4. NLTK for Shine.ipynb

{
 "cells": [
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 1,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "import os\n",
    "import nltk\n",
    "import wordcloud\n",
    "import json\n",
    "import spacy\n",
    "from spacy.lang.en.stop_words import STOP_WORDS as en_stopwords\n",
    "from spacy.lang.pt.stop_words import STOP_WORDS as pt_stopwords\n",
    "from spacy.lang.es.stop_words import STOP_WORDS as es_stopwords\n",
    "import sys\n",
    "from nltk.stem import WordNetLemmatizer\n",
    "from nltk.corpus import wordnet\n",
    "from nltk import ngrams\n",
    "from sklearn.feature_extraction.text import CountVectorizer, TfidfVectorizer\n",
    "import pandas as pd\n",
    "import warnings\n",
    "warnings.filterwarnings(\"ignore\", category=DeprecationWarning)"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 2,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "def get_stopwords(lang):\n",
    "    if lang == 'english':\n",
    "        df_stopwords = set(en_stopwords)\n",
    "        custom_stopwords = set(['olympics', 'olympic', 'london',\n",
    "                                'rio', 'legacy', '2012', '2016',\n",
    "                                'said', 'caption', 'image', 'years',\n",
    "                                'd','s','t','m','n','ve', 'll', 'xe2', 'x80', 'x99', 'x99s', 'nthe', 'lda', '000', 'xc2'])\n",
    "        return df_stopwords | custom_stopwords\n",
    "    elif lang == 'portuguese':\n",
    "        df_stopwords = set(pt_stopwords)\n",
    "        custom_stopwords = set(['legado', 'olimpico', 'london',\n",
    "                                'olímpica', 'londres', 'rio', 'legado',\n",
    "                                'olímpico', '2012', '2016'])\n",
    "        return df_stopwords | custom_stopwords\n",
    "    \n",
    "    \n",
    "def my_tokenizers(doc):\n",
    "    words = nltk.word_tokenize(doc)\n",
    "    return [word for word in words if len(word) > 2]\n",
    "\n",
    "def get_top_n_words(corpus, stopwords, n=20):\n",
    "    vec = CountVectorizer(stop_words = stopwords).fit(corpus)\n",
    "    bag_of_words = vec.transform(corpus)\n",
    "    sum_words = bag_of_words.sum(axis=0)\n",
    "    words_freq = [(word, sum_words[0, idx]) for word, idx in vec.vocabulary_.items()]\n",
    "    words_freq =sorted(words_freq, key = lambda x: x[1], reverse=True)\n",
    "    return words_freq[:n]\n",
    "\n",
    "def get_top_n_bigram(corpus, stopwords, n=20):\n",
    "    vec = CountVectorizer(ngram_range=(2, 2), stop_words = stopwords).fit(corpus)\n",
    "    bag_of_words = vec.transform(corpus)\n",
    "    sum_words = bag_of_words.sum(axis=0)\n",
    "    words_freq = [(word, sum_words[0, idx]) for word, idx in vec.vocabulary_.items()]\n",
    "    words_freq =sorted(words_freq, key = lambda x: x[1], reverse=True)\n",
    "    return words_freq[:n]\n",
    "\n",
    "def get_top_n_words_tfidf(corpus, stopwords, n=20):\n",
    "    vec = TfidfVectorizer(stop_words = stopwords).fit(corpus)\n",
    "    bag_of_words = vec.transform(corpus)\n",
    "    sum_words = bag_of_words.sum(axis=0)\n",
    "    words_freq = [(word, sum_words[0, idx]) for word, idx in vec.vocabulary_.items()]\n",
    "    words_freq =sorted(words_freq, key = lambda x: x[1], reverse=True)\n",
    "    return words_freq[:n]\n",
    "\n",
    "def get_top_n_bigram_tfidf(corpus, stopwords, n=20):\n",
    "    vec = TfidfVectorizer(ngram_range=(2, 2), stop_words = stopwords).fit(corpus)\n",
    "    bag_of_words = vec.transform(corpus)\n",
    "    sum_words = bag_of_words.sum(axis=0)\n",
    "    words_freq = [(word, sum_words[0, idx]) for word, idx in vec.vocabulary_.items()]\n",
    "    words_freq =sorted(words_freq, key = lambda x: x[1], reverse=True)\n",
    "    return words_freq[:n]"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 146,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "lang = 'english'\n",
    "directory = 'g-dailymail'"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 147,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "directory1 = 'bbc'\n",
    "directory2 = 'businessinsider'\n",
    "directory3 = 'buzzfeed'\n",
    "directory4 = 'citymonitor'\n",
    "directory5 = 'gamesmonitor'\n",
    "directory6 = 'guardian'\n",
    "directory7 = 'independentgoogle'\n",
    "directory8 = 'itv'\n",
    "directory9 = 'metro'\n",
    "directory10 = 'queenelizabetholympicpark'\n",
    "directory11 = 'sky'\n",
    "directory12 = 'sun'\n",
    "directory13 = 'theconversation'\n",
    "directory14 = 'theindependent'\n",
    "directory15 = 'uksport'\n",
    "directory16 = 'g-bbc'\n",
    "directory17 = 'g-dailymail'\n",
    "directory18 = 'g-telegraph'\n",
    "directory19 = 'g-guardian'\n",
    "\n",
    "\n",
    "\n",
    "\n",
    "localolympics = './data/' + directory + '/olympic-articles/'\n",
    "localolympic1 = './data/' + directory1 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic2 = './data/' + directory2 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic3 = './data/' + directory3 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic4 = './data/' + directory4 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic5 = './data/' + directory5 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic6 = './data/' + directory6 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic7 = './data/' + directory7 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic8 = './data/' + directory8 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic9 = './data/' + directory9 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic10 = './data/' + directory10 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic11 = './data/' + directory11 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic12 = './data/' + directory12 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic13 = './data/' + directory13 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic14 = './data/' + directory14 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic15 = './data/' + directory15 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic16 = './data/' + directory16 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic17 = './data/' + directory17 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic18 = './data/' + directory18 + '/data_analysis/'\n",
    "localolympic19 = './data/' + directory19 + '/data_analysis/'\n"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 148,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "#---------- CREATE JOIN FILES ----------#\n",
    "\n",
    "for file in os.listdir(localolympics):\n",
    "    with open(os.path.join(localolympics + file), 'r', encoding='utf8') as myfileteste: \n",
    "        contentfile = myfileteste.read()\n",
    "        with open(os.path.join(localolympic17 + 'all_texts_together' + directory + '.txt'), 'a', encoding='utf8') as file1:\n",
    "            file1.write(str(contentfile))\n",
    "                "
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 139,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "#---------- CREATE JOIN FILES ----------#\n",
    "\n",
    "for filename in os.listdir(localolympics):\n",
    "    if filename.endswith(\".txt\"): \n",
    "        with open(os.path.join(localolympics + filename), 'r', encoding='utf8') as myfileteste: \n",
    "            contentfile = myfileteste.read()\n",
    "            with open(os.path.join(localolympic18 + 'all_texts_together' + directory + '.txt'), 'a', encoding='utf8') as file1:\n",
    "                file1.write(str(contentfile))\n",
    "                file1.close"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 63,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "name": "stdout",
     "output_type": "stream",
     "text": [
      "b'In the lead up to Liverpool 2008, European Capital of Culture and the London 2012 Olympic Games, CCPR is developing its major events research strand with a mixture of academic and commissioned projects and a particular focus on Olympic-related research.\\r\\nJobs\\r\\nhttp://www.youngfoundation.org.uk/index.php\\r\\nThis report provides useful information on the state of knowledge and preparation for the Olympics of two important, predominantly Asian retail and catering streets in London\\xe2\\x80\\x99s East End. As the report describes,these two streets, one in Tower Hamlets and one in Newham, could be affected by the impact of the Olympics for better or for worse. The report analyses what local retailers believe will happen to their street and to themselves. It also points to some of the possible hazards brought about by successful regeneration, in particular the danger of large retail chains driving out small independent and family-based businesses.\\r\\nSkills\\r\\nhttp://www.hlst.heacademy.ac.uk/olympics.html\\r\\nHLST and the Olympic Games.  London\\xe2\\x80\\x99s hosting of the 30th Olympiad in 2012 brings a unique opportunity to raise the profile of the subjects in our Network, their contribution to a successful event and to the long-term legacy of lifestyle enhancement which is promised. Our courses provide the professional skills, knowledge and understanding which are essential for success in such a multifaceted and complex event and to ensuring secure foundations for the future development, our research and scholarship, and our capacity to provide consultancy will inform practice.\\r\\nLegacy\\r\\nhttp://www.villierspark.org.uk/vpabout.php\\r\\nVilliers Park Educational Trust was founded in 1924 as The Manor Charitable Trust by four old Etonians (Arthur Villiers, Gerald Wellesley, Alfred Wagg and Sir Edward Cadogan) to provide a charitable trust to run and support the Eton Manor Boys Club in Hackney.\\r\\nPlanning\\r\\nhttp://www.beyondgreen.co.uk/\\r\\nTheir Mission Statement says:       \"Sustainable development is a tough agenda that people tend to think of as someone elses job. We help people to treat sustainabilty as an integral part of what they do. Our aim is to help make the ideal practical, working in close partnership with clients and their stakeholders to translate what once seemed like wishful thinking into tangible programmes and achievements.  Beyond Green applies the principles of sustainable development to housing, regeneration, place-making, lifestyles, design, and communications.  We conceive, plan, design, communicate, consult on, train, develop business models for and help to deliver sustainable developments.\"  Their client list includes:  Olympic Delivery Authority, East of England Development Agency, The Housing Corporation, English Partnerships, The London Borough of Islington, Manchester City Council, New East Manchester Ltd (urban regeneration company), The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, Unilever.\\r\\nCentre for Local Economic Strategies:\\r\\nhttp://www.cles.org.uk/\\r\\nCentre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) is an independent think-doing organisation involved in regeneration, local economic development and local governance. CLES brings together a network of subscribing organisations, which includes regeneration partnerships, local authorities, regional bodies, community groups and voluntary organisations.\\r\\nCompulsory Purchase Order Inquiry website:\\r\\nLower Lea Valley, Olympic and Legacy, Compulsory Purchase Order Inquiry website. Objectors submissions available here.\\r\\nEDAW Press Room:\\r\\n'b'In the lead up to Liverpool 2008, European Capital of Culture and the London 2012 Olympic Games, CCPR is developing its major events research strand with a mixture of academic and commissioned projects and a particular focus on Olympic-related research.\\r\\nJobs\\r\\nhttp://www.youngfoundation.org.uk/index.php\\r\\nThis report provides useful information on the state of knowledge and preparation for the Olympics of two important, predominantly Asian retail and catering streets in London\\xe2\\x80\\x99s East End. As the report describes,these two streets, one in Tower Hamlets and one in Newham, could be affected by the impact of the Olympics for better or for worse. The report analyses what local retailers believe will happen to their street and to themselves. It also points to some of the possible hazards brought about by successful regeneration, in particular the danger of large retail chains driving out small independent and family-based businesses.\\r\\nSkills\\r\\nhttp://www.hlst.heacademy.ac.uk/olympics.html\\r\\nHLST and the Olympic Games.  London\\xe2\\x80\\x99s hosting of the 30th Olympiad in 2012 brings a unique opportunity to raise the profile of the subjects in our Network, their contribution to a successful event and to the long-term legacy of lifestyle enhancement which is promised. Our courses provide the professional skills, knowledge and understanding which are essential for success in such a multifaceted and complex event and to ensuring secure foundations for the future development, our research and scholarship, and our capacity to provide consultancy will inform practice.\\r\\nLegacy\\r\\nhttp://www.villierspark.org.uk/vpabout.php\\r\\nVilliers Park Educational Trust was founded in 1924 as The Manor Charitable Trust by four old Etonians (Arthur Villiers, Gerald Wellesley, Alfred Wagg and Sir Edward Cadogan) to provide a charitable trust to run and support the Eton Manor Boys Club in Hackney.\\r\\nPlanning\\r\\nhttp://www.beyondgreen.co.uk/\\r\\nTheir Mission Statement says:       \"Sustainable development is a tough agenda that people tend to think of as someone elses job. We help people to treat sustainabilty as an integral part of what they do. Our aim is to help make the ideal practical, working in close partnership with clients and their stakeholders to translate what once seemed like wishful thinking into tangible programmes and achievements.  Beyond Green applies the principles of sustainable development to housing, regeneration, place-making, lifestyles, design, and communications.  We conceive, plan, design, communicate, consult on, train, develop business models for and help to deliver sustainable developments.\"  Their client list includes:  Olympic Delivery Authority, East of England Development Agency, The Housing Corporation, English Partnerships, The London Borough of Islington, Manchester City Council, New East Manchester Ltd (urban regeneration company), The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, Unilever.\\r\\nCentre for Local Economic Strategies:\\r\\nhttp://www.cles.org.uk/\\r\\nCentre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) is an independent think-doing organisation involved in regeneration, local economic development and local governance. CLES brings together a network of subscribing organisations, which includes regeneration partnerships, local authorities, regional bodies, community groups and voluntary organisations.\\r\\nCompulsory Purchase Order Inquiry website:\\r\\nLower Lea Valley, Olympic and Legacy, Compulsory Purchase Order Inquiry website. Objectors submissions available here.\\r\\nEDAW Press Room:\\r\\n'b\"A. BACKGROUND\\r\\nWho is the London Development Agency (LDA)?\\r\\nThe LDA is the Mayor of London's agency for sustainable economic growth and is working to build a thriving economy for London's communities and businesses.\\r\\nThe LDA has the responsibility of acquiring land for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. To do this we are working with the people who currently live and run businesses on the Olympic Park site to find new homes and business premises by July 2007.\\r\\nWhat is the Traveller relocation process?\\r\\nThere are currently two licensed Traveller and Gypsy sites within the Olympic Park site, one of which is Waterden Crescent in the London Borough of Hackney, with the other in Newham. The LDA has been working with Hackney Council and the Traveller families to relocate those families living at Waterden Crescent to new sites within Hackney. These planning applications are in relation to the Waterden Road Traveller site.\\r\\nHow many families are being relocated?\\r\\n20 Traveller families of Irish Traveller heritage need to be relocated. They have been living at Waterden Crescent on Waterden Road for 13 years, which is a Hackney Council licensed site.\\r\\nWhy does the Traveller site need to be relocated?\\r\\nThe current Traveller site needs to be relocated because it is located within the area required for the Olympic Park. The LDA is working with all residents and businesses that are within the Olympic Park area to relocate them by July 2007.\\r\\nUnder the Race Relations Act, Travellers of Irish and Romani Gypsy heritage are officially recognised as ethnic groups. The Housing Act 2004 and Department of Communities and Local Government Circular give Councils a duty to assess Traveller needs and provide appropriate sites for them to live in.\\r\\nWill there be any benefit to the local community?\\r\\nThe Travellers live on an area of land that is crucial to the Olympic Park and the legacy development. The regeneration of the area can only happen if we relocate the Traveller families to new sites ahead of the Games. The regeneration plans for the area will bring long-term benefits to the local community. There will be new state of the art sports facilities, new parkland and thousands of new jobs and homes as part of the Olympic Legacy plan.\\r\\nWhere can I find out more information?\\r\\nPlease contact our Community Relations Team on 0800 377 7346 or visit www.lda.gov.uk\\r\\nB. MILLFIELDS ROAD DEPOT TRAVELLER SITE PROPOSAL\\r\\nFollowing consultation with Hackney Council and the Travellers families, it has been agreed that the current site would be split into three new sites. One of three sites is being proposed on Millfields Road depot and the LDA submitted a planning application on 20 April.\\r\\nWhere is the site located?\\r\\nThe Millfields Road depot is south of the South Millfields Park on Millfields Road in the Lea Bridge area. This site would accommodate eight pitches.\\r\\nWhat is there at the moment?\\r\\nThe site is currently a Hackney Council domestic waste and recycling depot.\\r\\nWhat will happen to the existing depot?\\r\\nThe waste transfer facility would be moved to the far northern end of the site. This would reduce the impact of current waste operations on local residents and allow for the development of moving waste by water. The residential development would be carried out on the western part of the current depot site.\\r\\nThere would be two Travellers' pitch which could include:\\r\\n-amenity block (kitchen, living area and bathroom)\\r\\n-outside area\\r\\n\"b'Article - Barcelona 1992 - Economics - Regeneration\\r\\nBarcelona Housing Demo October 2006\\r\\nFrom:  The role of Mega events in urban competitiveness and its consequences on people,  Carolina del Olmo, Universidad Complutense, Sept 2004\\r\\nWe are tired of hearing about the \\xe2\\x80\\x9cOlympic legacy\\xe2\\x80\\x9d and the official discourse is repeated again and again that when the mega-event concludes, the installations will remain in the city. But they never discuss what the use value of these infrastructures is, especially if we compare these \\xe2\\x80\\x9csinks\\xe2\\x80\\x9d of public investments with other installations and services that could have been financed with the same amount of funds (or a lot less). Public funds are a scarce resource, especially today, in this zero-deficit scenario. In this restricted frame, to finance these kind of events and infrastructures involve a budget cut in other, more necessary, sectors.