SJ_Skyline

BBC NEWS | Politics | Mayor denies Olympic cost 'mess'

Red Ken and Tessa Jowell contradicting each other, are the olympics really worth however many billions? Well, if Ken ends up a permanent feature of the foundations then I say yes!

Tidgy

events like this always cost more than planned because the organisers are crap at doing it, or there are too many hands in the cookie jar, too many people demanding to be allowed there say or approve things.

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

It also doesn't help that the government are wacking a 1 billion pound VAT bill ontop of the project, if the games are such a major opportunity for England then the government should be bending over backwards to make it a success rather than sting it for an extra and unnecerssary billion, IMHO they should write off the VAT bill and show commitment to putting the Great back in Great Britain.

PeteBrant

Apparantly EU law prevents them from writing off the VAT - I am unconvinced...

This is the government that spent £4 billion on a computer system that doesn't work, they couldn't organise a **** up in a brewery. It will be delivered on time no doubt, I mean there isn't an option there - but at what cost?

Izzy

I personally feel it's a waste of money... The powers that be talk about all the benefits that would be brought to the area & sure, the area would benefit from large scale re-development, but they dont need the added hyped-up costs of a 3 week sports event for it to occur.

Tidgy

using steel prices for increase is bollox, the company providing the steel frames will have been aware of price increases for ages, and will have bulk ordered material already at a set price. transport does go up, but thats y they do quotes (estimates don't existing in building trade on large sacle because of possible huge price changes) and they also allow for it.

the extra costs will be variations to contract, aka they have changed there mind what they want, so it falls back to the organisers aka client

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

Which they then intend to trash and build houses on after the games.

Why not leave the facility as a mahoosive sports centre and accomodation etc, here in Munich we still have the Olympic park from when Munich held the Olympics in the 70s I think. The germans didn't spend millions building a complex then trash it, it is still here as a reminder of something great that happened and is an exhibition centre and park for the public. The swimming pool is still used and other facilities. Typical British mentality, build it at vast expense then trash it for summat else at vast expense, rather than use it for its intended purpose, they could use it as a sports academy for our up and coming athletes rather than turn it into 35,000 new homes.

POC

oi spud, we still on for the second? you never replied to my message :@

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

I was AMAZED to see Tessa Jowell and Lord Coe explaining how they really wanted the Olympics so that they could be used to regenerate the area they area to be sited in, (London, AGAIN!!!)

If regeneration was the basis, why the fek aren't they being held in the North-East, the North West, or on Humberside, areas CRYING OUT for investment and regeneration?

Alcazar

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

Because if it was up norf they could not build 35,000 houses on the site after the games and sell them for 250k+ each could they??

sbk1972

Lets take the Millenium Done as an example of labour plans / construction. £500M - £1B ? Total waste of money. That amount could provide a new hospital in every city, instead now we are shutting down.

Olympics - Another total waste of time / money. Athens ? anyone been there since the last Olympics left ? a total mess, run downed load of crap.

This country is falling apart at the seems. Instead of the Olympics, lets spend the money of the NHS, child support, roads. Im not interested in watching a load of individuals running round and round a track. If I wanted to see that, I would sit on one of the foot bridges over the M25 !

Anyway, surely all that cash can be invested into homes for all the new immgrants coming over now. New homes, lots of leather jackets and quality H Sammual gold for them to wear.

SBK

OllyK

Let's not. NL have thrown billions at it and yet the service still stinks. The NHS doesn't need more money, it needs to get rid of the red tape and bureaucrats and actually get trained bodies and facilities in.

sbk1972

OllyK - Fair play, but I would rather the money be spent of NHS machines than shotputs / javalins.

SBK

SlimJ_2005

Went to the Sydney Olympic park a couple of years back and its an amazing complex. The Australian's are really proud of the place and are still using it today for other sports such as the tennis, Aussie Rules footy, Rugby etc, and the swimming area is now a public pool.

It's nice to see they've kept it as it should be and not dismantled it and built houses on the land, but I guess Australia is very sport proud and wouldn't want that to happen.

This country, once the 3 weeks, the area will just be left to rot I guess! Thats providing they get it done on time, highly unlikely...

Bonehead

Of course it's going to be an embarresing joke - it's our wonderful government at work.

The only thing they're good at is making a complete f**k up of things.
They're very very good at it though so expect the games to be huge laughing stock for the rest of the world if and when they finish it..

I'd imagine the price'll keep growing during the next few years.

paulr

It'll be way over budget but we'll end up loving it. The whole thing will be great for this country and i for one cant wait to go down.
What else are we to spend our money on anyway,its not like we are short of a few quid as a nation.

_RIP_

Elitist pap. It will surely end up another white elephant, like every other olympic stadium before it. Dome II