June 2011 Archives

Tottenham Hotspur have made a recent habit of coming from behind to win.

Notable comeback victories were notched against Liverpool, Fulham and Arsenal last season, with the latter ending a 17-year wait for a victory at Arsenal after Spurs twice came from behind to win 3-2 at the Emirates.

So, perhaps it should have been no surprise that Spurs would be so persistent in its fight to block West Ham United's move to the Olympic Stadium.

The White Hart Lane club was given until 4pm yesterday to decide what to do about last week's rejection of a judicial review.

It would seem Tottenham Hotspur are refusing to accept defeat after at the hands of the decision by Judge Mr Justice Davis, despite warnings to thing twice about appealing.

The club will now have a chance to make a case in an oral hearing at the High Court.

The Telegraph's Paul Kelso makes some interesting points about Spurs' appeal being a potential political hot potato with regard to their alternative stadium development plans at White Hart Lane, which will require public sector backing.

As Kelso adds though, for their part, Spurs believe that they were receiving so little support from government that they had nothing to lose from the challenge.

We await the next installment in this battle with interest...

The Olympic Delivery Authority has moved to praise the 1,000+ women construction workers of the London 2012 venues.

A total of 877 women have worked on the Olympic Park with a further 166 working on the Olympic Village.

Although the numbers represent just 3% of the total Olympic construction workforce, it is commendable to note that it is three times the national average for the sector.

The ODA always said the Olympics would be a chance for women construction workers to "blaze a trail".

The ODA's Women into Construction project was established in 2008 even before building work had begun.

Since then women have held jobs across all trades including electricians, bricklayers, carpenters, traffic marshals, engineers, plumbers, dumper-truck drivers, security guards and signallers.

Training opportunities have been laid on to 362 while employment support was laid on for a further 580 workers.

London Assembly chair Jennette Arnold now wants to see all developers and construction firms learning from the Women into Construction template and looking to hire women on all their projects.

How do you keep elite athletes and the community happy all under one roof?

That's always been one of the key questions facing Olympics chiefs when it comes to planning for the legacy of the Olympic Park venues.

And if you add to that the need to strike the right accord with the taxpayer, then it's easy to see why the London Assembly's Economy Culture and Sport Committee is taking a closer look at proceedings in East London.

An investigation has been launched into the future plans for the 2012 aquatics centre, handball arena, VeloPark, Eton Manor and the hockey centre.

The committee will hear from legacy planners and industry experts at public meetings during the summer. A full report is expected to be published in the autumn.

ECS committee chair Dee Doocey said: "Each of the venues presents a different challenge, but our priority is to ensure that the Olympic Park Legacy Company get the right balance between cost to the taxpayer and fair access for London's elite and amateur athletes."

Meanwhile, great to see that Tower Bridge will play a "starring role" in the Olympics with illuminated Olympic rings set to adorn the world famous bridge during the Games.

Making the most of London's globally recognisable and truly historic sights can help make the Games something extra special and the great success that the organisers obviously and rightly crave.

Interesting to see that EasyJet is going to begin flying to and from Southend in Essex from April 2012 - in time for the Olympics.

And what's more, it will be the quickest option of any of the major airports in terms of getting to the Olympic Park in Stratford - 44 minutes on the train to be precise.

After a quick play around on The Trainline I found Stansted is about 55 minutes away, Gatwick is 1 hour 15 mins and Heathrow is 1 hour 25 mins.

EasyJet is hoping to serve around 800,000 passengers from Southend in its first year with 70 flights a week.

Bosses have said it will make Southend the "gateway to the Olympics" from cities such as Milan, Madrid and Berlin.

The question is whether Olympic chiefs will now be pondering spending some cash in the Southend area given that many European visitors first taste of the Games will now be the Essex town...

With just over a year to go to the London 2012 Olympics, the build programme is now more than 80% complete.

I was given a tour of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and my exclusive images show how the Games' venues are taking shape.

I learned several interesting things on the trip including that a recruitment drive is currently underway to find a headteacher for the new Cobham Academy school, next to the Athletes' Village. It is an appointment that OPLC chairman Margaret Ford says is the most important for the future success of the park, determining the success in attracting families to the area.

It is great to see the venues taking shape - four are now complete. And my favourite? Has to be 'The Pringle'.

Click play below to see a slideshow of my visit and click again on any of the images to find out a bit more more about each venue.
 

It has been a busy week when it comes to all things Olympic.

Sir Robin Wales, mayor of Newham - where two-thirds of next year's Games will take place - has blasted the Government over recent cuts.

Newham has had its budget handout from central Government cut by 8.9% and Wales warns that the Coalition is jeopardising London's growth.

This is despite the huge sums poured into the likes of the Olympic Park. But Wales is concerned over whether jobs will go to local residents without more budgetary support.

Elsewhere it is being reported by the Evening Standard that AEG has launched a bid to run the handball arena and aquatics centre after the Games.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company told me that they had received several bids, but wouldn't be drawn on whether AEG was one of them.

But the company has already shown its willingness to be involved in future uses in the park having teamed up with Tottenham Hotspur in the failed attempt to become the tenants of the main stadium.

That bid of course lost to West Ham United and Newham Council and this week there was suggestions that the Hammers are lining up a naming rights deal with Westfield for the stadium.

Figures of £20m have been flying around which could well be the missing chunk of change needed to fund the £100m cost of converting the 80,000-seat Olympic stadium into a 60,000-seat football stadium post Games.

The other cash is coming in the shape of a £40m loan from Newham and an estimated £40m for West Ham's current Upton Park home.

Meanwhile a fourth venue at the park has completed - the 12,000-seater basketball arena.

I am off for a tour of the park tomorrow and will be very keen to see the finished article - it has orange and black seats, like the colours of a basketball.

Olympic chiefs are now facing a potential seven week race against the clock to pick a £500m Olympic Village winner.

The Olympic Delivery Authority confirmed this week that its three shortlisted firms all submitted best and final bids by the deadline of 31 May for the purchase and long term management of the village in east London.

The official line from the ODA is that it "will now begin evaluating these bids before a final decision is expected to be made later in the summer."

The ODA told me that it is unlikely to provide much more of a commentary on the process or timings involved until the stage where a final decision is ready to be announced.

But it has previously stated that any decision will need to be cleared by ministers which puts a potential deadline of 19 July on the table before Parliament goes into summer recess.

The alternative is that the decision will slip back into the autumn with the House of Commons not due to return from the summer recess until after 5 September.

It is undoubtedly a difficult decision to make as the bids from the three players - Delancey/Qatari Diar, the Wellcome Trust and Hutchison Whampoa - are all particularly strong representing interest from across the world.

The question is, can they be separated in the next seven weeks? If not, we could be waiting the best part of three months for a winner...