\\r\\nMoreover, these kinds of infrastructure tend to require a lot of re-investments to avoid the threat of devaluation that comes with the interurban competition and the changes in trends. That\\xe2\\x80\\x99s why it is so common to see these installations languishing in a state of neglect years after the event.\\r\\nThe Barcelona case represents these aspects extremely well. The 1992 Olympic Games are recorded as a success, even if they didn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t fulfil the expectations they claimed. The Olympic investments (in the broad sense, including some roads, coastal area renewal, cultural outlets, etc.), reached near 6 million euros (\\xc2\\xa34.1m) and 53% of that budget were public funds. But the economic activity that this money generated didn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t have a positive impact on the economic indicators of the Barcelona area.\\r\\nBetween 1987 and 1991 the number of jobs created in the construction sector were only 33.000, a figure much lower than was expected considering that three quarters of the total investment went towards the construction sector. On top of this, all of them were temporary jobs. In the hotel and catering trade sector only 20.000 new jobs appeared and only lasted the duration of the event, again, much less than was expected. In the other sectors, the labour impact was zero (we tend to forget that the Olympic volunteers take on a great amount of tasks that would otherwise generate jobs). During 1992, the number of jobs began to fall.\\r\\nIf we take a look at trade, we will see that during 1992 the sales rate decreased and the number of tourists that visited the city (a million and a half) was lower than expected and spent less money than it was estimated (exactly the same has happened in Athens this last summer). Also, the Barcelona event resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of people that visited other destinations in the Barcelona region.\\r\\nBasically, the only economic indicator that experienced an important impact as a result of the Olympic Games were price levels. Since 1988, city price levels increased more than in the rest of the region and more than 1% over the inflation rate in Spain. In the year before the Games, prices rose more than 3% over the prices of the rest of Spain. And if we think that the city gains profit from television broadcasting rights, we should not forget that it is the Olympic Committee who collects this money. In fact, the progressive growth of this source of money has turned the International Olympic Committee into a big (and suspicious) enterprise.\\r\\nHow can we understand the minute economic impact and the lack of fulfilment of expectations? We could focus on the unbridled optimism that seems to encumber the people who do the impact studies, but, especially, we should focus on the limited frame in which the investments take place. If the demand related with the Olympic Games (or any other mega-event) takes up resources that would otherwise remain unused, it would be reasonable to expect an increase in employment, as well as an improvement of the economic indicators in general. Nonetheless, demand growth related with a mega-event doesn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t produce a net income, because it is a consequence of a mere change in the direction of the resource\\xe2\\x80\\x99s flow; that is, the resources go to a specific sector or a particular place but only because they are coming from another sector or place.\\r\\nThe same goes for private capital: it tends to reduce its investments in other sectors or in other spatial areas. If we pay attention to the recommendations that the economic impact studies use to achieve a real net increase in profits, for example, to make the labour market more flexible, it is clear that the aim of obtaining net profits loses part of its appeal.\\r\\nAstonishingly, even if the mega-events don\\xe2\\x80\\x99t fulfil their expectations, this is never seen as a failure. Nobody seems to care for or to be surprised by this failure and the event ends with a sense of success. If we want to understand this incoherence, we should put aside the idea of competition as a heuristic tool and focus on the fabulous opportunity for businesses that follow urban transformations related with mega-events.\\r\\nIndeed, even the need to attract tourism and the desire to improve the competitive position of the city in the urban hierarchy seems a petty and secondary question if we compare this with the local elite\\xe2\\x80\\x99s focus on an easy profit. Of course, I am not saying that urban governments don\\xe2\\x80\\x99t want to promote the image of their cities with the purpose of generating employment, attracting enterprise headquarters and so on.\\r\\nRegrettably, one of our most serious problems is that urban governments seem to be convinced that, in a globalized world, there\\xe2\\x80\\x99s no point in promoting local enterprise development. They believe that the best they can do is to turn the city into an appealing zone for foreign investments. But the weakness of some of their strategies and the blindness with which they insist that these strategies actually work, make us question their genuine interests in the city.\\r\\nIn short, we cannot forget that when a mega-event is organized, the money that really flows into a city is, in the first place, public money that falls into the hands of private businessmen. That\\xe2\\x80\\x99s why it is so difficult to understand where the city expects to obtain incomes by organizing a mega-event, and how little the urban government cares.\\r\\nWhen asked about the profits the city of Madrid may gain from hosting the Olympic Games, a representative for the Olympic candidature discussed broadcasting copyrights (that, as I have previously stated, benefit Olympic Committee and not the city) and the tourist appeal that the city will gain. He referred to the Barcelona case as a big success and talked about the millions of tourists that have visited Barcelona in the last years as a result of the Olympic Games. What he forgot to mention is that the flow of tourists into Barcelona has not been an easy or inexpensive achievement. The strategy has only worked with the help of a continuous and huge public investment in private business, for example, in the hotel sector, dangerously close to bankruptcy \\xe2\\x80\\x93all in all, another typical episode of socialization of losses and privatisation of profits.\\r\\nHowever, if we consider that the investors that promoted and financed a big part of the Olympic Games budget in Barcelona were real estate and construction companies, property developers, land speculators, finance companies and hotel and catering trade firms, we will understand that, indeed, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics can be considered a success. Of course, as a result of the Olympic candidature, Barcelona witnessed a frantic building activity, an increase in the housing and land prices and a huge urban transformation that entailed the conversion of a big amount of industrial land into service or housing plots.\\r\\nIn fact, urban renewal related to a mega-event is not as much a secondary effect as it is a fundamental raison d\\xe2\\x80\\x99\\xc3\\xaatre. The recent Forum Universal de las Culturas that has taken place in Barcelona this summer confirms this idea: instead of organizing a mega-event that could reuse the installations built ten years ago as a result of the Olympic Games, the Barcelona government and elite have decided to invent a new kind of event whose major aim, no one can doubt, is urban transformation. This multicultural event has proven to be an effective excuse to finally implement urban renewal in the last coastal area of Barcelona that still has a low income population. A made-to-measure operation for the private capital that has been a real fiasco for the city.\\r\\nThe Spanish case is especially serious since in Spain the construction sector represents almost 18% of the GDP, and 60% of the investments in fixed capital formation. It also employs two million people. After a huge process to merge enterprises, the building sector is now dominated by six big firms, five of which are numbered among the ten largest construction companies in Europe. The sector has become a safe allocation for investments due to the housing price boom and to the approval of huge public infrastructure plans.\\r\\nEven if the present economic climate differs from that of Barcelona 92, the results that we may expect from Madrid 2012 may be very similar. In Barcelona, between 1986-1992, the construction boom and the rise in prices were partially caused by the recent entry of Spain into the European Union, consequently causing an influx of foreign capital into the country, especially into the real estate sector.\\r\\nNowadays, the potential rise in prices and the worsening of the speculative bubble will come from the fact that we are passing through a difficult period for stock exchange investments. And these bad times for the investors have turned the real estate sector into a safe haven that takes up more than 40% of foreign investment in Spain. In fact, in the last years, banks, investment funds and thousands of corporations had entry into the sector in search of a higher profitability.\\r\\nFrom:  The role of Mega events in urban competitiveness and its consequences on people,  Carolina del Olmo, Universidad Complutense, Sept 2004.\\r\\n'b'Article | Displacement | Funding | Funding for Training | Waltham Forest\\r\\n\\xe2\\x80\\x9cThe Olympics will promote sport and healthy living in the capital,\\xe2\\x80\\x9d it says the website of Waltham Forest borough council. \\xe2\\x80\\x9cWe can now look forward to seeing the area regenerate with the best sporting, leisure and cultural facilities the world has ever seen.\"\\r\\nWaltham Forest has also unveiled its slogan for the Games. \\xe2\\x80\\x9cIt\\xe2\\x80\\x99s happening here,\\xe2\\x80\\x9d it boasts. And guess what is happening there? The biggest and best swimming pool, the one used by club swimmers and triathletes and talented teenagers with dreams of competing for Great Britain in 2012, is to close next month. It is closing because Waltham Forest College, where it is housed, cannot afford the \\xc2\\xa374,833 it loses every year, or the \\xc2\\xa3159,000 one-off maintenance payment that will be required in 2007-08.\\r\\nNow raise the ante to the Olympic mountain biking venue that will be constructed at South Weald in Essex. The cost is \\xc2\\xa35 million, the event will last six hours (including two medal ceremonies) and the facility will be torn down the moment it is over. We could keep the pool at Waltham Forest College going until 2074 with that cash.\\r\\nWaltham Forest College pool is significant because it is 33 metres long: still 17 metres short of Olympic standard but superior to most council-owned leisure pools, which is why it is home to 11 local schools in winter and numerous swimming and triathlon clubs throughout the year, including Leyton SC, Walthamstow Tritons SC, Swim4Tri and the Gators, more properly known as Borough of Waltham Forest SC. The Gators is a Swim21 Performance club, meaning it is serious about the sport, competition and coaching and adheres to the demanding development model of the Amateur Swimming Association.\\r\\nTo maintain this status it needs ten hours\\xe2\\x80\\x99 swim time each week and that is not possible at a council-run pool, which must serve a large community. Any swimmers with international ambitions will now leave the Borough of Waltham Forest team, or may be lost to the sport entirely. The nearest club of equivalent stature is in Ealing, West London, so it might as well be in Sheffield, where the only Olympic standard swimming pool in England resides.\\r\\nTo make the Olympic budget work, \\xc2\\xa32.2 billion has been taken from lottery funding. That is the reality of the London games. Big-ticket items constructed at the expense of grassroots sport. So, after the circus has left town, London will have one fantastic swimming pool based in Stratford, with a seating capacity of 2,500 \\xe2\\x80\\x93 but not much else. The London Pools campaign identified nine facilities in the capital that closed last year and sixteen more that were under threat. In addition, 10 per cent of school pools had shut.\\r\\nWaltham Forest College was also the only local educational establishment where people could gain water-based qualifications, such as life-guarding or swimming instruction That shortfall figure again: \\xc2\\xa374,833.\\r\\nLast year, the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, and assorted officials spent \\xc2\\xa336,000 on one Olympics-related visit to Cuba. In 2001, the London Development Agency, instrumental in the Olympic building project, settled a bill for \\xc2\\xa3140,000 on a lunch to announce plans to tackle (get this) urban poverty. The last Olympic budget, as discussed by Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, was \\xc2\\xa310.4 billion. And yet, between them, the mayor, the council, the Government, the lottery and all the other bureaucrats, politicians and self-promoters that are attached to our Olympic bid will stand idle as sport at its most beneficial level is bulldozed to make way for a three-week extravaganza.\\r\\nFrom:  Your brilliant Olympic legacy: the local pool\\xe2\\x80\\x99s closed, Martin Samuel The Times, June 12, 2007\\r\\n'b'Article | Barcelona 1992 | Economics | Regeneration\\r\\nBarcelona Housing Demo October 2006\\r\\nFrom:  The role of Mega events in urban competitiveness and its consequences on people,  Carolina del Olmo, Universidad Complutense, Sept 2004\\r\\nWe are tired of hearing about the \\xe2\\x80\\x9cOlympic legacy\\xe2\\x80\\x9d and the official discourse is repeated again and again that when the mega-event concludes, the installations will remain in the city. But they never discuss what the use value of these infrastructures is, especially if we compare these \\xe2\\x80\\x9csinks\\xe2\\x80\\x9d of public investments with other installations and services that could have been financed with the same amount of funds (or a lot less). Public funds are a scarce resource, especially today, in this zero-deficit scenario. In this restricted frame, to finance these kind of events and infrastructures involve a budget cut in other, more necessary, sectors.\\r\\nMoreover, these kinds of infrastructure tend to require a lot of re-investments to avoid the threat of devaluation that comes with the interurban competition and the changes in trends. That\\xe2\\x80\\x99s why it is so common to see these installations languishing in a state of neglect years after the event.\\r\\nThe Barcelona case represents these aspects extremely well. The 1992 Olympic Games are recorded as a success, even if they didn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t fulfil the expectations they claimed. The Olympic investments (in the broad sense, including some roads, coastal area renewal, cultural outlets, etc.), reached near 6 million euros (\\xc2\\xa34.1m) and 53% of that budget were public funds. But the economic activity that this money generated didn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t have a positive impact on the economic indicators of the Barcelona area.\\r\\nBetween 1987 and 1991 the number of jobs created in the construction sector were only 33.000, a figure much lower than was expected considering that three quarters of the total investment went towards the construction sector. On top of this, all of them were temporary jobs. In the hotel and catering trade sector only 20.000 new jobs appeared and only lasted the duration of the event, again, much less than was expected. In the other sectors, the labour impact was zero (we tend to forget that the Olympic volunteers take on a great amount of tasks that would otherwise generate jobs). During 1992, the number of jobs began to fall.\\r\\nIf we take a look at trade, we will see that during 1992 the sales rate decreased and the number of tourists that visited the city (a million and a half) was lower than expected and spent less money than it was estimated (exactly the same has happened in Athens this last summer). Also, the Barcelona event resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of people that visited other destinations in the Barcelona region.\\r\\nBasically, the only economic indicator that experienced an important impact as a result of the Olympic Games were price levels. Since 1988, city price levels increased more than in the rest of the region and more than 1% over the inflation rate in Spain. In the year before the Games, prices rose more than 3% over the prices of the rest of Spain. And if we think that the city gains profit from television broadcasting rights, we should not forget that it is the Olympic Committee who collects this money. In fact, the progressive growth of this source of money has turned the International Olympic Committee into a big (and suspicious) enterprise.\\r\\nHow can we understand the minute economic impact and the lack of fulfilment of expectations? We could focus on the unbridled optimism that seems to encumber the people who do the impact studies, but, especially, we should focus on the limited frame in which the investments take place. If the demand related with the Olympic Games (or any other mega-event) takes up resources that would otherwise remain unused, it would be reasonable to expect an increase in employment, as well as an improvement of the economic indicators in general. Nonetheless, demand growth related with a mega-event doesn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t produce a net income, because it is a consequence of a mere change in the direction of the resource\\xe2\\x80\\x99s flow; that is, the resources go to a specific sector or a particular place but only because they are coming from another sector or place.\\r\\nThe same goes for private capital: it tends to reduce its investments in other sectors or in other spatial areas. If we pay attention to the recommendations that the economic impact studies use to achieve a real net increase in profits, for example, to make the labour market more flexible, it is clear that the aim of obtaining net profits loses part of its appeal.\\r\\nAstonishingly, even if the mega-events don\\xe2\\x80\\x99t fulfil their expectations, this is never seen as a failure. Nobody seems to care for or to be surprised by this failure and the event ends with a sense of success. If we want to understand this incoherence, we should put aside the idea of competition as a heuristic tool and focus on the fabulous opportunity for businesses that follow urban transformations related with mega-events.\\r\\nIndeed, even the need to attract tourism and the desire to improve the competitive position of the city in the urban hierarchy seems a petty and secondary question if we compare this with the local elite\\xe2\\x80\\x99s focus on an easy profit. Of course, I am not saying that urban governments don\\xe2\\x80\\x99t want to promote the image of their cities with the purpose of generating employment, attracting enterprise headquarters and so on.\\r\\nRegrettably, one of our most serious problems is that urban governments seem to be convinced that, in a globalized world, there\\xe2\\x80\\x99s no point in promoting local enterprise development. They believe that the best they can do is to turn the city into an appealing zone for foreign investments. But the weakness of some of their strategies and the blindness with which they insist that these strategies actually work, make us question their genuine interests in the city.