It's seven months until the 2012 Olympics begin, and money is running tight, but London is so far avoiding the chaos that has marred the run-up to previous Games, writes MARK HENNESSY, London Editor
IN PAST OLYMPIC GAMES, the agenda in the months leading up to the opening ceremony has been dominated by the sight of half-completed stadiums, stories about corruption or budgets spiralling out of control. In London, though, it’s locals complaining about parking changes during the Games that is filling radio airtime. That must be a mark of the relative success of the project, which is under the command of the Olympic gold medallist Sebastian Coe.
This does not mean the track ahead is free of hurdles. In December, the UK’s National Audit Office warned that if the Olympic Delivery Authority and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games ran into budget problems in the new year, they would have very little money to play with. So far, the equivalent of €10.5 billion has been spent, leaving €705 million in a contingency fund. When bills that are almost certainly going to arise are calculated, it means the organising committee has just €43 million in free cash. Already the prime minister, David Cameron, has added to the pot, giving an extra €48 million to pay for the opening-night extravaganza deemed necessary by all Olympic organisers to imprint the Games on the minds of billions of TV viewers.
The cost of security was significantly underestimated, however, which means thousands of British military will swap their fatigues for a month or so to act as gatekeepers at venues around the city.
In 2006, the organising committee believed it would need 10,000 guards, at a cost of €339 million. But after a closer look by the company and its contractor this year, it found that 23,700 would be required, costing at least €665 million.
As well as offering the services of soldiers as security guards, the British military, the Metropolitan Police and intelligence agencies must also worry about the threats posed by terrorists. RAF Typhoons are to be moved from bases in Scotland and eastern England to Northolt, in north London, to provide air cover within minutes should it be needed. Ground-to-air-missile crews will be stationed throughout the city. Marines and the SAS will be stationed in the Thames on HMS Ocean, the largest ship in the navy, to respond to dangers by helicopter, while uniformed and plain-clothes armed officers will be stationed inside the grounds.
The audit office reported that construction was “91.9 per cent complete by the end of September 2011, against a target of 92.5 per cent”, with 14 of the 26 projects completed and handled satisfactorily. “The remaining projects are on track, although elements of the Athletes’ Village remain tight for handover to the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games,” it said, adding that transport improvements are running to schedule or already completed.
Any budgetary problems have not come in construction, as the Olympic Delivery Authority has so far spent the equivalent of €8.5 billion of the €9.7 billion it had been allocated, even though it ended up having to pay the full cost of the media centre and athletes’ village.
Transport, however, is proving a major headache. The organising committee and Transport for London, which runs the Tube and buses in the city, acknowledge they will be unable to brief employers and others fully on the issue until next March, instead of last November, as originally planned. A slew of traffic-regulation orders will then follow, which will see parking fines rise to £200 for the duration of the Games, the biggest clamping campaign in the UK and significantly widened no-parking zones. The parking plans are expected to apply 13 hours a day, seven days a week, within a 30-minute walk of each Olympic and Paralympic venue.
The plans are expected to affect 400,000 houses and a million motorists who previously have not needed permits, and some local- government experts warn that problems with number-plate recognition systems will lead to tens of thousands of wrongly issued fines.
Clamping and towing fines could rise to as much as £500 to ensure that the 175km of roads being set aside, partially or completely, for Olympic traffic are kept clear. So-called Zil lanes, named after the routes reserved for the cars loved by Soviet leaders, will be kept clear for VIPs.
Tens of thousands of Londoners are expected to leave the capital while the Games are on, but there are concerns even so about the number of visitors, foreign and domestic, who will turn up to watch the Games or just enjoy the atmosphere. Up to 500,000 visitors staying overnight, along with 5.5 million day-trippers, are expected – although so far not many people have been booking breaks in London. The European Tour Operators’ Association, whose members bring millions of tourists to the city each year, says bookings are down 90 per cent during the Games.
