.uk/uncategorized/tuc-urges-ioc-to-ensure-2012-is-exploitation-free/

As a delegation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) begins a three-day visit today (Friday) to the site of the London Olympics, the TUC is urging them to ensure that no workers involved in the delivery of the 2012 Games are exploited.
As the head of the Olympic movement, the IOC has a duty to ensure that the Olympics has ethical principles at its core, and this includes ensuring that workers are not badly treated, says the TUC.
The delivery of the London Games involves workers from around the globe, from the textile workers stitching footballs to the construction workers building the Olympic stadium and the various arenas.
The TUC is anxious for London 2012 to be free from the serious labour rights abuses that were uncovered in the run up to the last three Olympic Games - Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.
Before the last three Olympics, groups representing workers producing clothing, sportswear and toys found widespread evidence of poverty wages, child labour, union busting and forced overtime.
After several requests, the IOC met with international Play Fair campaign representatives in 2004. The IOC has since done little to implement the concrete and workable proposals made to it concerning how to eradicate exploitation from supply chains, and Play Fair campaigners are keen to meet with IOC officials again.
In the run up to London 2012, the TUC has agreed principles of co-operation with the Olympic Delivery Authority and LOCOG - which set standards for the London Games workforce.
In addition the TUC and Labour Behind the Label are running Playfair 2012, a campaign to ensure fair treatment of and respect for the rights of workers in all the supply chains producing sportswear and Olympic merchandise.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: ‘Being in the host city of the next Olympic Games gives the IOC a great opportunity to step up and publicly commit to ensuring that the rights of all workers involved in this and all future Games are respected, and that no-one is exploited in the name of the Olympic ideal.’



#4088 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Sun Nov 21, 2010 11:05 pm
Subject: Vancouver taxpayers stuck with Olympic village costs
juliancheyne
Send Email Send Email
 


 

http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Vancouver+taxpayers+stuck+with+Olympic+village+costs/3859982/story.html



Vancouver taxpayers are on the hook for millions of dollars a month in interest payments for the troubled Olympic village project, and there are no plans to start selling the empty condos again until next year.

Expenses for building maintenance and security and other costs are adding as much as $1.5 million a month to the multimillion-dollar interest payments.

Moreover, the court-appointed receiver Ernst & Young has the power to borrow as much as $7.5 million to carry out its job.

The figures emerged this week as part of the backdrop for the city's extraordinary demand to put Millennium Southeast False Creek Properties into a "negotiated receivership" over the $740 million it owed for two taxpayer-funded loans.

Under the deal, Ernst & Young has taken over the village, now called Millennium Water, on behalf of the city, which also will get access to a modest array of other commercial and personal assets pledged as security by Millennium's owners, Peter and Shahram Malek.

The carrying costs to the city are far less than the amounts the now-ousted owners of the former Olympic athletes' village had to pay, the city said Thursday. That's because the bank interest rate the city pays is less than half the rate it was charging Millennium Developments.

When the city stepped in Wednesday and took over the controversial real-estate development, Millennium was accruing interest on two taxpayer-funded loans at the rate of about $4.4 million a month. The city had agreed to loan the company money at a rate of seven per cent, far less than what Millennium had been paying under a previous arrangement with Fortress Management, an American hedge fund, but higher than what the city will have to pay.

At the time of receivership, Millennium's daily interest costs on a $560-million construction loan were $107,000. It also chalked up another $39,000 a day in interest on the balance of the $171 million it owed on the land it bought from the city.

In arranging the loans for Millennium, the city borrowed money at between 2.5 and three per cent, then tacked on four per cent to cover the city's carrying costs and profit.

Under the receivership deal, the city will only have to pay the base interest rate on the money it borrowed.



Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Vancouver+taxpayers+stuck+with+Olympic+village+costs/3859982/story.html#ixzz15sYJvJnU



#4089 From: "leedelta07" <leedelta07@...>
Date: Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:45 pm
Subject: WANSTEAD: More than 100 gather for Flats protest
leedelta07
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MORE than 100 people gathered on Wanstead Flats to protest against the planned
Olympic police base there yesterday (Sunday).