\\r\\nIn short, we cannot forget that when a mega-event is organized, the money that really flows into a city is, in the first place, public money that falls into the hands of private businessmen. That\\xe2\\x80\\x99s why it is so difficult to understand where the city expects to obtain incomes by organizing a mega-event, and how little the urban government cares.\\r\\nWhen asked about the profits the city of Madrid may gain from hosting the Olympic Games, a representative for the Olympic candidature discussed broadcasting copyrights (that, as I have previously stated, benefit Olympic Committee and not the city) and the tourist appeal that the city will gain. He referred to the Barcelona case as a big success and talked about the millions of tourists that have visited Barcelona in the last years as a result of the Olympic Games. What he forgot to mention is that the flow of tourists into Barcelona has not been an easy or inexpensive achievement. The strategy has only worked with the help of a continuous and huge public investment in private business, for example, in the hotel sector, dangerously close to bankruptcy \\xe2\\x80\\x93all in all, another typical episode of socialization of losses and privatisation of profits.\\r\\nHowever, if we consider that the investors that promoted and financed a big part of the Olympic Games budget in Barcelona were real estate and construction companies, property developers, land speculators, finance companies and hotel and catering trade firms, we will understand that, indeed, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics can be considered a success. Of course, as a result of the Olympic candidature, Barcelona witnessed a frantic building activity, an increase in the housing and land prices and a huge urban transformation that entailed the conversion of a big amount of industrial land into service or housing plots.\\r\\nIn fact, urban renewal related to a mega-event is not as much a secondary effect as it is a fundamental raison d\\xe2\\x80\\x99\\xc3\\xaatre. The recent Forum Universal de las Culturas that has taken place in Barcelona this summer confirms this idea: instead of organizing a mega-event that could reuse the installations built ten years ago as a result of the Olympic Games, the Barcelona government and elite have decided to invent a new kind of event whose major aim, no one can doubt, is urban transformation. This multicultural event has proven to be an effective excuse to finally implement urban renewal in the last coastal area of Barcelona that still has a low income population. A made-to-measure operation for the private capital that has been a real fiasco for the city.\\r\\nThe Spanish case is especially serious since in Spain the construction sector represents almost 18% of the GDP, and 60% of the investments in fixed capital formation. It also employs two million people. After a huge process to merge enterprises, the building sector is now dominated by six big firms, five of which are numbered among the ten largest construction companies in Europe. The sector has become a safe allocation for investments due to the housing price boom and to the approval of huge public infrastructure plans.\\r\\nEven if the present economic climate differs from that of Barcelona 92, the results that we may expect from Madrid 2012 may be very similar. In Barcelona, between 1986-1992, the construction boom and the rise in prices were partially caused by the recent entry of Spain into the European Union, consequently causing an influx of foreign capital into the country, especially into the real estate sector.\\r\\nNowadays, the potential rise in prices and the worsening of the speculative bubble will come from the fact that we are passing through a difficult period for stock exchange investments. And these bad times for the investors have turned the real estate sector into a safe haven that takes up more than 40% of foreign investment in Spain. In fact, in the last years, banks, investment funds and thousands of corporations had entry into the sector in search of a higher profitability.\\r\\nFrom:  The role of Mega events in urban competitiveness and its consequences on people,  Carolina del Olmo, Universidad Complutense, Sept 2004.\\r\\n'b'Two stories in the local papers catch my eye for showing how fragile are boosterist promises about investment levels particularly in the aftermath of the Five Ring Circus leaving town.\\r\\nThe first is from yesterday\\xe2\\x80\\x99s Waltham Forest Guardian by Carl Brown who writes;\\r\\n\\xe2\\x80\\x9cCyclists organisations have accused Olympic authorities of downgrading the velopark for the Games.\\r\\nIn February The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) announced plans for a 34 hectare velopark. Original plans featured a 1,500 capacity velodrome, a BMX track, a 1.6km [1 mile] racing circuit, a cross country mountain bike course and an outdoor cycle speedway circuit.\\r\\nUnder new plans, however, the velopark, which will be on the site of the old Eastway Cycle Circuit, in Leyton, will now take up fewer than ten hectares. This according to the Eastway User\\xe2\\x80\\x99s group means that the new off-road area of the velopark has shrunk in size and there will be no replacement for the full-size mountain bike circuit after the Games.\\r\\nThe group is angry because it was persuaded to drop its objection to the Compulsory Purchase Order for the Eastway site last summer on the basis that matching facilities would be reinstated after 2012\\xe2\\x80\\x9d\\r\\nKeith Bingham in Cycling Week  for 27th Feb writes:\\r\\n\\xe2\\x80\\x9cCurrent plans see the Olympic velodrome and BMX track \\xe2\\x80\\x93 bequeathed to the sport as part of the Legacy \\xe2\\x80\\x93 now being squeezed alongside an unsatisfactory road circuit which is too close to the main road for comfort. The speedway track has gone, and only a pitiful off-road course is to be shoehorned in after protest.  The ODA is trying to fit too much into the area, to cater for other sports, extra housing and the return of allotments.\\r\\nFrom: King goes to Stratford for Eastway Velopark crisis meeting: Tuesday 27th February 2007 - Keith Bingham\\r\\nMore at: Velopark crisis\\r\\nFrom Jenny Copnall, reigning British MTB champion:\\r\\n\"It is with sorrow and concern that I heard from the Eastway Users\\' Group of the ODA\\'s decision not to provide mountain bike racers with an adequate facility in the Legacy Park after the Olympics have taken place.  I fully expect the spectacle of the mountain bike cross country event at the 2012 Olympics to bring more young riders into our fantastic sport, many likely to be from the London area. It is essential that these potential future Olympians have access to grassroots competition in a safe yet challenging environment.\\r\\nEastway has, until now, provided this, and played a pivotal role in my introduction and development as a young racer. It means a great deal to me that future generations of riders in the London area are able to enjoy the same opportunities that I did. The Eastway mountain bike events not only whet the appetites of new racers, they also provide newcomers with a social hub of knowledge and experience, which is crucial for development.\\r\\nThe London area is not blessed with offroad riding places. In view of this I feel that it is very important that the finest example be reinstated, albeit with the break period during the Games, so that those who wish to become mountain bike racers can do so, without their urban roots hindering their progress.\"\\r\\nFrom: Little off road Olympic legacy at Eastway, Michael Humphreys, Bikemagic, 28 2 07\\r\\nMore at: Jenny Copnall\\r\\nMartin Slavin writes: More about Olympic skimping comes from the Newham Recorder for Wed 28th Feb from Pat Coughtrey who writes:\\r\\n\\xe2\\x80\\x9cGovernment cash cuts have thrown back into the mix some of the thinking behind plans to breathe fresh life into the hidden network of East End rivers in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.\\r\\n\\xe2\\x80\\xa6But the body that manages the country\\xe2\\x80\\x99s 2,200 mile water network has been told it faces a \\xc2\\xa335 million grants cut over the next five years. British Waterways has already axed jobs and scrapped over \\xc2\\xa35 million worth of canal maintenance.  And it has confirmed that it is forced to reconsider plans for the River Lea and Bow Back Rivers, including the lock replacement and centre,\\xe2\\x80\\x9d\\r\\nMartin writes; It is an omission not to have spelled out what \\xe2\\x80\\x98the lock replacement and centre\\xe2\\x80\\x99 refers to but it is salutory to read of these two examples of being provided with less for more money. There is a lot of confusion and obfuscation to be found the closer these schemes are scrutinised.\\r\\nSubmitted by Martin Slavin on Fri, 02/03/2007 - 15:11.\\r\\n'b'Article | Barcelona 1992 | Economics | Regeneration\\r\\nBarcelona Housing Demo October 2006\\r\\nFrom:  The role of Mega events in urban competitiveness and its consequences on people,  Carolina del Olmo, Universidad Complutense, Sept 2004\\r\\nWe are tired of hearing about the \\xe2\\x80\\x9cOlympic legacy\\xe2\\x80\\x9d and the official discourse is repeated again and again that when the mega-event concludes, the installations will remain in the city.\\r\\nSubmitted by Martin Slavin on Sun, 19/11/2006 - 12:56.\\r\\n'b\"Hackney Travellers Relocation Frequently Asked Questions\\r\\nA. BACKGROUND\\r\\nWho is the London Development Agency (LDA)?\\r\\nThe LDA is the Mayor of London's agency for sustainable economic growth and is working to build a thriving economy for London's communities and businesses.\\r\\nThe LDA has the responsibility of acquiring land for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. To do this we are working with the people who currently live and run businesses on the Olympic Park site to find new homes and business premises by July 2007.\\r\\nWhat is the Traveller relocation process?\\r\\nThere are currently two licensed Traveller and Gypsy sites within the Olympic Park site, one of which is Waterden Crescent in the London Borough of Hackney, with the other in Newham. The LDA has been working with Hackney Council and the Traveller families to relocate those families living at Waterden Crescent to new sites within Hackney. These planning applications are in relation to the Waterden Road Traveller site.\\r\\nHow many families are being relocated?\\r\\n20 Traveller families of Irish Traveller heritage need to be relocated. They have been living at Waterden Crescent on Waterden Road for 13 years, which is a Hackney Council licensed site.\\r\\nWhy does the Traveller site need to be relocated?\\r\\nThe current Traveller site needs to be relocated because it is located within the area required for the Olympic Park. The LDA is working with all residents and businesses that are within the Olympic Park area to relocate them by July 2007.\\r\\nUnder the Race Relations Act, Travellers of Irish and Romani Gypsy heritage are officially recognised as ethnic groups. The Housing Act 2004 and Department of Communities and Local Government Circular give Councils a duty to assess Traveller needs and provide appropriate sites for them to live in.\\r\\nWill there be any benefit to the local community?\\r\\nThe Travellers live on an area of land that is crucial to the Olympic Park and the legacy development. The regeneration of the area can only happen if we relocate the Traveller families to new sites ahead of the Games. The regeneration plans for the area will bring long-term benefits to the local community. There will be new state of the art sports facilities, new parkland and thousands of new jobs and homes as part of the Olympic Legacy plan.\\r\\nWhere can I find out more information?\\r\\nPlease contact our Community Relations Team on 0800 377 7346 or visit www.lda.gov.uk\\r\\nLONDun\\r\\n\"b'Article | Cycling | Displacement | Planning & Development | Sustainability\\r\\nBelow is the press release from the official governing body of our sport... Reading between the long, wordy, lines, it seems that British Cycling are now realising what the Eastway Users\\' Group has been telling them all along; that the plans for the new velodrome didn\\'t show good enough facilities for a road or a mountain bike circuit. And without the bulldozing of these circuits, there wouldn\\'t be any Olympic Park at all...\\r\\nThe Board of British Cycling met on Saturday 9 June to continue its ongoing consideration of the \\'legacy facilities\\' which are currently proposed for the sport following the London Olympic Games. Disappointment was expressed that, despite the advice and support offered over the last several months to the Olympic Delivery Authority, and the assurances received from that body in return, there was still insufficient evidence of appropriate changes being made to the outline Legacy proposals, to allow the Board to consider those proposals to be acceptable.\\r\\nThe Board is happy with the siting, layout and basic specifications of the proposed velodrome and BMX track, both of which are to be used for Olympic competition. The Board also considers the proposals for a legacy Cycle Speedway facility to be acceptable. However from the Board\\'s point of view the basic problem remains that there is insufficient space allocated in the current plans within the proposed Olympic Park to permit adequate provision for the road and off-road competition and training.\\r\\nThe Board has to consider both the adequacy of the Olympic competition facilities (which are progressing satisfactorily) and also the planned provision of cycling facilities after the Games (which currently are not satisfactory). The Board has always been very concerned to ensure that the promises that have been made in relation to the provision of adequate road racing and off road facilities after the Games will be honoured. Over months now we have been constantly reminding the ODA of its responsibilities.\\r\\nCycle sport has a unique relationship to the Games of 2012, one that cannot be claimed by any other sport. First we are one of the most successful Olympic sports in terms of medals won. Cycling stands, with a small number of other Sports, head and shoulders above the rest in terms of recent Olympic success. The real difference however, and what sets cycling apart, is that cycling also has an historic association with the venue that is to be transformed for Olympic and post Olympic use. Quite simply the 2012 Games would not be possible without the acquisition of the former Eastway site with the consequence that London cyclists are currently without a facility that has served them well for over 30 years.\\r\\nNor is the issue just a London problem, the Board recognise that Eastway had wider national significance and formed an important part of the nation\\'s cycling facilities network. The Board need to guard against a situation in which cyclists who want to practice road racing and MTB Cross-Country in London are left worse off after the Games than they were before them. The two disciplines of Road Racing and MTB Cross-Country in particular represent a large and thriving element of the sport and until they are adequately catered for in the Legacy plan, British Cycling cannot endorse the Legacy proposals.\\r\\nHaving considered the views of members and officials of the three Regions of British Cycling with responsibility for managing and developing the sport in London and the South East, and having taken further advice from the Chief Executive and his staff, as well as from our legal advisers, the Board has agreed what it believes to be the most appropriate and effective way for it to register its concerns.\\r\\nThe Board has resolved firstly to register its objections in respect of the Legacy provisions directly at the highest level with the Olympic Delivery Authority with whom we have been working to achieve the right outcome. These \\'cycling project sponsors\\' need to understand that the Board, the Regions and the user groups all share the same concern with what is being proposed as the Legacy \\'Velo Park\\' and in the Board\\'s view they will need to address fundamental changes to the Legacy Masterplan in order to achieve an acceptable outcome.\\r\\nSecondly, in respect of the current planning applications, that British Cycling will make a formal objection to the ODA Planning Decisions Team including a \"Request for Conditions to be Imposed\" on the relevant application. This will state the case for the Legacy cycling facilities to include a proper Road circuit that can be fairly described as a replacement for what has been lost, and for an off-road competition facility that genuinely provides for racing at the level previously carried out at Eastway.\\r\\nAs part of the objection that will be made to the Planning Decisions Team, we will request that any permissions that are granted in respect of the applications that have currently been made will include conditions designed to secure replacement facilities for what has been given up at Eastway.\\r\\nThese requested conditions will cover the adequacy of the Road and Mountain Bike facilities in the light of previous promises and commitments made by the ODA and others and specifically in light of the conditions that had previously been attached to the Olympic Planning consents that were granted in 2004 during the Olympic bidding phase. The detailed wording will be agreed with our legal and technical advisers in time to make a formal submission by the 15 June deadline.\\r\\nBritish Cycling President Brian Cookson said:\\r\\n\"British Cycling is very pleased to be playing a key role in the design of the Olympic Park and we are committed to helping the ODA deliver outstanding Olympic facilities for our sport. However we are very disappointed at the failure by the ODA to make sufficient clear movement towards meeting our legitimate concerns regarding the legacy provision, concerns which we have been expressing to them for some time now. We will also be raising our concerns at the highest level with other relevant bodies and agencies involved in the delivery and legacy provision of the London 2012 Olympics.\"\\r\\nFrom: From Olympic Legacy - British Cycling Board confirms stance against Legacy Masterplan, Singletrack Magazine, Mon 11 june\\r\\nOne of the Singletrack comments says:\\r\\nby: plurien on: Thursday 14 June 2007 , The consultation for the applications being made closes on 15th June. The plans show NO MOUNTAINBIKE COMPETITION FACILITY AT ALL.\\r\\nPoints you may wish to raise in objection:\\r\\nThere has been no consultation, no attempt made to identify the needs of the cycling community based at Eastway.\\r\\nThe plans are not suitable for cycle sport outdoors\\r\\nThere is no off-road competition permitted within the constraints of the scheme applied for, so there can be no guarantee or planning condition made for it unless the scheme is rejected\\r\\nThe road circuit is unsafe and does not allow for large fields to circulate\\r\\nIts layout is uninspiring, being pushed right against the A12 in the shadow of a large building\\r\\nThe facility is cut in two by the A12 which brings noise and air pollution\\r\\nThere is no possibility of safe concurrent running of road and off-road sessions of any kind\\r\\nThe area made available for a legacy replacement is unsuitably small and in a marginal position\\r\\nNo amount of \\xe2\\x80\\x98design\\xe2\\x80\\x99 prior to a subsequent detailed application for legacy can alleviate the absence of land area being made available in the outline application for the cycling facility in legacy phase\\r\\nUsers were made promises and given numerous assurances about the vailidity of a legacy before they willingly gave up their facility to make way for the Games.