Final Olympic Costs......?

[ThePinkOne]

In the wake of the logo fiasco, I see the Olympic budget is well under control...NOT.

See this article:

More delays for Olympic stadium - Building

I wonder how much more the prices will increase over the next 5 years and how much therefore will be taken from real sport support to pay for this monstrosity? Those who are in charge of and support this fiasco should IMO hang their heads in shame.

P.

[BobCat]

Originally Posted by ThePinkOne

Those who are in charge of this fiasco should IMO hang their heads in shame.

P.

I think we should just hang them!

[Tom]

If the final cost comes in at under £20bn I will be very surprised.

[phil_r_58]

We seem to get this all the time, millions are wasted on the bids for the present and future games. All this money seems to involve sending a huge committee of elderly men all over the world on a non stop merry-go-round of money, gifts, and banquets. The same committee that would drop something like archery to make room for more meaningful sports, such as ladies beach volleyball if they could.

So wow, Britain gets to stage the Olympics, it will probably be damp, wet, drizzly and be a disaster like other big events. All this money being spent on new buildings and infrastructure, for LONDON.

OK, it's the capital city, but at one end of the country. So the whole of the UK has massive travelling distances to get there. And when they do, there is nowhere to park, hotels are massively expensive. The land and building costs are the highest in the UK because it is London. You could use the trains, if you want to risk being late or not getting there at all. Or maybe you like being treated worse than cattle in transit.

And what after the Olympics. London will have a new stadium, but the rest of us will be hundreds of miles away from it. Maybe a 50 metre swimming pool, miles away from 90% of the country. Lots of new housing built for the event, which will probably end up in the private sector.

It's often suggested in so many circles, why not build it somewhere permanent, like Greece, where the whole idea came from in the first place. Everybody contributes to their countries athletic village etc. The weather in Greece is reliable and warm. Not too hot like some countries, or very high up such as Los Angeles, where athletes struggle with the altitude. A country geared up totally for tourism anyway. But that would mean the Olympic officials gravy train ending perhaps. Even though it would be the best for the sporting world saving billions of pounds over the years, that would be better spent actually supporting athletes.

And what about the politics involved. The current Olympics will be in China, a country with an appalling record of civil rights and poverty. How many corrupt countries with tyrannical dictatorships have piled in billions to get the games. Then have used it to proclaim they are not such bad people really.

Yes there will be a media blitz for a few weeks. Some of the high profile supporters like MP seb Coe will bask in glory. But it will soon all be forgotten. The private companies involved will of course have gained millions of pounds in profit from the government and lottery funds. Will the extra housing that is built go to doctors, nurses, ambulance men, firemen, teachers etc. Or will it end up in wealthy peoples hands ? Like all the good housing in London, where the aforementioned public servants are being driven out ?

Rant over !!!!
Phil ducks and runs away, in preparation for getting shot down in flames

[Tommy B]

£20 billion? I doubt if that will be the final figure. Six months before the games start they'll realise that everything is behind time and will throw away the budget with one hand and throw money (our money) at the project with the other. No-one will have a clue what has been spent until the private investers have taken their profits, the organisers have their knighthoods and the new stadia need expensive modifications. Then us taxpayers (particularly in London) will finally realise how much they will be paying for the rest of our lives. We've seen it all before, just not on this mega-scale.

[Peter Galbavy]

All modern Olympics just seem to me to be a feeding trough for a bunch of corrupt and corpulant free-loaders. If there ever was a modern day "Emporer's New Clothes" then the organisation of the Olympics is first in line.

[Old Bloke]

Bought a Lottery scratchcard tonight. Won £2.00 for a £1.00 stake. Looked at the small print on the back It states that 28% of the £1.00 will go to the lottery good causes. It also states that in the case of the good causes it is to set up the fund for the Olympics. Hmm...looks like all the other good causes are going to find it hard to get a penny from the lottery the closer we get to the olympics, and it is hard now, now that funding has been cut for these other good causes.

[danda]

A bit biased against London, I think!

Access will be just the same for Londoners as for anyone else in the country. If you lived here you would be inured to the crappest public transport on the planet. You become resigned to the fact that getting anywhere takes ages.

And Stratford is on the Central line, in the news last week for a spot of trouble and a while ago for a bolt problem. Someone had a wrong trousers moment, and the motors were falling out of the trains left, right, and (mostly, to be honest) centre.

I am not encouraged.

At least there will be no congestion at Lords. You and both the other spectators will have a train to yourselves.

A Velodrome? They always build Velodromes... Who on earth uses the things? (Rhetorical.)

[BobCat]

Originally Posted by phil_r_58

Phil ducks and runs away, in preparation for getting shot down in flames

I think most are with you, and there is no one left to shoot at you !!!

[cornish george]

Originally Posted by danda

At least there will be no congestion at Lords. You and both the other spectators will have a train to yourselves.

A Velodrome? They always build Velodromes... Who on earth uses the things? (Rhetorical.)

And dont forget that they are spending £16 million building a pistol shooting arena, which will then be knocked down again for another £8 mill, we get an old cricket pitch