The Metropolitan Police force put in a planning application this week for a
temporary headquarters, including four marquees, 30 cabins, a kitchen, stables,
kennels and more than 370 parking spaces, surrounded by a three metre-high
fence, to be used for 30 days during the 2012 Games.

The protesters outlined the area of the proposed base between Lake House Road
and Centre Road in police tape...

http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/rbnews/8679554.WANSTEAD__More_than_100_gat\
her_for_Flats_protest/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
22nd November 2010

#4090 From: nickdrake <nickdrake@...>
Date: Mon Nov 22, 2010 2:47 pm
Subject: Counter Olympics Network social friday
nick.drake89
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hi all,

  we're putting on a CON (counter olympics network) social this friday
  from 7pm at LARC.

  there'll be short films about the olympics in London and other
  countries, speakers from olympics campaigns, music and drinks.

  hope to see you there for fun and planning.

  flyers attached

  helen

#4091 From: julian cheyne <juliancheyne@...>
Date: Tue Nov 23, 2010 4:29 am
Subject: Robertson says Bubka is "playing politics" over track ultimatum
juliancheyne
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http://insidethegames.biz/summer-olympics/2012/11143-exclusive-robertson-says-bubka-is-qplaying-politicsq-over-track-ultimatum

November 22 - Hugh Robertson, the Minister for Sport and Olympics, has suggested that Sergey Bubka - who has warned London to honour its promise of delivering an athletics legacy from the 2012 Games by keeping the athletics track inside the Olympic stadium - is indulging in political showboating.


He has insisted any suggestion of a guarantee the track would stay would leave London 2012 liable to legal action on behalf of the Tottenham bid, which, unlike that of rivals West Ham, has no place for a track.

Ukraine's senior vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), also an influential member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is seen as a likely rival for the position as President to the man whose words finally persuaded the IOC to award the Games to London in 2005, Sebastian Coe.

Robertson, who recently announced London's withdrawal from bidding for the 2015 World Athletics Championship in the wake of the Government's latest spending round, told insidethegames: "I would expect Sergey to be upset - I mean, he's unlikely to stand up and say 'I'm a Spurs fan'.

"But he's also in the midst of running for an election himself.

"Sergey is in an interesting position, I think, over this, in terms of how he is positioning himself for the future.

"And then, of course, there are other vice-presidents in the mix closer to home, and maybe some internal IAAF politics going on."

The Minister denied the fact that London had now failed to follow through on bids to hold the 2003, 2005 and 2015 versions of the IAAF World Championships had compromised Britain's sporting reputation and undermined the promise made by Coe to the IOC when the bid was won in 2005 to deliver an athletics legacy from the Games.

"That is absolutely wrong," Robertson insisted.

"We will deliver an athletics legacy from London 2012, and the scope and shape of that will be apparent once the bidding process is gone through.

"Until we have been through that process we are bound by very strict legalities and so can't make further promises than that.

Sergey_Bubka_in_front_of_IAAF_logo

"The issue with the World Athletics Championships is that they require a particular legacy outcome, and if we were to guarantee that we would without a shadow of a doubt have been sued by the other bidder, and that would have ensured that both the Government, and by extension, London 2012, ending up in court - that wasn't a risk we could run.

"In the criteria for the bids they had to demonstrate how they would leave an athletics legacy in place, so that is non-negotiable.

"The exact scope of how that is left is up for grabs - it's as simple and as complicated as that."

The Minister was speaking as he visited the latest initiative of the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, "Backing Talent in Kent", held at the University of Kent in Canterbury, close to his parental home.

He described the IAAF as "slightly getting ahead of themselves", adding: "Everybody in sport is going to lobby for their particular interest and I absolutely understand that.

"By the same token, the UK taxpayer has invested half a billion pounds in building that stadium, and we have to ensure that the public gets value for money.

"We are in the midst of a bidding process.

"The very fact there are a number of consortia bidding for the use of the Olympic stadium tells you it is a very valuable asset.

"Competition in that bidding process is important to drive its value, and that's why we have to go through the process without pre-judging it one way or the other.

"I'm very aware that the IAAF have one particular view - there are other bidding parties that have another.

"What is absolutely clear to me is that we will deliver an athletics legacy from London 2012.

"The exact shape of that will be clear once this process is over."


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