Lords Olympics debate asks tough 2012 questions

Sadly Lord Falconer remarked at the end that while he had answers for all of them, there had been so many that he would need to write to the individuals concerned at a later time in response.
I would certainly like to see these responses, particularly Falconer's answer to this question from Lord James of Blackheath about the media centre on Hackney Marshes: "When we first heard of the development plans for the 2012 Olympics, we were told about the media centre which was going to be placed on Hackney Marshes. It was going to cost £14 million and was to be sold as a going concern afterwards to recover the cash. We very swiftly found that it was going to cost £42 million, not £14 million, three times the original cost. We have had no update since then about whether it is to be sold as a going concern. Can we please be informed whether it is there as a permanent entity? Will the nation own it, or will it be sold as a commercial venture? Is the money coming back for it? Can we have an update on what happened there, please?"
I would like to have a look at the answer to these questions from Lord Glentoran:
"Is the Minister confident that the contingency funding allocated to the Olympic village can be recouped by May 2010? Can he update the House on whether progress has been made to find a permanent tenant for the Olympic stadium after the Games? The LDA has run up an overdraft in acquiring the land; it has also budgeted for land receipts set at 2007 levels. This has caused a twofold problem of spending more than it thought and potentially getting back less than it expected. Can the Minister explain further how the land value receipts will be balanced in the LOCOG or ODA budgets and what impact that will have on their sponsorship targets and ticket pricing?
I thought Baroness Valentine pitched up with a good idea for use of the park before the Games too.
She said: "I recently visited the site again. It is an impressive hive of well managed, bustling activity, huge progress and is a remarkable transformation. The park may even be completed a year early. In a rather British way, we seem to be regarding this as a problem. Surely we should regard it as an opportunity. Why not offer the many companies that have contributed to building the park the opportunity to lease all or part of the park for a week at a time, to show international clients around? This would animate the park, show off what British business can do, and generate an income to cover some of the caretaking costs."
Perhaps of most concern, although a little outside of this blog's remit, was Lord Berkeley's concerns about air pollution in London and in particular these comments: "Sadly, however, there are serious problems of air quality in the Stratford area and in London generally which, unless they are tackled urgently by the Government and the Mayor, could mean that the main Olympic site will be in breach of air quality limits during the Olympics. Do we want them to be called the high-pollution Games? I do hope not."