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#1
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I have today read a letter written in today's "Daily Telegraph" from
Ken Livingstone. It is in reply to an article written 2 weeks ago (presumably he took 2 weeks to reply whilst gladhanding at Londoners' expense his friends in the People's Republic). It makes reference to the fact that the Reuben brothers have a "stake in land at the heart of the [proposed 2012] Olympic site" and that if they do not comply with his wishes, "the Olympic Development Authority has the right to step in and do the work itself. Unfortunately this could mean an additional £600 million cost, which would need to be met by the taxpayer... [equaivalent to] a £250 contribution from each of London's taxpayers". It would seem that the Reuben brothers have been dragging their heels in allowing the development, as was apparently the case with their behaviour in the Stratford Station redevelopment, and at White City. So, what can be deduced from this? 1. The Olympic bid was made on a false prospectus that all of the land needed for the 2012 Olympics was readily available. 2. That the taxpayer will be expected to underwrite any landholder's recalcitrance. 3. That any problem that arises will be dealt with as follows: (a) Seek the landholder's better nature and ask him to agree, and if that fails (b) require the taxpayer to buy him out. This is scandalous, and if an extra £600 million is already being bandied about within a year of the winning bid for 2012, can you imagine the extra costs that are going to be incurred by the time the Olympics are actually held?! Marc. |
#2
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![]() wrote in message ups.com... I have today read a letter written in today's "Daily Telegraph" from Ken Livingstone. It is in reply to an article written 2 weeks ago (presumably he took 2 weeks to reply whilst gladhanding at Londoners' expense his friends in the People's Republic). It makes reference to the fact that the Reuben brothers have a "stake in land at the heart of the [proposed 2012] Olympic site" and that if they do not comply with his wishes, "the Olympic Development Authority has the right to step in and do the work itself. Unfortunately this could mean an additional £600 million cost, which would need to be met by the taxpayer... [equaivalent to] a £250 contribution from each of London's taxpayers". It would seem that the Reuben brothers have been dragging their heels in allowing the development, as was apparently the case with their behaviour in the Stratford Station redevelopment, and at White City. So, what can be deduced from this? 1. The Olympic bid was made on a false prospectus that all of the land needed for the 2012 Olympics was readily available. 2. That the taxpayer will be expected to underwrite any landholder's recalcitrance. 3. That any problem that arises will be dealt with as follows: (a) Seek the landholder's better nature and ask him to agree, and if that fails (b) require the taxpayer to buy him out. This is scandalous, and if an extra £600 million is already being bandied about within a year of the winning bid for 2012, can you imagine the extra costs that are going to be incurred by the time the Olympics are actually held?! Marc. Where does the £600 million come from and who does it goto? If the OA can just step in, problem solved. Why are the Reuben bros being so uncooperative? |
#3
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According to Livingstone's letter, the £600 million will come from the
taxpayer and go to the Reuben brothers (or the company in which they have an interest). If, by "OA", you mean the Olympic Association, that does not seem to be the case, according to the letter from which I have quoted. I have no idea who the Reuben brothers are, but if they are the sort of money-making businessmen that Livingstone is accusing them of being, then this ought to have been known earlier, and it is negligent not to have taken into account their effective veto BEFORE the bid was made. To answer the question you ask, I (who have no interest in sport or the Olympics whatsoever) too would be "uncooperative" with Livingstone if that were a way to make money! Marc. |
#4
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In message , Aosmosis
writes This is scandalous, and if an extra £600 million is already being bandied about within a year of the winning bid for 2012, can you imagine the extra costs that are going to be incurred by the time the Olympics are actually held?! It was always clear that any over-run would most likely have to be picked-up by London tax payers - and there is ample precedent for serious over-runs on many previous Olympics, so it was always predictable and will probably become worse. I'm just astonished that so many Londoners appeared to have been in favour of a London Olympics - I wasn't for precisely this reason. -- Paul Terry |
#5
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Paul Terry wrote in
: In message , Aosmosis writes This is scandalous, and if an extra £600 million is already being bandied about within a year of the winning bid for 2012, can you imagine the extra costs that are going to be incurred by the time the Olympics are actually held?! It was always clear that any over-run would most likely have to be picked-up by London tax payers - and there is ample precedent for serious over-runs on many previous Olympics, so it was always predictable and will probably become worse. I'm just astonished that so many Londoners appeared to have been in favour of a London Olympics - I wasn't for precisely this reason. If you lived in East London as I do, you'd be in favour too. Have you seen some of the areas they're developing? They're eyesores. Any regeneration is good. Furthermore, if it improves the transport links, then even better. I don't mind paying a bit more council tax as a result (I know my house will go up in value when we have all those nice parks and stadia around the corner - the legacy is tremendous). I reckon my house has gone up by 20% since the announcement was made. Well worth paying £250 more per year over six years! I know the improved transport links should have been carried out anyway, but even if they do the right thing for the wrong reason, at least they're doing it. And hopefully this whole Reubens nonsense will sort itself out, and the cost will be averted anyway. Furthermore, there are a couple of other very good reasons, namely: National pride - it's a huge honour to host the Olympics, and this being such a sport-loving nation, it's about bloody time. I'm delighted to show off my lovely city to so many people. Sport - apart from the various free events like the walking and the marathon (which will go right close to my house!) I will get, as a local resident - tickets to see quite a lot of the non-track and field events for free (this was promised by Tessa Jowell in the run up to the bid, let's hope she keeps her promise). My family are coming over from Spain and I'm already allocating my garden space for tents on a first-come first-served basis for friends and family. This is going to be a wonderful occasion that I'll never forget. The legacy of the stadia, and the gentrification of a particularly ugly part of the capital (eg Hackney Wick). The fact that we'll win loads of medals etc (home nation always does well), and as I said, I'm a sports fan. Beach volleyball in Horse Guards Parade... need I say more? ;-) |