\\r\\nThe scheme now applied for in no way matches those schemes that were outlined and does not even come close to replacing the road and off-road cycling which made Eastway so successful as the base of a thriving community of people doing Olympic sports in Inner East London.\\r\\nFrom Olympic Legacy - British Cycling Board confirms stance against Legacy Masterplan, Singletrack Magazine, Mon 11 june\\r\\n'b\"Waterlogged Allotments at Marsh Lane Fields.  Feb  2008 \\xc2\\xa9 Martin Slavin\\r\\nFrom: 'Fools Gold' a report by the New Economics Foundation\\r\\nThis purpose of this report is to examine how to ensure the 2012 Olympics leaves a positive local legacy for the residents of East London. The remit of the work was to reopen and reframe the debate around the Olympic legacy and suggest new approaches for maximising the public and community benefit \\xe2\\x80\\x93 social, economic and environmental \\xe2\\x80\\x93 created by the Games.\\r\\nThe 2012 London Olympics have been presented by the Government and the Olympic delivery bodies as a \\xe2\\x80\\x98once-in-a-lifetime\\xe2\\x80\\x99 opportunity to help regenerate one of the UK\\xe2\\x80\\x99s most economically disadvantaged areas, the Lower Lea Valley.\\r\\nFew would question that the bid\\xe2\\x80\\x99s greatest strength was the social, economic and environmental legacy that it proposed to create for this area and its positioning of the Games as complementing the broader economic development of the Lower Lea Valley, Europe\\xe2\\x80\\x99s largest regeneration project. No previous Games has made regeneration so central to its vision. It is intended that this should leave a legacy which has been defined as: new sports facilities, housing, increased employment and a more skilled population, as well as industrial, technical and transport infrastructure that will further help regenerate the area.\\r\\nSignificant supply-side interventions \\xe2\\x80\\x93 including huge training and brokerage programmes \\xe2\\x80\\x93 are taking place to get the local population and businesses ready to take advantage of the opportunities created by the Games. Local expectations are high. There is no doubt that the Olympics will bring about a permanent change to the economy of East London, The question is what kind of change, and who will benefit.\\r\\nHere lies the challenge. The problem is that previous Olympics have failed to help the most economically disadvantaged groups living in the areas where the Games have taken place. In the UK, flagship regeneration projects in East London and elsewhere have also failed to improve the well-being of local residents. The Docklands development is the most glaring example.\\r\\nWhat tends to happen instead is that regeneration leads to gentrification. Assets of the local communities get transferred out of the local area, because local people who don\\xe2\\x80\\x99t own local homes or business are priced out of the area. High land values, fragmented ownership patterns and poor engagement of the community in planning decisions and local stewardship all go together to undermine the development of sustainable communities. Local retail, services, and local enterprises struggle to survive in the face of rising commercial rents and competition from larger companies.\\r\\nYet it is the general public that pays for the Olympics and arguably the poorest residents of the area supposed to be regenerated who pay the highest costs, certainly in terms of disruption and dislocation. The various delivery bodies involved in the Games have promised new jobs, new businesses, new green areas and new homes. But big questions remain about precisely how local people and local businesses will benefit from the preparation, delivery or legacy of the Games.\\r\\nIt is already clear that smaller, local firms are struggling to compete for a part of the huge Olympic construction, service and sponsorship contracts, many of the latter already allocated to multinational firms with no obligation to make sure that investment benefits the local community. At the time of writing, of the approximately 500 contracts already awarded, worth \\xc2\\xa31 billion, only 11 per cent had gone to companies based within the five Olympic boroughs. There is still little clarity about who will own, manage and fund, particularly revenue funding, the Olympic legacy.\\r\\nThe initial legacy plans for the Olympic physical assets seem to have little connection to the needs of local residents. There have been only tokenistic attempts by the organising Olympic authorities, ODA and LOCOG, to give local people and organisations an active role in the legacy planning process. There was a commitment to \\xe2\\x80\\x98sustainable regeneration\\xe2\\x80\\x99 in the 2007 Olympic and Paralympic planning applications, but it is still not clear what mechanisms and organisational infrastructure are in place to capture and safeguard the benefits of investment in the area for the benefit of the people who live there.\\r\\nIn the broader scheme of regeneration projects in the Lower Lea Valley, the Olympics pale in comparison in size and value with Stratford City, Crossrail and a number of other large regeneration programmes . Yet because of the intense media attention and the Games ideals \\xe2\\x80\\x93 peace, common humanity and dignity \\xe2\\x80\\x93 they have enormous symbolic value. Promises around local regeneration and legacy thus have enormous importance in terms of setting a standard for other developments.\\r\\nThis report sets out a vision for the creation of real community assets for the Lower Lea Valley that could prevent it being trampled in the Olympic gold rush. It comes at a key time.\\r\\nThe Olympic Board published its Sustainability Plan in December 2007 and the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 has issued its first report, casting some doubts on the ability of the Olympic authorities to deliver on their sustainability objectives. While much of the planning and procurement for the Games has already been completed, most of the Tier Two supplier decisions will be made in 2008. LOCOG will shortly be publishing its own procurement policy which could still provide an opportunity to harness the potential for community benefit.\\r\\nOn the legacy front, the Olympic Board is currently in the process of completing the Olympic Legacy Masterplan Framework (OLMF) for the Olympic Park after the end of the Games. The masterplan will form the basis of an outline planning application in 2009 which will provide the context for the development of the Olympic Park after 2012.\\r\\nOn the Olympic site itself, ODA has developed a preferred consortium of developers to take on the legacy planning for the 15,000 square metre Olympic Village, which will include 4,000 homes, 30 per cent of which are intended to be \\xe2\\x80\\x98affordable\\xe2\\x80\\x99. The consortium is currently developing its plans which will include a Section 106 agreement leading to the creation of a community development trust. The London Thames Gateway Development Corporation is also consulting on a comprehensive Section 106 strategy for the wider Lower Lea Valley development programme.\\r\\nHow can London 2012 create a meaningful legacy? Around the UK there are many examples of how community benefits can be built into major procurement projects. There are other examples of how the wealth created by major investments can stay circulating in local communities. East London includes some of the most deprived areas of the country, but it is also home to many enterprising small businesses and communities, many of whom have come to the UK to make a better life for their families. If the wealth creation the Games will deliver can leverage this enterprise and energy, rather than displace it, then the regeneration aims that were so integral to the 2012 bid might still be achieved.\\r\\nFrom: Introduction to 'Fools Gold', New Economics Foundation, April 2008.\\r\\n\"b\"Article | Finance | Funding for Training | Legacy\\r\\nThere has been no end of promises for a sporting legacy for London in the wake of the 2012 Games. But fine sentiments alone are not going to deliver it to future generations of Londoners, argues Kurt Barling, BBC London.\\r\\nQueen Elizabeth Stadium in Enfield, north London, was built in the post Olympic glow of 1948. Officially inaugurated in 1953, the year of the Coronation, QE served many generations of school athletes.   Local children of all ages, including myself, pitted themselves against their local peers.  A few even went on to achieve athletic greatness.   All this was provided and maintained out of local government revenues.\\r\\nIn recent years the stadium has begun to look tired and worn.  Maintenance of the infrastructure has waned and many local people have begun to wonder if this reflects the commitment to keep young people involved in sport.\\r\\nLast week, almost unnoticed, the athletics running track was closed after it failed a UK Athletics safety inspection. The future of the stadium has been hotly debated in recent months.  Various local sporting outfits, football, rugby, athletics would like to use the venue but no agreement can be brokered without the participation of the local authority because it is their land and their responsibility to get the best value for money for local council tax payers. Enfield Council did tell BBC London that it is: \\xe2\\x80\\x9c..committed to ensuring a viable future for the Queen Elizabeth II Stadium as a sports stadium and is currently consulting residents and the local sporting community about how they would want to use it in the future\\xe2\\x80\\x9d.\\r\\nSport England has an online inventory of sports facilities around the country.  In London it lists 21 athletics tracks including the QE stadium and the Barn Elms athletics track, managed by Richmond Upon Thames council.  The latter is also under threat. As in Enfield, local people in Barnes have discovered that it has become less of a priority for maintenance.  The council has said the only way to raise the investment funds needed to rejuvenate the facilities is by selling off some of the public land. The council has put on hold a sell-off plan in order that the local community can come up with \\xc2\\xa34 million pounds to save the playing fields and facilities for public use.\\r\\nIt is very difficult to see how a legacy can be created out of the Olympics when local decisions like these seem to pass under the radar of those supposedly responsible for building it. For this to happen there needs to be a cultural change.  The new Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has appointed Kate Hoey MP as his Olympics adviser.  It seems that if she is to come to grips with the legacy issue she will need to scrutinise on Londoners' behalf many of these decisions that are being taken at a local level.\\r\\nIndeed the Mayor and his advisers already have within City Hall a document which maps out the scale of the problem. In May 2006 the Greater London Authority carried out an audit of playing fields in the capital and found that there were around 1500 in total.  Most are owned and managed by local authorities on behalf of communities; many others are managed by clubs or private organisations. The report recognises that in the past five years the loss of playing fields has slowed down but that lack of access, safety and attractiveness of facilities will put people off using them.  In these circumstances it becomes easier to justify selling off public land and facilities.\\r\\nTalking last week to its author London Assembly Member Murad Qureshi he made the simple point that new ways of financing and managing public facilities will be needed if we are to preserve our publicly accessible sporting venues. For this to happen there needs to be genuine dialogue between those seeking a sporting legacy, those charged with managing it i.e. local authorities and those communities who will eventually benefit from them.\\r\\nAt the QE stadium in Enfield the council has no doubt taken advice that it must, for health and safety reasons, keep the public out.   I understand that a local Athletics Partnership has sought to keep the facility open by offering to do the maintenance work that the council won\\xe2\\x80\\x99t do.  That offer has, allegedly, been ignored. Seven local secondary schools canvassed for their views have said that the facility is a key part of their ability to deliver a sporting curriculum.  They would like to see the facilities maintained for their use.\\r\\nIt is to be seen just how effective local consultation will be over the coming months.   Based on this consultation, the plan is to have a range of proposals on the table by the autumn. These will then be put to the local decision makers who in turn have promised to let local people know what the choices are before finalising what should be done.\\r\\nIf an Olympic legacy is to be realised across the capital and beyond, then scrutinising these decisions and not just the building works at Stratford, will be crucial.\\r\\nFrom: Sporting legacy \\xe2\\x80\\x93 whose responsibility ? Kurt Barling, BBC London, 28 May 2008\\r\\n\"b\"Article | Clays Lane | Compulsory Purchase | Displacement | Planning & Development | Sustainability\\r\\nRecent reports in the Press (see attachment) reveal that businesses evicted to make way for the Olympics are still having to battle with the LDA over compensation. Looking back in time to reports published by the media can provide an interesting insight into the attitudes of the Olympic team (and how the media approached the project) and the difference between the rhetoric and the reality of the programme. One such report was contained in the Property Week Newsletter of 05.12.03 (see attachment) which included some particularly chilling assertions for the residents at Clays Lane.\\r\\nTaking the present experience of the businesses as a starting point, Jason Prior\\xe2\\x80\\x99s comments in the article show the casual \\xe2\\x80\\x98we can do as we please\\xe2\\x80\\x99 attitude which pervaded their approach to the various evictees: 'We are trying to do this by open negotiation and discussion, but if we have to use compulsory purchase orders (CPO), we will. But this isn't necessarily about acquisition, it's about partnership building. Why acquire it if you can find another way of doing it?' The careless use of terms like \\xe2\\x80\\x98partnership\\xe2\\x80\\x99 runs through all the LDA and ODA documents. Far from seeing themselves as partners in the LDA\\xe2\\x80\\x99s grand acquisition of their sites the businesses are still protesting at the way they were treated and at the undervaluing of their assets.\\r\\nThe author of this fascinating if sickening piece, Charles Williams, wrote \\xe2\\x80\\x98Deal structures and joint venture proposals have yet to be developed, but will follow the precedent of the LDA's Royal Docks development, where it is working in partnership with Development Securities and Standard Life. The LDA will buy the sites and take the schemes through the planning phases and then turn them over to private partners for development and construction.\\xe2\\x80\\x99  Williams turned to the LDA\\xe2\\x80\\x99s Gareth Blacker to elaborate, 'We don't think it will be difficult to get partners,' says LDA head of property and development Gareth Blacker. 'If we do the site assembly we're proposing to do, we're creating a prime opportunity for the property industry.' Well, that's clear enough!\\r\\nProperty journalists are not necessarily the keenest investigative reporters. Williams went on to declare, \\xe2\\x80\\x9cThe Olympic plan has naturally been prioritised; details of the non-Olympic and Olympic legacy plans are sketchy\\xe2\\x80\\x9d but failed to probe more deeply. Instead he relied on Jason Prior, 'We're still working on the non-Olympic plan,' Prior says. 'Ultimately it should be largely the same as the legacy plan, but with differences based around the types of uses you'd want to cluster around a stadium.\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Actually this was all complete rubbish. There was no non-Olympic plan when this interview took place. Prior revealed in his evidence to the Compulsory Purchase Inquiry that it wasn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t even commissioned until the summer of 2004. That didn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t stop the LDA turning up with a drawing purporting to be a non-Olympic scenario when they came to talk to Clays Lane residents at the end of 2003. The difference between journalists and residents was that we did do some research and found out very quickly in early 2004 that there was no non-Olympic plan.\\r\\nFailing to comment on, or perhaps to spot, the contradiction Williams reported that \\xe2\\x80\\x9cPrior believes the long-term regeneration elements and development opportunities will happen with or without the Olympics. What may differ is the pace of change. In the event of a successful bid, developers in partnerships might have to play a longer-term game \\xe2\\x80\\x93 the land would not be freed for its end use until after the 2012 event.\\xe2\\x80\\x9d So not only was Prior saying regeneration would happen without the Olympics but that the Games might actually hold up development! At the cpo inquiry Prior and the LDA insisted regeneration would not happen without the Olympics. They also claimed Stratford City would not have gone ahead without the Olympics. They still do. We tried to point out to the cpo inspector that the regeneration of the area was not dependent on the Olympics but he paid no attention.\\r\\nWilliams moved on to Stratford City and developers Chelsfield, whose project director Keith Redshaw was delighted to be able to get his hands on Clays Lane, courtesy of the Olympics, 'There's a precedent for this,' Redshaw says. 'It's what happened in Sydney. If there are no Olympics, Clays Lane is not included in the Stratford City plans, so this is a very positive and constructive approach with a big regeneration legacy.' It is plain that without the Olympics Clays Lane would not have been demolished.\\r\\nRedshaw\\xe2\\x80\\x99s assertions about the legacy value of the site were untrue. We pointed out to the cpo inquiry that there was no housing legacy as the Athletes' Village was being built on the site of Stratford City where housing was going to be built anyway. Arup had already pointed out that the Stratford site for the Athletes\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Village had less legacy potential than their preferred location at Mill Meads, but the cpo inspector ignored their report and our evidence when concluding the Stratford site had the greatest legacy value.\\r\\nNeither Redshaw nor Prior showed any concern about the impact on Clays Lane residents. For Redshaw this was just a property killing. Prior was asked at the cpo inquiry what assessment had been made of the impact of the cpo on residents. Despite the fact that this was supposed to be examined as one of the criteria for deciding on the legacy value of siting the Athletes\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Village in the Stratford section of the Olympic Park he was unable to provide any information or documentation to show an assessment had been undertaken. It made no difference. The cpo inspector simply ignored this lack of evidence of an assessment.