Quite interesting House of Commons debate on Thursday, 30 March 2006:

John Randall (Uxbridge, Conservative) said:

"I look forward to the 2012 Olympic games ....

The council tax bills that have just gone out carry a small surcharge for
the Olympics. Many people in West London are concerned that they will not
get much in return, as Londoners will not get reduced-price tickets for the
various events. Another annoyance concerns the restoration of the old
Uxbridge Lido. Its outdoor nature will be retained, but an indoor swimming
pool and a leisure centre will be added. Hillingdon Borough has enough money
for a 25m pool, but we would like the lido to have an Olympic-size, 50m
pool. The official bodies responsible for British swimming say that such a
pool is desperately needed in west London.

We were told that there was a good chance that success in the Olympic bid
would lead to some extra funds for the lido restoration. That extra money
would make it possible to go for the larger pool - even though the local
authority would prefer to stick to the 25m size, as it is cheaper to
maintain. Somehow, though, the money has not appeared, from any source. All
the help seems to be going to other areas of London.

That is a shame, and a wasted opportunity. Many constituents write to me to
complain about the money being spent on the games, and I should be delighted
to be able to tell them that at least we had something to show for it. I
hope that the matter can be drawn to the attention of Ministers at the
Department of Culture, Media and Sport, although from time to time I
correspond with them about the matter."




Oliver