#6
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" I reckon my house has gone up by
20% since the announcement was made. Well worth paying £250 more per year over six years! " Yeah, well writing as someone (like about 54 million others) who doesn't live in an East End slum, and to whose house the Olympic fiasco will add not one penny of house value, I'm happy for those who benefit to finance the project, but why should the rest of us have to pay anything? National pride: I am content with what we have (and have had for almost 1,000 years): a relatively stable, democratic country with a rich cultural lie which has exported its experience and benefits to about 1/3 of the globe in one form or another. The Birthday of Her Majesty The Queen, like her Golden Jubilee 4 years ago, an the 50th and 60th Anniversaries of D-Day and V.E/V.J. days sums it all up for me - and none of these cost anything like the sums being poured into the Olympics. Marc. |
#7
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Tristán White wrote:
I'm just astonished that so many Londoners appeared to have been in favour of a London Olympics - I wasn't for precisely this reason. If you lived in East London as I do, you'd be in favour too. I live in East London and I'm not in favour. Maybe it's because I don't own my home so am not going to cash in on it. Have you seen some of the areas they're developing? They're eyesores. Any regeneration is good. They said this about the Millenium Dome... |
#8
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![]() Tristán White wrote: Paul Terry wrote in : In message , Aosmosis writes This is scandalous, and if an extra £600 million is already being bandied about within a year of the winning bid for 2012, can you imagine the extra costs that are going to be incurred by the time the Olympics are actually held?! It was always clear that any over-run would most likely have to be picked-up by London tax payers - and there is ample precedent for serious over-runs on many previous Olympics, so it was always predictable and will probably become worse. I'm just astonished that so many Londoners appeared to have been in favour of a London Olympics - I wasn't for precisely this reason. If you lived in East London as I do, you'd be in favour too. Have you seen some of the areas they're developing? They're eyesores. Any regeneration is good. Furthermore, if it improves the transport links, then even better. I don't mind paying a bit more council tax as a result (I know my house will go up in value when we have all those nice parks and stadia around the corner - the legacy is tremendous). I reckon my house has gone up by 20% since the announcement was made. Well worth paying £250 more per year over six years! I know the improved transport links should have been carried out anyway, but even if they do the right thing for the wrong reason, at least they're doing it. And hopefully this whole Reubens nonsense will sort itself out, and the cost will be averted anyway. Furthermore, there are a couple of other very good reasons, namely: National pride - it's a huge honour to host the Olympics, and this being such a sport-loving nation, it's about bloody time. I'm delighted to show off my lovely city to so many people. Sport - apart from the various free events like the walking and the marathon (which will go right close to my house!) I will get, as a local resident - tickets to see quite a lot of the non-track and field events for free (this was promised by Tessa Jowell in the run up to the bid, let's hope she keeps her promise). My family are coming over from Spain and I'm already allocating my garden space for tents on a first-come first-served basis for friends and family. This is going to be a wonderful occasion that I'll never forget. The legacy of the stadia, and the gentrification of a particularly ugly part of the capital (eg Hackney Wick). The fact that we'll win loads of medals etc (home nation always does well), and as I said, I'm a sports fan. Beach volleyball in Horse Guards Parade... need I say more? ;-) You now bring the total of "so many Londoners" in favour of the Olympics that I am aware of to two. I have lost count of everyone else in London I've spoken to who is not in favour. But we were never formally asked. The personal CVs of Sebastian Coe and Ken Livingstone are far more important than the opinions of millions of people who will be paying for having their city and its transport links blighted. The Olympics will not improve transport links other than to a wasteland (remember North Greenwich?). Other much-needed projects are being cut back (with a possibility of hugely expensive resurrection later) so that works aren't going during the Olympics. Is there not still time for it to be given to Paris? |
#9
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"Is there not still time for it to be given to Paris?"
Surely, there must be - especially since it now seems that one of the voting countries made a mistake when voting! Moreover, very little seems to have been done in London so far, and even if the costs to date were written off it would be but a fraction of what we are going to have to pay for the Olympics, even by the most optimistic estimates! Marc. |
#10
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![]() "Tristán White" wrote in message 09.145... I reckon my house has gone up by 20% since the announcement was made. Well worth paying £250 more per year over six years! The selfishness of this statement is staggering. I reckon the Olympics shold be held here, but a special tax on East London property owners like yourself should pay for as much of it as possible. It is wrong that Livingstone should be taking money out of the pockets of people living in slums in North Kensington and pouring it into the poskets of wealthy landowners in Stratford. |
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