\\r\\nWilliams completed his article with an assertion about the \\xe2\\x80\\x98opportunities\\xe2\\x80\\x99 at Clays Lane. \\xe2\\x80\\x9cClays Lane Estate, he wrote, \\xe2\\x80\\x9cwill be transformed into the 17,000-bed Olympic village, slated for development by Chelsfield and Stanhope. In the legacy plan, it will form the basis of a sustainable community.\\xe2\\x80\\x9d It was certainly the case that the LDA made repeated reference to \\xe2\\x80\\x98sustaining\\xe2\\x80\\x99 and \\xe2\\x80\\x98supporting\\xe2\\x80\\x99 local communities. None of those involved in these grand plans made any mention of sustaining the community at Clays Lane which was about to be removed to make way for this 'sustainable' community. It was as though we had already ceased to exist. And, of course, in the minds of Williams, Redshaw and Prior we had.\\r\\nAttachment\\r\\n\"b\"Web crawl data from Common Crawl.\\r\\nTIMESTAMPS\\r\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\r\\nHow the 2012 Olympics is selling East London short, and a 10 point plan for a more positive local legacy\\r\\nBy Martin Slavin\\r\\nCreated 21 Apr 2008 - 15:20\\r\\n[0]Waterlogged Allotments [1] at Marsh Lane Fields.  Feb  2008 \\xc2\\xa9 Martin Slavin\\r\\nFrom: 'Fools Gold' a report by the New Economics Foundation\\r\\nThis purpose of this report is to examine how to ensure the 2012 Olympics leaves a positive local legacy for the residents of East London. The remit of the work was to reopen and reframe the debate around the Olympic legacy and suggest new approaches for maximising the public and community benefit \\xe2\\x80\\x93 social, economic and environmental \\xe2\\x80\\x93 created by the Games.\\r\\nThe 2012 London Olympics have been presented by the Government and the Olympic delivery bodies as a \\xe2\\x80\\x98once-in-a-lifetime\\xe2\\x80\\x99 opportunity to help regenerate one of the UK\\xe2\\x80\\x99s most economically disadvantaged areas, the Lower Lea Valley.\\r\\nFew would question that the bid\\xe2\\x80\\x99s greatest strength was the social, economic and environmental legacy that it proposed to create for this area and its positioning of the Games as complementing the broader economic development of the Lower Lea Valley, Europe\\xe2\\x80\\x99s largest regeneration project. No previous Games has made regeneration so central to its vision. It is intended that this should leave a legacy which has been defined as: new sports facilities, housing, increased employment and a more skilled population, as well as industrial, technical and transport infrastructure that will further help regenerate the area.\\r\\nSignificant supply-side interventions \\xe2\\x80\\x93 including huge training and brokerage programmes \\xe2\\x80\\x93 are taking place to get the local population and businesses ready to take advantage of the opportunities created by the Games. Local expectations are high. There is no doubt that the Olympics will bring about a permanent change to the economy of East London, The question is what kind of change, and who will benefit.\\r\\nHere lies the challenge. The problem is that previous Olympics have failed to help the most economically disadvantaged groups living in the areas where the Games have taken place. In the UK, flagship regeneration projects in East London and elsewhere have also failed to improve the well-being of local residents. The Docklands development is the most glaring example.\\r\\nWhat tends to happen instead is that regeneration leads to gentrification. Assets of the local communities get transferred out of the local area, because local people who don\\xe2\\x80\\x99t own local homes or business are priced out of the area. High land values, fragmented ownership patterns and poor engagement of the community in planning decisions and local stewardship all go together to undermine the development of sustainable communities. Local retail, services, and local enterprises struggle to survive in the face of rising commercial rents and competition from larger companies.\\r\\nYet it is the general public that pays for the Olympics and arguably the poorest residents of the area supposed to be regenerated who pay the highest costs, certainly in terms of disruption and dislocation. The various delivery bodies involved in the Games have promised new jobs, new businesses, new green areas and new homes. But big questions remain about precisely how local people and local businesses will benefit from the preparation, delivery or legacy of the Games.\\r\\nIt is already clear that smaller, local firms are struggling to compete for a part of the huge Olympic construction, service and sponsorship contracts, many of the latter already allocated to multinational firms with no obligation to make sure that investment benefits the local community. At the time of writing, of the approximately 500 contracts already awarded, worth \\xc2\\xa31 billion, only 11 per cent had gone to companies based within the five Olympic boroughs. There is still little clarity about who will own, manage and fund, particularly revenue funding, the Olympic legacy.\\r\\nThe initial legacy plans for the Olympic physical assets seem to have little connection to the needs of local residents. There have been only tokenistic attempts by the organising Olympic authorities, ODA and LOCOG, to give local people and organisations an active role in the legacy planning process. There was a commitment to \\xe2\\x80\\x98sustainable regeneration\\xe2\\x80\\x99 in the 2007 Olympic and Paralympic planning applications, but it is still not clear what mechanisms and organisational infrastructure are in place to capture and safeguard the benefits of investment in the area for the benefit of the people who live there.\\r\\nIn the broader scheme of regeneration projects in the Lower Lea Valley, the Olympics pale in comparison in size and value with Stratford City, Crossrail and a number of other large regeneration programmes . Yet because of the intense media attention and the Games ideals \\xe2\\x80\\x93 peace, common humanity and dignity \\xe2\\x80\\x93 they have enormous symbolic value. Promises around local regeneration and legacy thus have enormous importance in terms of setting a standard for other developments.\\r\\nThis report sets out a vision for the creation of real community assets for the Lower Lea Valley that could prevent it being trampled in the Olympic gold rush. It comes at a key time.\\r\\nThe Olympic Board published its Sustainability Plan in December 2007 and the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 has issued its first report, casting some doubts on the ability of the Olympic authorities to deliver on their sustainability objectives. While much of the planning and procurement for the Games has already been completed, most of the Tier Two supplier decisions will be made in 2008. LOCOG will shortly be publishing its own procurement policy which could still provide an opportunity to harness the potential for community benefit.\\r\\nOn the legacy front, the Olympic Board is currently in the process of completing the Olympic Legacy Masterplan Framework (OLMF) for the Olympic Park after the end of the Games. The masterplan will form the basis of an outline planning application in 2009 which will provide the context for the development of the Olympic Park after 2012.\\r\\nOn the Olympic site itself, ODA has developed a preferred consortium of developers to take on the legacy planning for the 15,000 square metre Olympic Village, which will include 4,000 homes, 30 per cent of which are intended to be \\xe2\\x80\\x98affordable\\xe2\\x80\\x99. The consortium is currently developing its plans which will include a Section 106 agreement leading to the creation of a community development trust. The London Thames Gateway Development Corporation is also consulting on a comprehensive Section 106 strategy for the wider Lower Lea Valley development programme.\\r\\nHow can London 2012 create a meaningful legacy? Around the UK there are many examples of how community benefits can be built into major procurement projects. There are other examples of how the wealth created by major investments can stay circulating in local communities. East London includes some of the most deprived areas of the country, but it is also home to many enterprising small businesses and communities, many of whom have come to the UK to make a better life for their families. If the wealth creation the Games will deliver can leverage this enterprise and energy, rather than displace it, then the regeneration aims that were so integral to the 2012 bid might still be achieved.\\r\\nFrom: Introduction to 'Fools Gold', New Economics Foundation, April 2008.\\r\\nAvailable from: NEF [2]\\r\\n\"b\"Web crawl data from Common Crawl.\\r\\nTIMESTAMPS\\r\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\r\\nThe 'success' of Barcelona\\r\\nCreated 19 Nov 2006 - 12:56\\r\\n[0]Barcelona Housing Demo October 2006\\r\\nFrom:  The role of Mega events in urban competitiveness and its consequences on people,  Carolina del Olmo, Universidad Complutense, Sept 2004\\r\\nWe are tired of hearing about the \\xe2\\x80\\x9cOlympic legacy\\xe2\\x80\\x9d and the official discourse is repeated again and again that when the mega-event concludes, the installations will remain in the city. But they never discuss what the use value of these infrastructures is, especially if we compare these \\xe2\\x80\\x9csinks\\xe2\\x80\\x9d of public investments with other installations and services that could have been financed with the same amount of funds (or a lot less). Public funds are a scarce resource, especially today, in this zero-deficit scenario. In this restricted frame, to finance these kind of events and infrastructures involve a budget cut in other, more necessary, sectors.\\r\\nMoreover, these kinds of infrastructure tend to require a lot of re-investments to avoid the threat of devaluation that comes with the interurban competition and the changes in trends. That\\xe2\\x80\\x99s why it is so common to see these installations languishing in a state of neglect years after the event.\\r\\nThe Barcelona case represents these aspects extremely well. The 1992 Olympic Games are recorded as a success, even if they didn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t fulfil the expectations they claimed. The Olympic investments (in the broad sense, including some roads, coastal area renewal, cultural outlets, etc.), reached near 6 million euros (\\xc2\\xa34.1m) and 53% of that budget were public funds. But the economic activity that this money generated didn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t have a positive impact on the economic indicators of the Barcelona area.\\r\\nBetween 1987 and 1991 the number of jobs created in the construction sector were only 33.000, a figure much lower than was expected considering that three quarters of the total investment went towards the construction sector. On top of this, all of them were temporary jobs. In the hotel and catering trade sector only 20.000 new jobs appeared and only lasted the duration of the event, again, much less than was expected. In the other sectors, the labour impact was zero (we tend to forget that the Olympic volunteers take on a great amount of tasks that would otherwise generate jobs). During 1992, the number of jobs began to fall.\\r\\nIf we take a look at trade, we will see that during 1992 the sales rate decreased and the number of tourists that visited the city (a million and a half) was lower than expected and spent less money than it was estimated (exactly the same has happened in Athens this last summer). Also, the Barcelona event resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of people that visited other destinations in the Barcelona region.\\r\\nBasically, the only economic indicator that experienced an important impact as a result of the Olympic Games were price levels. Since 1988, city price levels increased more than in the rest of the region and more than 1% over the inflation rate in Spain. In the year before the Games, prices rose more than 3% over the prices of the rest of Spain. And if we think that the city gains profit from television broadcasting rights, we should not forget that it is the Olympic Committee who collects this money. In fact, the progressive growth of this source of money has turned the International Olympic Committee into a big (and suspicious) enterprise.\\r\\nHow can we understand the minute economic impact and the lack of fulfilment of expectations? We could focus on the unbridled optimism that seems to encumber the people who do the impact studies, but, especially, we should focus on the limited frame in which the investments take place. If the demand related with the Olympic Games (or any other mega-event) takes up resources that would otherwise remain unused, it would be reasonable to expect an increase in employment, as well as an improvement of the economic indicators in general. Nonetheless, demand growth related with a mega-event doesn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t produce a net income, because it is a consequence of a mere change in the direction of the resource\\xe2\\x80\\x99s flow; that is, the resources go to a specific sector or a particular place but only because they are coming from another sector or place.\\r\\nThe same goes for private capital: it tends to reduce its investments in other sectors or in other spatial areas. If we pay attention to the recommendations that the economic impact studies use to achieve a real net increase in profits, for example, to make the labour market more flexible, it is clear that the aim of obtaining net profits loses part of its appeal.\\r\\nAstonishingly, even if the mega-events don\\xe2\\x80\\x99t fulfil their expectations, this is never seen as a failure. Nobody seems to care for or to be surprised by this failure and the event ends with a sense of success. If we want to understand this incoherence, we should put aside the idea of competition as a heuristic tool and focus on the fabulous opportunity for businesses that follow urban transformations related with mega-events.\\r\\nIndeed, even the need to attract tourism and the desire to improve the competitive position of the city in the urban hierarchy seems a petty and secondary question if we compare this with the local elite\\xe2\\x80\\x99s focus on an easy profit. Of course, I am not saying that urban governments don\\xe2\\x80\\x99t want to promote the image of their cities with the purpose of generating employment, attracting enterprise headquarters and so on.\\r\\nRegrettably, one of our most serious problems is that urban governments seem to be convinced that, in a globalized world, there\\xe2\\x80\\x99s no point in promoting local enterprise development. They believe that the best they can do is to turn the city into an appealing zone for foreign investments. But the weakness of some of their strategies and the blindness with which they insist that these strategies actually work, make us question their genuine interests in the city.\\r\\nIn short, we cannot forget that when a mega-event is organized, the money that really flows into a city is, in the first place, public money that falls into the hands of private businessmen. That\\xe2\\x80\\x99s why it is so difficult to understand where the city expects to obtain incomes by organizing a mega-event, and how little the urban government cares.\\r\\nWhen asked about the profits the city of Madrid may gain from hosting the Olympic Games, a representative for the Olympic candidature discussed broadcasting copyrights (that, as I have previously stated, benefit Olympic Committee and not the city) and the tourist appeal that the city will gain. He referred to the Barcelona case as a big success and talked about the millions of tourists that have visited Barcelona in the last years as a result of the Olympic Games. What he forgot to mention is that the flow of tourists into Barcelona has not been an easy or inexpensive achievement. The strategy has only worked with the help of a continuous and huge public investment in private business, for example, in the hotel sector, dangerously close to bankruptcy \\xe2\\x80\\x93all in all, another typical episode of socialization of losses and privatisation of profits.\\r\\nHowever, if we consider that the investors that promoted and financed a big part of the Olympic Games budget in Barcelona were real estate and construction companies, property developers, land speculators, finance companies and hotel and catering trade firms, we will understand that, indeed, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics can be considered a success. Of course, as a result of the Olympic candidature, Barcelona witnessed a frantic building activity, an increase in the housing and land prices and a huge urban transformation that entailed the conversion of a big amount of industrial land into service or housing plots.\\r\\nIn fact, urban renewal related to a mega-event is not as much a secondary effect as it is a fundamental raison d\\xe2\\x80\\x99\\xc3\\xaatre. The recent Forum Universal de las Culturas that has taken place in Barcelona this summer confirms this idea: instead of organizing a mega-event that could reuse the installations built ten years ago as a result of the Olympic Games, the Barcelona government and elite have decided to invent a new kind of event whose major aim, no one can doubt, is urban transformation. This multicultural event has proven to be an effective excuse to finally implement urban renewal in the last coastal area of Barcelona that still has a low income population. A made-to-measure operation for the private capital that has been a real fiasco for the city.\\r\\nThe Spanish case is especially serious since in Spain the construction sector represents almost 18% of the GDP, and 60% of the investments in fixed capital formation. It also employs two million people. After a huge process to merge enterprises, the building sector is now dominated by six big firms, five of which are numbered among the ten largest construction companies in Europe. The sector has become a safe allocation for investments due to the housing price boom and to the approval of huge public infrastructure plans.\\r\\nEven if the present economic climate differs from that of Barcelona 92, the results that we may expect from Madrid 2012 may be very similar. In Barcelona, between 1986-1992, the construction boom and the rise in prices were partially caused by the recent entry of Spain into the European Union, consequently causing an influx of foreign capital into the country, especially into the real estate sector.\\r\\nNowadays, the potential rise in prices and the worsening of the speculative bubble will come from the fact that we are passing through a difficult period for stock exchange investments. And these bad times for the investors have turned the real estate sector into a safe haven that takes up more than 40% of foreign investment in Spain. In fact, in the last years, banks, investment funds and thousands of corporations had entry into the sector in search of a higher profitability.\\r\\nFrom:  The role of Mega events in urban competitiveness and its consequences on people,  Carolina del Olmo, Universidad Complutense, Sept 2004.