British culture secretary Jeremy Hunt says he is optimistic. “We have just had, or we are in the middle of, a global economic crisis. This is a very difficult time for the European economy in particular, and I don’t think it is particularly surprising to see those numbers at this stage.”
Martine Ainsworth-Ellis of London Partners, the official promotional organisation for London, is equally sanguine. “Travel habits have changed dramatically over the past five or six years. Five or six years ago people would be planning three or six months in advance. Now travel patterns, certainly to London, are a bit different, and people will leave maybe just a week’s notice, or a couple of weeks’ notice, to come to London, so we think we have still got plenty of time to be able to persuade people.”
With his usual bluff confidence, London mayor Boris Johnson – who will not be in office to welcome the Games unless he wins the mayoral election in May – said, “Gloomadon-poppers who continue to have their doubts about the Games should be ignored . . . I genuinely believe that when the Games are under way, we will look back at the anxieties as a kind of Millennium Bug that never materialised.”
Irish Olympic opportunity: Stalled on starting line
Irish politicians have been unerringly consistent in having eloquent, blue-sky ideas on sport in Irish life. Gay Mitchell spoke of the Olympic Games in Dublin, Bertie Ahern had grandiose ideas about a national stadium and in 2007 John O’Donoghue celebrated the prospect of a “golden opportunity” for Ireland if London was awarded the 2012 Olympics.
But the grand statements have not delivered, and there is a good reason why the Irish hub has been left in the blocks: the country has little to offer Olympic athletes.
Olympic Council of Ireland president Pat Hickey (right) said last year that few nations would take up Ireland’s offer to use the country as a pre-Olympics base. Even the Irish team proved him correct: it is going to Lensbury, an old Shell Oil country club in Teddington in London. From there they will walk to St Mary’s (Strawberry Hill), where they have the use of world-class facilities.
In an ironic twist, a recent Irish press trip to London to view the facilities the Irish team will use came in the same week that trenches were dug across the historic Belfield running track at University College Dublin as the first stage of turning it into a car park. In Strawberry Hill journalists were told it cost £100,000 to lay a new running track on the grounds there last year.
By last summer, as the London Olympic Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games was disbursing grants of up to £25,000 for Olympic teams that would use any of its 600 approved Olympic sites around Britain, Ireland had nailed down just four foreign teams to come here to train. We can now happily add an Olympic qualification tournament in hockey next March.
Two of the teams, the Hungarian and British water-polo teams, have been here and gone, leaving only the US synchronised-swimming team, the UK Paralympic swimming squad and the hockey players.
There may be more to come, but any thoughts of a grand influx of international Olympic teams and their money have been hopelessly off the mark.
In June, the organising committee said more than 80 international federations had committed to doing their pre-Olympic training in centres all over Britain. It was also certain that the number would dramatically increase over the course of next year.
At the end of November, Hickey resigned from a task force established to help Ireland capitalise on the staging of the Olympics, citing the lack of progress in providing the world-class facilities. That came as no surprise. Johnny Watterson
Travel tips: Going, staying and enjoying
TravelSo far, airlines seem not to have increased fares to London, so early booking is advisable.
StaySpeak very, very nicely to London-based relatives and friends to see if you can borrow a bed. Hotels will be pricey, with many still not saying what they will charge, according to TripAdvisor. Try to rent a flat or house if you intend to stay for the duration: a multiplicity of websites are offering options, with sharing an affordable choice.
TransportBuy an Oyster card for public transport – single-journey tickets are exorbitant. Try to avoid taxis, as drivers are looking for higher charges during the Games. They could also be in short supply, so be prepared to walk.
EatSome restaurants and other venues are signing up for the Visitors' Charter launched by London mayor Boris Johnson, promising not to fleece tourists. Before travelling check out visitlondon.com/tag/london-visitor-charter. Sample the city's ethic restaurants, which often offer great-value options. Try Time Out magazine or an online guide such as squaremeal.co.uk for suggestions.