\\r\\nMore at: Carolina del Olmo [1]\\r\\n[1]25,000 Housing Demonstration in Barcelona 23 Dec 2006:\\r\\nSee More at: Barcelona housing demo [2]\\r\\nIn the case of the Barcelona Games 'the market price of old and new housing rose between 1986 and 1992 by 240 percent and 287 percent respectively' (Brunet, 1993 in Wilkinson, 1994:23). A  further 59,000 residents left Barcelona to live elsewhere between the years of 1984 and 1992 (Brunet, 1993 in Cox et al., 1994)\\r\\nFrom:  Page 108,  Mega Events and Human Rights, Brent Ritchie, University of Canberra, Michael Hall, University of Otago, NZ and Sheffield Hallam University, UK.\\r\\nIn:  HOW YOU PLAY THE GAME Papers from The First International Conference on Sports and Human Rights, 1-3 September 1999, ISBN 1 86365 566 2, Published 2000,\\r\\nDownload: 'How You Play the Game'(PDF) at ; Sports & Human Rights [3]\\r\\nTo watch recent video clips about protests against housing conditions in Barcelona go to: housing protests in Barcelona [4]\\r\\nSee also: Barcelona housing protest videos [5] You do not have to speak Spanish to understand what the struggle is.\\r\\n\"b'Article | Economics | Legacy | Regeneration\\r\\nOn 15th January leaders of the five London \\'Host Boroughs\\' submitted a written memorandum to the House of Commons Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport. This outlined their concerns about how well the ODA were likely to supply adequate design and financing to a sustainable social legacy for the people of those boroughs.\\r\\nBelow are some extracts from the (uncorrected) oral evidence those leaders gave to the DCMS Committee.\\r\\nSir Robin Wales Mayor of Newham:\\r\\nThe more we look at the Games, the larger it becomes and the more opportunities it generates, and as you look at previous Games I think it is a journey of understanding. It is much bigger than any of us realised.\\r\\nObviously, there will be pressure. We worked with the ODA to put together a joint local authority team that can give local authority services in the Park, and we have done very well with the ODA and done some work with that, but clearly we are going to have to talk to LOCOG in identifying that. One of the things I would want to particularly stress with this whole thing is the need to have debates early and actually opening up the issues of concern, so that those things are widely debated in public, which we think will, in the end, come to some sort of resolution.\\r\\nI will say that, at the moment, in the governance structure we have got in order to enable us to get decisions, we have about one of the best governance structures on regeneration and one that involves the boroughs fundamentally, and we think it is a very good structure. It was a bit of a struggle to get there but we have got something that we are able to engage with. So there will be issues. Are they resolved yet? No. Would we expect them to be resolved yet? No. Do we need to have that debate? Yes.\\r\\nJules Pipe Mayor of London Borough of Hackney:\\r\\nOn the point of the additional costs to the boroughs, since our submission the ODA has put forward \\xc2\\xa332 million for the public realm issues in the periphery of the Park, actually within the boroughs. So the principle has been set that they acknowledge the costs, and now the debate has got to move on between the five boroughs, the ODA, LOCOG and everyone about, say, the regulatory issues that will arise not just during the Games but, also, in the lead-up and the construction.\\r\\nQ316 Philip Davies MP. (Shipley, Conservative):\\r\\nIn a nutshell, what you are saying is you want all the benefits of having the Games but none of the costs?\\r\\nSir Robin Wales:\\r\\nNo, I do not think we are saying that. If we are going to not develop on Greenfield sites - we are going to have to develop on brown-field sites - there is a cost to that. We develop across the country; we invest money in projects across the country. I would not dream of opposing some of the developments going on.\\r\\nWhat we are saying is that given the level of deprivation we have got - I will give you an interesting fact: we know that the people moving into Newham are poorer than the people moving out. So, effectively, what we do is take in poorer people, we work with them, we have over 100 languages at school, we work with these people, we get them in a position where they are more aspirational and they move out, and so we import more poverty.\\r\\nWe have, in my borough, 18,000 people who have never, ever worked - never, ever worked - in their lives. The non-employment level in Tower Hamlets is the lowest in the country, Hackney is the second-lowest and we are the third-lowest, in Newham. So what I think we are saying is that the investment that is coming to East London - it is high time that investment went in.\\r\\nIt is going into the poorest area in this country. So what we are looking to do is maximise that benefit in two ways. One is the development issue. It is interesting, one could make an argument that the Olympics is only the third-largest regeneration scheme in Newham, because we have Stratford City and we have the Docks, but we are also trying to inspire people to get them to move into work.\\r\\nSo what we have tried to do is take a substantial investment of public money and try to transform our population, their expectancy and their aspirations. At every stop on the District Line between Westminster and Newham, there is one year less life expectancy. We have to do something about this. This is a proper investment in an area. It is a massive task, it is a big investment and we need to try to use it so that in the future the East End of London will not be the poor place it is.\\r\\nQ317 Philip Davies:\\r\\nFinally, after the Games, in your submission you said that you had a fear that the desire to generate as much revenue as possible to repay the Treasury and the Lottery might lead to unacceptable pressures on the development of the area in an unsustainable way. I am sure you have just heard the Mayor\\'s Office and the LDA assure us all that it would all be done in a sustainable way and your fears are unfounded. Will you be reassured by what they said, or do you still maintain those same fears?\\r\\nSir Robin Wales:\\r\\nI think it is fair to say that the establishment of the steering group that we have set up,......,is a major step forward involving the boroughs in the legacy. Yes, we have concerns. We must have concerns at this point, because if we do not have them we cannot address them.\\r\\nIn Canning Town we are currently in the middle of a \\xc2\\xa33.4 billion project to knock down and replace a load of housing that was built after the War. We cannot allow that to happen again, where we build a load of housing and then knock it down in 50 years. We need to develop communities. Our job in the boroughs is to fight to develop those communities so that they are sustainable in the long term. I think there is a recognition from all the parties (the ODA, the LDA, particularly the Mayor of London); they are very keen to make sure that there is a legacy and that the communities are there.\\r\\n....if there is pressure put on to pay money back before we develop those communities, that would be a mistake. I would urge the Select Committee to be taking a view that said: \"Make this work so we eradicate poverty in the East End, as far as we can\", because in the long term that will pay more money back in taxes and we will actually pay back the money that is being invested.\\r\\nI am confident that we will find ways forward. However, we have not got solutions at the moment. One of the things, I think, that is frustrating in this debate is that we are trying (Athens did their legacy after the Olympics) to work this through early, and if we do not have answers it is because we are actually trying to raise the question so we can find answers.\\r\\nAt the moment, it seems to me that some of those answers are coming forward in a timely manner. Rightly, we will be raising questions about the costs during the Games, but we have raised questions about the costs building up to the Games, and some of that has been answered. Not fully, as Jules [Pipe] said, but they have established the principle and we move on and discuss it.\\r\\nJules Pipe:\\r\\nThere is a similar tension around the Inernational Broadcasting Centre. It arises from the same thing that we have already touched on before: initially there is the drive to get it right for the Games and get on because they have got to let contracts. At the moment there are still two consortia involved who are vying to build the IBC, and hopefully that will be sorted by February and they will know which consortia is going forward.\\r\\nIt is absolutely vital then that that consortia and the ODA talk to the array of broadcasters and recording industry people and others that we have put together that we want to see as the end-users, because they are saying to us they are not going to be interested in taking on that venue afterwards if they have not had some input into the spec, and it is something that they will be interested in.\\r\\nWhilst, yes, okay, we will end up with a shed that someone is going to want to pay a lot of money for afterwards, it does not do that trick that I spoke about before about changing the reputation of the area. Soho cannot give the power supplies to the creative and film and broadcasting industry, Hoxton is bursting at the seams with digital and creative media industries; they want somewhere new where the location is right, it is accessible and all the power supplies are there, and all the support that they need.\\r\\nThis location, the IBC, the Media Press Centre and the surrounding areas is absolutely ideal for that, but we will lose the opportunity for that to happen if the ODA do not do as they have committed they will do. They have committed to do this, but they must do this. Come February/March, when we know who the contractor and the consortium is, they must start talking to those people that we and Hackney borough have actually put in front of them.\\r\\n[Ends]\\r\\nAttached below is the Memorandum which was submitted to the Select Committee by the five London \\'Host Boroughs\\'.\\r\\n'b'Pipe Dream: Olympics Media Centre moved from Hackney\\r\\nFriday, 07 November 2008\\r\\nHackney Mayor Jules Pipe\\'s much hyped Hackney 2012 Olympic legacy could be no more than a \"Pipe Dream\" as the Media Centre the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) planned for Hackney Wick (rubbishing Arena Fields in the process) may be moved to Stratford to cut costs.\\xc2\\xa0 What now the legacy for Hackney (\"2012\\xc2\\xa0Olympic Borough\"), Jules ...?\\xc2\\xa0\\r\\n'b\"Opinion | London 2012\\r\\nAfter the grisly experience of the Millennium Dome, you might have thought that this government would have been once burnt, twice shy of the construction and mass entertainment business.\\r\\nAfter the money-guzzling, credibility-munching monster that was the dome, Tony Blair half-apologised for that fiasco and sighed that there would be 'lessons to be learnt' about the running of large infrastructure projects. Well, if remedial classes in event management and construction ever happened, no one involved with the Olympics seems to have attended them. The disaster that was the dome is now being replicated on an even more gargantuan scale on the other side of the Thames.\\r\\nIt was both predictable and predicted that the Olympics would be a black hole sucking money out of taxpayers and lottery funds and away from good causes. Try justifying these Games to disabled groups whose lottery funding is being cut. Cost overruns are as integral to the tradition of the modern Olympiad as are cheating and corruption. The Games are a serial financial killer.\\r\\nThe taxpayers of Montreal are still paying for the 1976 Olympics 30 years after they were staged in the city. The cost of the last Olympics in Athens went so out of control that the Greeks had to go begging for a bail-out from the European Commission. The Olympic legacy to Sydney was another huge budget-buster and a splendid stadium which sat empty and unused afterwards. Beijing is believed to be flushing away going on for \\xc2\\xa320bn to host the 2008 Games.\\r\\nI have to say that even a hard-core Olympic sceptic like myself has been staggered by just how rapidly and wildly the bill for the London Olympics is escalating. The chief spinmeister of the bid effort has written a revelatory book in which he plausibly argues that the figures in the original budget under-stated the true cost because no one in charge actually expected London to get the games.\\r\\nFrom:  The ruinously expensive folly of this mad five-ring circus, Andrew Rawnsley, 26 11 06, The Observer\\r\\n\"b'.\\r\\nPART 1 The Hype\\r\\nAs part of Chicago 2016\\xe2\\x80\\x99s ongoing effort to make legacy and sustainable benefits an integral part of its plan for the Olympic Games, the bid announced today the establishment of a multimillion dollar fund to support this goal. The intention of the grants is to support programs that aim to revitalize neighborhoods through affordable as well as market rate housing, and increase levels of education, job training and employment.\\r\\nMayor Richard Daley noted, \\xe2\\x80\\x9cAs we\\xe2\\x80\\x99ve said in the past, one of the great strengths of our city ( is that we work together with government, business and our communities to keep our city moving forward. Chicago is home to some of the most prominent and civic-minded foundations in the world, and this latest commitment underscores their generosity and continued investment in the future of our city and the development of our neighborhoods.\\xe2\\x80\\x9d\\r\\nFrom: Chicago 2016 Announces Community Initiative to Ensure Lasting Benefit of Olympic Games\\r\\nBelow; Extracts from the Applicant City Document\\r\\nThe Games provide an extraordinary opportunity to accelerate the sustainable redevelopment of Chicago\\xe2\\x80\\x99s South and West sides - two of the city\\xe2\\x80\\x99s key long-term urban-renewal priorities - leaving a lasting Olympic legacy. The Olympic Village (the area will be developed regardless of whether Chicago hosts the 2016 Games), Olympic Stadium and Olympic Aquatics Center will serve as catalysts for urban redevelopment and transformation, a process that is already under way.\\r\\nIn creating its plan, Chicago made the post-Games use of venues a priority, utilized existing and temporary facilities where possible and planned on building new facilities only where justified by long-term community needs and financial viability.\\r\\nThe Village\\xe2\\x80\\x99s lakefront location will feature a stunning array of amenities, including a 5,000-seat central dining hall, a running track and world-class fitness facility, a private beach and a promenade including shops, Internet cafes, service centers, clubs, a cinema and a concert stage. After the Games, the residential units will be converted to affordable, moderate and market rate housing. Mixed-use retail and residential amenities will form the core of a new, vibrant and sustainable neighborhood, served by mass-transit systems, on the city\\xe2\\x80\\x99s near South Side.\\r\\nChicago\\xe2\\x80\\x99s candidature will serve as a powerful catalyst for the city to expedite its long-term civic plans. Chicago is a leader in reforming public schools, enhancing public-safety and security initiatives, providing affordable housing in attractive and economically sound communities, ensuring accessibility for all and fostering social, economic and environmental sustainability.\\r\\nChicago\\xe2\\x80\\x99s Olympic Stadium represents a unique opportunity for the Olympic Movement. At the time of the Games, it will be a dramatic purpose-built athletics stadium that meets or exceeds the ideal standards of the IAAF and key Olympic and Paralympic constituencies. Post-Games, the scaled-down reconfigured stadium will be the centerpiece for the revitalization of Washington Park and Chicago\\xe2\\x80\\x99s South Side. The accessible, community-based venue will be used for sports, concerts and other civic events and can be expanded to host major international athletics events. The sustainable, cost-saving approach of the stadium design could be a blueprint for future host cities.\\r\\nThere is no organized opposition to the bid. Chicago 2016 is engaged in ongoing dialogue with individuals or groups that have expressed concerns about the impact of specific areas of the bid. While none of these individuals or groups has voiced opposition to bringing the Games to Chicago, the bid committee continues to work with each of them to find solutions to the issues they have raised.\\r\\nDownload the PDF from; Applicant File\\r\\nPART 2. The Nitty Gritty\\r\\nWille \"J R\" Fleming addressing the housing displacement potential of the Olympics in Chicago.\\r\\nWillie \"J.R.\" Fleming is a Cabrini Green resident/organizer/documentarian/ website designer and researcher with the Coalition to Protect Public Housing, and presented testimony before the U.N. Office of the High Commission on Human Rights this year. He also led the March for the Right to Return with public housing residents and leaders in New Orleans during the Hurricane Katrina one-year memorial. He filmed and edited a gospelmentary titled \"Voice of the Voiceless\" along with several other short videos on housing that can be found at housingisahumanright.com. Before joining the Coalition to Protect Public Housing, Fleming was the director of a gang intervention music program for young men in Cabrini Green, and is currently the Chairman for the Hip Hop Congress Community Chapter in Chicago which deals with issues of social and economic injustice using music as a platform to unite the people. This year Fleming protested the U.S. Olympic Committee in Chicago by noting that the Olympics can cause poor people to be evicted from their communities and homes. He also took part in training housing and homelessness advoates on how to utilize housing as a human rights mechanism in the United States and educating their communities in fighting for housing as a human right.\\r\\nBelow ; Extracts from: A Report to the \\'Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination\\' on Racial Discrimination in Homelessness and Affordable Housing in the United States, Dec 2007\\r\\n...the Chicago housing market is becoming more inaccessible each day. Public housing is being eradicated, project-based Section 8 contracts in buildings housing thousands of people are set to expire, homelessness is on the rise, condo [Freehold] conversions have saturated the market, and private low income and affordable housing options have virtually disappeared\\r\\nAccording to a recent study, only 20 percent of current and potential Chicago homeowners can afford the city\\xe2\\x80\\x99s median home price of about $250,000. ...the city is short by nearly 100,000 units of affordable to poor households. Additionally, there is an active effort within public housing developments in Chicago to displace the current residents in favor of gentrification.\\r\\nUnder its Plan for Transformation, the Chicago Housing Authority has sought to demolish the existing stock of affordable housing in favor of mixed-income development. 19,000 units of public housing have already been demolished without replacement. The dislocation of residents of Chicago public housing is an issue of racial justice given that approximately 84% of residents are African-American and 5.4% Latino.\\r\\nAt any given time, over half of the public housing authorities in Illinois have closed waiting lists for Housing Choice Vouchers \\xe2\\x80\\x93 meaning families cannot even sign up to wait for assistance. 81.1% of Illinoisans eligible for Housing Choice Vouchers are not receiving them.\\r\\nEven for those fortunate enough to receive a housing unit or a housing voucher, significant problems can persist, such as racial and economic segregation, placement in high crime areas with little or no economic development opportunities, overcrowded and infested buildings, and unresponsive landlords. The state of housing in Illinois only serves to perpetuate poverty and racial discrimination.\\r\\nThe Plan for Transformation guaranteed the CHA $1.6 billion in federal funds to demolish 51 high-rise buildings over a 10-year period and to replace them with lower-density, mixed income housing. However, when completed, the plan will have a total of 25,000 units \\xe2\\x80\\x93 13,000 fewer than Chicago had when the plan was approved in 2000.  Based on the number of occupied units at the time and not the number of families in need, the CHA plan falls well short of the estimated need for 153,000 affordable housing units for people earning less than $20,000 a year, a figure determined by a city-supported study completed before the plan was approved.\\r\\nWithout new prevention and permanent housing resources, the city\\xe2\\x80\\x99s meager measures will have a devastating effect on homeless Chicagoans of color, and stand in the way of any significant steps toward eradicating homelessness.\\r\\nChicago\\xe2\\x80\\x99s 10-year Plan to End Homelessness, launched in 2003, severely underestimates the number of new permanent housing units needed because it only counts people currently in the shelter system, ignoring increasing numbers of people living in precarious housing situations. Since 2003, the City of Chicago has added only $3 million to the 10-year plan. This is only enough funding to create 18 new units of affordable housing for a city of nearly three million residents.   Additionally, the city plans to eliminate more than 1,200 shelter beds by 2012, representing a 32 percent reduction.\\r\\nCHA qualifying policies, moreover, have a disproportionate impact on people of color. Anyone considered in default of a CHA lease, owing money to a utility company, and ex-offenders with drug offenses are prohibited from occupying new public housing developments or Section 8 homes. Upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in March 2002, this last exemption reflects the national \\xe2\\x80\\x9cone strike\\xe2\\x80\\x9d policy that can result in eviction of entire families if one member or a visitor is convicted of a drug-related offense on CHA property\\r\\nAt the request of the Chicago Housing Authority, the Chicago Police Department is stopping African American men, women and children in the Cabrini Green and Harold Ickes housing developments, checking their identification, and if they do not posses a local address, charging them with trespassing, even if they have a valid reason to be in the area. Police data show that that there are over 220 arrests per month for trespassing.  Sadly these numbers only represent two of the many public housing communities throughout America where similar systematic human right abuses take place.\\r\\nSee: Full Report attached below\\r\\nAttachment\\r\\n'b\"Web crawl data from Common Crawl.\\r\\nTIMESTAMPS\\r\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\r\\n\\xe2\\x80\\x98A prime opportunity for the property industry.\\xe2\\x80\\x99\\r\\nBy Julian Cheyne\\r\\nCreated 12 Jun 2008 - 23:43\\r\\nRecent reports in the Press (see attachment) reveal that businesses evicted to make way for the Olympics are still having to battle with the LDA over compensation. Looking back in time to reports published by the media can provide an interesting insight into the attitudes of the Olympic team (and how the media approached the project) and the difference between the rhetoric and the reality of the programme. One such report was contained in the Property Week Newsletter of 05.12.03 (see attachment) which included some particularly chilling assertions for the residents at Clays Lane.\\r\\nTaking the present experience of the businesses as a starting point, Jason Prior\\xe2\\x80\\x99s comments in the article show the casual \\xe2\\x80\\x98we can do as we please\\xe2\\x80\\x99 attitude which pervaded their approach to the various evictees: 'We are trying to do this by open negotiation and discussion, but if we have to use compulsory purchase orders (CPO), we will. But this isn't necessarily about acquisition, it's about partnership building. Why acquire it if you can find another way of doing it?' The careless use of terms like \\xe2\\x80\\x98partnership\\xe2\\x80\\x99 runs through all the LDA and ODA documents. Far from seeing themselves as partners in the LDA\\xe2\\x80\\x99s grand acquisition of their sites the businesses are still protesting at the way they were treated and at the undervaluing of their assets.\\r\\nThe author of this fascinating if sickening piece, Charles Williams, wrote \\xe2\\x80\\x98Deal structures and joint venture proposals have yet to be developed, but will follow the precedent of the LDA's Royal Docks development, where it is working in partnership with Development Securities and Standard Life. The LDA will buy the sites and take the schemes through the planning phases and then turn them over to private partners for development and construction.\\xe2\\x80\\x99  Williams turned to the LDA\\xe2\\x80\\x99s Gareth Blacker to elaborate, 'We don't think it will be difficult to get partners,' says LDA head of property and development Gareth Blacker. 'If we do the site assembly we're proposing to do, we're creating a prime opportunity for the property industry.' Well, that's clear enough!\\r\\nProperty journalists are not necessarily the keenest investigative reporters. Williams went on to declare, \\xe2\\x80\\x9cThe Olympic plan has naturally been prioritised; details of the non-Olympic and Olympic legacy plans are sketchy\\xe2\\x80\\x9d but failed to probe more deeply. Instead he relied on Jason Prior, 'We're still working on the non-Olympic plan,' Prior says. 'Ultimately it should be largely the same as the legacy plan, but with differences based around the types of uses you'd want to cluster around a stadium.\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Actually this was all complete rubbish. There was no non-Olympic plan when this interview took place. Prior revealed in his evidence to the Compulsory Purchase Inquiry that it wasn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t even commissioned until the summer of 2004. That didn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t stop the LDA turning up with a drawing purporting to be a non-Olympic scenario when they came to talk to Clays Lane residents at the end of 2003. The difference between journalists and residents was that we did do some research and found out very quickly in early 2004 that there was no non-Olympic plan.\\r\\nFailing to comment on, or perhaps to spot, the contradiction Williams reported that \\xe2\\x80\\x9cPrior believes the long-term regeneration elements and development opportunities will happen with or without the Olympics. What may differ is the pace of change. In the event of a successful bid, developers in partnerships might have to play a longer-term game \\xe2\\x80\\x93 the land would not be freed for its end use until after the 2012 event.\\xe2\\x80\\x9d So not only was Prior saying regeneration would happen without the Olympics but that the Games might actually hold up development! At the cpo inquiry Prior and the LDA insisted regeneration would not happen without the Olympics. They also claimed Stratford City would not have gone ahead without the Olympics. They still do. We tried to point out to the cpo inspector that the regeneration of the area was not dependent on the Olympics but he paid no attention.\\r\\nWilliams moved on to Stratford City and developers Chelsfield, whose project director Keith Redshaw was delighted to be able to get his hands on Clays Lane, courtesy of the Olympics, 'There's a precedent for this,' Redshaw says. 'It's what happened in Sydney. If there are no Olympics, Clays Lane is not included in the Stratford City plans, so this is a very positive and constructive approach with a big regeneration legacy.' It is plain that without the Olympics Clays Lane would not have been demolished.\\r\\nRedshaw\\xe2\\x80\\x99s assertions about the legacy value of the site were untrue. We pointed out to the cpo inquiry that there was no housing legacy as the Athletes' Village was being built on the site of Stratford City where housing was going to be built anyway. Arup had already pointed out that the Stratford site for the Athletes\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Village had less legacy potential than their preferred location at Mill Meads, but the cpo inspector ignored their report and our evidence when concluding the Stratford site had the greatest legacy value.\\r\\nNeither Redshaw nor Prior showed any concern about the impact on Clays Lane residents. For Redshaw this was just a property killing. Prior was asked at the cpo inquiry what assessment had been made of the impact of the cpo on residents. Despite the fact that this was supposed to be examined as one of the criteria for deciding on the legacy value of siting the Athletes\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Village in the Stratford section of the Olympic Park he was unable to provide any information or documentation to show an assessment had been undertaken. It made no difference. The cpo inspector simply ignored this lack of evidence of an assessment.\\r\\nWilliams completed his article with an assertion about the \\xe2\\x80\\x98opportunities\\xe2\\x80\\x99 at Clays Lane. \\xe2\\x80\\x9cClays Lane Estate, he wrote, \\xe2\\x80\\x9cwill be transformed into the 17,000-bed Olympic village, slated for development by Chelsfield and Stanhope. In the legacy plan, it will form the basis of a sustainable community.\\xe2\\x80\\x9d It was certainly the case that the LDA made repeated reference to \\xe2\\x80\\x98sustaining\\xe2\\x80\\x99 and \\xe2\\x80\\x98supporting\\xe2\\x80\\x99 local communities. None of those involved in these grand plans made any mention of sustaining the community at Clays Lane which was about to be removed to make way for this 'sustainable' community. It was as though we had already ceased to exist. And, of course, in the minds of Williams, Redshaw and Prior we had.\\r\\nAttachment\\r\\nProperty week newsletter article.doc [1]\\r\\n36.5 KB\\r\\nOlympic businesses fight for compensation.doc [2]\\r\\n24 KB\\r\\n\"b'Extracts from the debate\\r\\nLord Mawson (Crossbench) introducing the debate\\r\\nWe worry about what we see taking place under what one very experienced developer calls the smoke and mirrors of the Olympic Legacy.\\r\\nWhen you stay in one place for a very long time you watch successive government programmes. Their effect on people\\'s lives is often quite different from the intention of the rhetoric that launched them.\\r\\n...creating sustainable communities is not about the macro but about the micro. It is about the devil in the detail of local relationships between people and organisations on the ground. It is not ultimately about structures, systems and processes but about individuals, relationships and friendships. It is about people before structures.\\r\\nMany of us in east London are increasingly concerned that these crucial local details are still not understood by the more than 40 public sector agencies involved in the regeneration of the area. I am sure that many noble Lords are all too aware of the Public Accounts Committee\\'s recent critical report on the Thames Gateway, which describes in great detail the waste of money and human potential in this area. Real opportunities for deep and sustainable legacy in the Lower Lea Valley are being sliced away and lost.\\r\\nIt is not clear today ........ importantly, which of the alphabet soup of organisations has the authority to lead the process. The Olympic Delivery Authority seems to have given up on legacy. It has too much on its plate\\xe2\\x80\\x94I am sympathetic to that\\xe2\\x80\\x94and has passed the baton to the London Development Agency, but the LDA has no track record of creating excellent places for people to live and work. If it does not now engage seriously with colleagues on the ground then yet further opportunities for real legacy will be lost.\\r\\nWhen you live and work in east London, you know that the Olympics are not the biggest show in town. They are, as one Newham councillor recently put it, only the third biggest regeneration scheme in Newham alone.\\r\\nIf we grasp this opportunity then we as a nation may have something valuable to share with the International Olympic Committee\\xe2\\x80\\x94some practical clues about how you do legacy in a way that does not leave us, as I have seen at Homebush in Sydney, with a large empty site; or in the position of West Heidelberg in Melbourne where the 1956 Olympics were held and where you can see the effect of getting these decisions wrong on a local community as long as 50 years later.\\r\\nThe problem is that the regeneration structures in east London are a mess. Those of us who try to make them work in practical ways know how serious that mess is and how much energy and time are being wasted. The present structures are confusing potential private sector investors precisely at a time when we want them to commit to the area. There needs to be simplification and some agencies need to go.\\r\\n\"..government understands the shape of the forest but has no idea what is actually going on under the trees\".   Lord Peyton of Yeovil  (quoted by Lord Mawson)\\r\\nBaroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (Liberal Democrat)\\r\\nAs the costs of the Olympics have escalated, so have the raids on the lottery good causes fund, with knock-on effects for the cultural sector in general, but also for the cultural Olympiad in particular.\\r\\nThere are three tiers to the Cultural Olympiad. Tier 1 is the mandatory ceremonies, for which there is a budget, although we do not have a figure. Tier 2 is 10 major cultural events involving key partners such as the BBC, the British Museum and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Tier 3 is a UK-wide cultural festival. The last tier is unique to the London bid and is designed to encompass thousands of local and regional events as part of our nationwide celebration.\\r\\nHowever, there is no allocated funding for tier 3. This money has to be found locally and by the voluntary arts and heritage groups rooted in our communities. The last diversion of lottery funds hit them particularly hard.  At the end of last year, the Minister replied to a Question for Written Answer on lack of funding, saying: \"The Legacy Trust, which has \\xc2\\xa340 million of funding, will be launched in November 2007. It will provide an additional source of funding for Cultural Olympiad projects\".\\xe2\\x80\\x94[Official Report, 21/11/07; WA 76.]\\r\\nThis trust seems very keen on being launched, but less keen on actually leaving port. It has been launched no fewer than three times, most recently in May. This is not clear or structured behaviour and the consequence is that it is only now that the process of tendering for the money involved has begun. Of that money, \\xc2\\xa36 million has already been ring-fenced for the UK School Games; \\xc2\\xa324 million is going to the nations and regions; and a paltry \\xc2\\xa310 million for everything else. Compare that with the \\xc2\\xa3750 million being diverted from the arts via special Olympic lottery games.\\r\\n\"..major events have a long sunrise but short sunset.\"   Lord Addington\\r\\nBaroness Whitaker (Labour)\\r\\nThe Travellers at Clays Lane had lived peacefully with the settled community for 36 years. They were offered and accepted a new site, which then, for complex, oddly unforeseen planning reasons, was withdrawn. The substitute site was a recreation area. It is felt that, in their urgency to vacate the land for Olympic development, the LDA and Newham Council have disregarded the needs and wishes of both the Travellers and other local residents, causing, I am told, much resentment in the local community. Far from gaining any benefits from the Olympics, they believe they have lost some of their scarce green space and community facilities. The good relationships between the Traveller community and the other local residents which had been built up over such a long time have been undermined. Rather than an increased sense of community cohesion, Travellers now feel more segregated and vulnerable.\\r\\nAfter this, as I have said earlier in your Lordships\\' House, the Travellers were given 12 different dates for being moved, and they spent many weeks, with their children, with demolition, noise, heavy traffic and dust all around them, post stopped, phones cut off, and street lights gone. An allegation was made by the ODA that the Travellers had themselves caused health problems by burning toxic waste in a furnace, which turned out not to exist.\\r\\nThe All-Party Group on Gypsy and Traveller Law Reform, of which I am a vice-chair, discussed these matters with representatives from the ODA and the LDA who were kind enough to come in. They agreed that a senior official would deliver an apology about the wrongful allegation in person. Yet again, that is not what happened.\\r\\nExtracts from: House of Lords debate, Olympic Games 2012: Legacy, Thursday, 17 January 2008\\r\\n'b'Web crawl data from Common Crawl.\\r\\nTIMESTAMPS\\r\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\r\\nEastway Cyclists struggle with the ODA planners\\r\\nBy Martin Slavin\\r\\nCreated 4 Jul 2007 - 11:33\\r\\nBelow is the press release from the official governing body of our sport... Reading between the long, wordy, lines, it seems that British Cycling are now realising what the Eastway Users\\' Group has been telling them all along; that the plans for the new velodrome didn\\'t show good enough facilities for a road or a mountain bike circuit. And without the bulldozing of these circuits, there wouldn\\'t be any Olympic Park at all...\\r\\nThe Board of British Cycling met on Saturday 9 June to continue its ongoing consideration of the \\'legacy facilities\\' which are currently proposed for the sport following the London Olympic Games. Disappointment was expressed that, despite the advice and support offered over the last several months to the Olympic Delivery Authority, and the assurances received from that body in return, there was still insufficient evidence of appropriate changes being made to the outline Legacy proposals, to allow the Board to consider those proposals to be acceptable.\\r\\nThe Board is happy with the siting, layout and basic specifications of the proposed velodrome and BMX track, both of which are to be used for Olympic competition. The Board also considers the proposals for a legacy Cycle Speedway facility to be acceptable. However from the Board\\'s point of view the basic problem remains that there is insufficient space allocated in the current plans within the proposed Olympic Park to permit adequate provision for the road and off-road competition and training.\\r\\nThe Board has to consider both the adequacy of the Olympic competition facilities (which are progressing satisfactorily) and also the planned provision of cycling facilities after the Games (which currently are not satisfactory). The Board has always been very concerned to ensure that the promises that have been made in relation to the provision of adequate road racing and off road facilities after the Games will be honoured. Over months now we have been constantly reminding the ODA of its responsibilities.\\r\\nCycle sport has a unique relationship to the Games of 2012, one that cannot be claimed by any other sport. First we are one of the most successful Olympic sports in terms of medals won. Cycling stands, with a small number of other Sports, head and shoulders above the rest in terms of recent Olympic success. The real difference however, and what sets cycling apart, is that cycling also has an historic association with the venue that is to be transformed for Olympic and post Olympic use. Quite simply the 2012 Games would not be possible without the acquisition of the former Eastway site with the consequence that London cyclists are currently without a facility that has served them well for over 30 years.\\r\\nNor is the issue just a London problem, the Board recognise that Eastway had wider national significance and formed an important part of the nation\\'s cycling facilities network. The Board need to guard against a situation in which cyclists who want to practice road racing and MTB Cross-Country in London are left worse off after the Games than they were before them. The two disciplines of Road Racing and MTB Cross-Country in particular represent a large and thriving element of the sport and until they are adequately catered for in the Legacy plan, British Cycling cannot endorse the Legacy proposals.\\r\\nHaving considered the views of members and officials of the three Regions of British Cycling with responsibility for managing and developing the sport in London and the South East, and having taken further advice from the Chief Executive and his staff, as well as from our legal advisers, the Board has agreed what it believes to be the most appropriate and effective way for it to register its concerns.\\r\\nThe Board has resolved firstly to register its objections in respect of the Legacy provisions directly at the highest level with the Olympic Delivery Authority with whom we have been working to achieve the right outcome. These \\'cycling project sponsors\\' need to understand that the Board, the Regions and the user groups all share the same concern with what is being proposed as the Legacy \\'Velo Park\\' and in the Board\\'s view they will need to address fundamental changes to the Legacy Masterplan in order to achieve an acceptable outcome.\\r\\nSecondly, in respect of the current planning applications, that British Cycling will make a formal objection to the ODA Planning Decisions Team including a \"Request for Conditions to be Imposed\" on the relevant application. This will state the case for the Legacy cycling facilities to include a proper Road circuit that can be fairly described as a replacement for what has been lost, and for an off-road competition facility that genuinely provides for racing at the level previously carried out at Eastway.\\r\\nAs part of the objection that will be made to the Planning Decisions Team, we will request that any permissions that are granted in respect of the applications that have currently been made will include conditions designed to secure replacement facilities for what has been given up at Eastway.\\r\\nThese requested conditions will cover the adequacy of the Road and Mountain Bike facilities in the light of previous promises and commitments made by the ODA and others and specifically in light of the conditions that had previously been attached to the Olympic Planning consents that were granted in 2004 during the Olympic bidding phase. The detailed wording will be agreed with our legal and technical advisers in time to make a formal submission by the 15 June deadline.\\r\\nBritish Cycling President Brian Cookson said:\\r\\n\"British Cycling is very pleased to be playing a key role in the design of the Olympic Park and we are committed to helping the ODA deliver outstanding Olympic facilities for our sport. However we are very disappointed at the failure by the ODA to make sufficient clear movement towards meeting our legitimate concerns regarding the legacy provision, concerns which we have been expressing to them for some time now. We will also be raising our concerns at the highest level with other relevant bodies and agencies involved in the delivery and legacy provision of the London 2012 Olympics.\"\\r\\nFrom: From Olympic Legacy - British Cycling Board confirms stance against Legacy Masterplan, Singletrack Magazine, Mon 11 june\\r\\nOne of the Singletrack comments says:\\r\\nby: plurien on: Thursday 14 June 2007 , The consultation for the applications being made closes on 15th June. The plans show NO MOUNTAINBIKE COMPETITION FACILITY AT ALL.\\r\\nPoints you may wish to raise in objection:\\r\\nThere has been no consultation, no attempt made to identify the needs of the cycling community based at Eastway.\\r\\nThe plans are not suitable for cycle sport outdoors\\r\\nThere is no off-road competition permitted within the constraints of the scheme applied for, so there can be no guarantee or planning condition made for it unless the scheme is rejected\\r\\nThe road circuit is unsafe and does not allow for large fields to circulate\\r\\nIts layout is uninspiring, being pushed right against the A12 in the shadow of a large building\\r\\nThe facility is cut in two by the A12 which brings noise and air pollution\\r\\nThere is no possibility of safe concurrent running of road and off-road sessions of any kind\\r\\nThe area made available for a legacy replacement is unsuitably small and in a marginal position\\r\\nNo amount of \\xe2\\x80\\x98design\\xe2\\x80\\x99 prior to a subsequent detailed application for legacy can alleviate the absence of land area being made available in the outline application for the cycling facility in legacy phase\\r\\nUsers were made promises and given numerous assurances about the vailidity of a legacy before they willingly gave up their facility to make way for the Games.\\r\\nThe scheme now applied for in no way matches those schemes that were outlined and does not even come close to replacing the road and off-road cycling which made Eastway so successful as the base of a thriving community of people doing Olympic sports in Inner East London.\\r\\nFrom Olympic Legacy - British Cycling Board confirms stance against Legacy Masterplan, Singletrack Magazine, Mon 11 june\\r\\nMore at: Singletrackworld [1]\\r\\nFor more recent information go to: ODA and Eastway Users Group Correspondence [2]\\r\\nSee also: Cycling nowhere [3]\\r\\nSource URL:\\r\\n'b\"Article | Cycling | Local groups\\r\\nUsers of the former Eastway Cycling facility in East London are currently protesting against plans for the 2012 Olympic Velo-park which they say will leave them without a facility for mountain bike racing in London. Pull up a chair, this is a long ol' story...\\r\\nWe've been following the to-and-fro argument between the Eastway Users' Group and British Cycling (and the Olympic organisers) closely. To be honest, much of it is political shuffling and angry name calling. But one thing we've been able to glean from the many, many emails between the two is that due to expanded housing plans for the Olympic village, the planned provision for mountain biking at the former Eastway is currently a token 900m track - a far cry from the 2-3 mile loops that were raced on weekly by many mountain bikers from London and afar. Current plans for a replacement circuit centre centre on Hog Hill, near Hainalt, seven miles from Eastway's East London site. Funding for this has currently only been guaranteed until 2012.\\r\\nThis isn't good enough in our biased opinion, most of us having raced there in the past. But with the aim of token fairness, we're reprinting press releases from both sides below...\\r\\nSome Eastway riders went to hand in letters objecting to the Olympic legacy plans on Saturday 17th March 2007.\\r\\nStarting from near to The Royals, the temporary replacement for Eastway which is never going to open, riders made it their first stop to look at the undeveloped site which has left them with no road-racing season so far.\\r\\nThen it was on up to the offices of the ODA (Olympic Delivery Authority) to hand in letters of objection to the planning decisions team. Staff at the building refused to accept the letters and started to get heavy, so the group moved off to City Hall.\\r\\nA photo call provided evidence of what a happy community is now without any facility for its sport and the social interaction which comes with doing a sport. Many reflected on what has been lost, before it was time for riders who would have been training, racing and having fun at Eastway to go their separate ways once more. Some left for races at Hillingdon, others for Milton Keynes some went out to ride at Epping Forest and the rest? \\xe2\\x80\\x93 well they just went home and wondered what it takes to keep Olympic sport going in London these days.\\r\\nPlacards calling for \\xe2\\x80\\x9cMore Olympic Sport \\xe2\\x80\\x93 mountainbike, road race and time-trial\\xe2\\x80\\x9d summed up what people feel. They haven\\xe2\\x80\\x99t been asked for their views and they have lost out yet they are the ones who were doing Olympic sports so successfully in East London. There will be no replacement for mountain bike competition, while the road circuit for racing and time-trialling will do more harm than good to those sports and the people doing them.\\r\\nComing so close after London\\xe2\\x80\\x99s Olympic budget more than tripled, conversations wondered on;-\\r\\n- Where has all the land and all the money gone?\\r\\n- Where is the Olympic legacy for the three Olympic sports which started out on the site of the Olympic Park?\\r\\n- Where is the continuity our athletes need? \\xe2\\x80\\x93 This is a season which has never started since Eastway closed and there is nowhere else to ride\\r\\n- What has happened to the promises that were made before London won the bid and took the land?\\r\\n- What does it take for cycle sport to be represented by people who can speak up for it?\\r\\nFrom: Eastway Users At Odds With Olympic Plans, Singletrack, 21 3 07\\r\\nMore (including a long press statement from British Cycling which is a masterpiece of vacuous blah) at: Singletrack\\r\\n\"b'Article | 2012 Legacy | Funding | Politics | Sustainability\\r\\nNEW council tax rises may be needed to fund the 2012 Olympics and its aftermath, it has emerged. A leaked report and parliamentary answers suggest that not only will households in London be affected, but also taxpayers in the surrounding counties, including Essex and Hertfordshire.\\r\\nKen Livingstone, the London mayor, has promised that the financial burden of the Olympics will be limited to a maximum of \\xc2\\xa320 a year per household in London. However, the documents reveal that ministers could take advantage of obscure powers to help to fund the Games and any extra debts they run up, potentially for decades to come.\\r\\nThe Tories warn that an obscure regional quango could be used to bear some of the long-term liabilities from the Games. The Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA) already owns some of the Olympic park land and, as it is funded from the council tax base of Essex, Hertfordshire and London boroughs through an annual levy, there could be knock-on effects for taxpayers, they claim.\\r\\nA private and confidential report from Deloitte, the auditor, on the possible implications of the Olympic \\xe2\\x80\\x9clegacy\\xe2\\x80\\x9d for the LVRPA says \\xe2\\x80\\x9csubstantial increases would probably be needed in capacity and the necessary resources to fund it\\xe2\\x80\\x9d. Answers to parliamentary questions reveal that ministers have instructed officials to begin talks with the LVRPA, including about \\xe2\\x80\\x9cliabilities arising from London 2012\\xe2\\x80\\x9d.\\r\\nLondon boroughs have already expressed concern that managing the Olympic venues after the Games could have an effect on council finances. Eric Pickles, shadow local government minister, said: \\xe2\\x80\\x9cI fear that the Trojan horse of the Lee Valley authority could be used as cover for yet another stealth rise in council tax by Labour.\\xe2\\x80\\x9d\\r\\nThe Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: \\xe2\\x80\\x9cThere is no way in which any 2012-related cost overruns could be the responsibility of the park authority. We have a robust budget for 2012 that will guard against cost overruns.\\xe2\\x80\\x9d\\r\\nFrom: Home counties tax hike needed to fund Olympics, David Cracknell, Political Editor, The Sunday Times, January 6, 2008\\r\\n'b\"Article | 2012 Legacy | Housing | Legacy | Planning & Development | Regeneration\\r\\nDespite admitting that there is no housing legacy from the Athletes\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Village, as the housing would have been built anyway, the ODA is still claiming the Athletes\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Village is an Olympic Legacy, a kind of Time Lapse Legacy, because they assert that the involvement of the Olympics means the project will be delivered earlier than it would otherwise have been, see article \\xe2\\x80\\x982012 Legacy Housing Double Counting\\xe2\\x80\\x99 . So I decided to ask another FoI question to establish when the ODA thought the housing would have been delivered if the ODA had not taken over the site and to ask them to further explain their reasoning.\\r\\nHere is my question.\\r\\nDear Mr Cheyne\\r\\nREQUEST FOR INFORMATION\\r\\nWe refer to your further request for information under the Freedom of Information Act(FOIA) received by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) on 11 August 2008 requesting the following information:\\r\\n1. In your recent response you say the housing on Stratford City (now called Stratford 2011), now part of the Athletes' Village, would not have been delivered by 2012. However, because of the Olympics this housing will not be delivered until 2013 at the earliest as the housing will have to be modified, so I do not think 2012 should be the date for comparison. The rest of Stratford City including, as I understand it, some housing is expected to be delivered by 2011. On what basis can you say the housing at the Village would not have been delivered by 2013 and what was the date for delivery as set out in the original plans?\\r\\nTheir response was as follows:\\r\\nItem 1\\r\\nBefore the inclusion of the Stratford City housing into the Athlete\\xe2\\x80\\x99s Village, there was no planned delivery date of this housing.\\r\\nHardly a comprehensive answer! So, according to the ODA they had no idea when the housing would be delivered, which makes it hard to see how they can say it would not have been delivered by 2013. They make no response to the fact that the rest of Stratford City is to be built by 2011.\\r\\nHowever, it\\xe2\\x80\\x99s actually the case that a project must be started within a certain period after planning permission is granted or the permission lapses and a new application has to be lodged. In this case outline permission was granted in 2004 which, as I understand it, would require final permission to be granted within another three years and the project would normally have to start within a further five years, meaning the expected completion date would have been 2012/2013! Their response fails to mention any of these conditions, which would represent a \\xe2\\x80\\x98planned delivery date of this housing\\xe2\\x80\\x99.\\r\\nThe ODA is forever looking for new ways to incorporate all local projects into the Legacy. The Legacy credit crunch avoidance argument, that even if the project has no inherent legacy value it has nevertheless gained one because of the credit crunch, which would have delayed the project if the ODA had not stepped in, has also been deployed by David Higgins in the case of the rest of the Stratford City development, see article '2012 Blog**ng Lies and Censorship' . Of course, the credit crunch is also causing difficulties for the 2012 Games, particularly in terms of raising funds for the Athletes\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Village and in addition the Village is also getting smaller. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Shoring up the Legacy is no different. Maybe it should be called the 'Legacy Crunch'!\\r\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Tue, 30/09/2008 - 15:12.\\r\\n\"b'Article | 2012 Arts & Culture | Hackney | Legacy | Regeneration\\r\\nThe poison of Olympic lies and delusions is steadily spreading through the Olympic Boroughs. Earlier in the year Hackney Mayor Jules Pipe denounced Michael Rosen, the Children\\'s Laureate, for criticising the development in Dalston as \\'degeneration\\' saying Rosen wanted to \\'keep Hackney crap\\'. Now this argument between Hackney\\'s authors and its Council has plumbed new depths with the banning of Iain Sinclair, author of \\'The Olympic Scam\\' (see attachment), from launching his new book, \\'Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire\\', on Council premises.\\r\\nThe Council justified its ban with the following absurd reasoning: \"Ian Sinclair is well known as an author who has expressed controversial opinions on local issues, such as regeneration and the 2012 Olympic legacy. A decision was taken that it would be inappropriate to launch this book about Hackney in a Council owned facility, as we do not wish it to appear that the Council condones or shares opinions expressed within the book. The same decision would be taken about launching any book expressing controversial or political opinions from a Council owned facility. The Council is happy to advise Mr Sinclair\\'s publishers on more suitable venues in the borough, such as independent bookstores.\"\\r\\nWhy anyone would think that because Iain Sinclair was using Council premises this might suggest Council approval of his opinions is a mystery. Even stranger is the implication that it is necessary for the Council to distance itself from the opinions expressed in his book when it has no idea of what he has written.  Sinclair is not renowned for inciting hatred or violence, which would seem to be the only legitimate and legal grounds for barring someone from using Council premises. In their ban Hackney highlight the fact that his controversial opinions relate to \\xe2\\x80\\x98local issues\\xe2\\x80\\x99. It is an indication of the Council\\'s intellectual bankruptcy that it seems to regard this as further justification for banning him from local facilities.\\r\\nFor some reason Hackney is particularly concerned about \\xe2\\x80\\x98book launches\\xe2\\x80\\x99 saying this decision would apply to \\xe2\\x80\\x98any book\\xe2\\x80\\x99. So what about books already launched and possibly berthed on its library shelves, assuming they haven\\xe2\\x80\\x99t already been removed to make way for stored ideas, \\xe2\\x80\\x98expressing controversial or political opinions\\xe2\\x80\\x99? The idea that \\xe2\\x80\\x98expressing controversial or political opinions\\xe2\\x80\\x99 is an adequate reason for banning Mr Sinclair would suggest all debate, including political argument, should be banished from Hackney\\xe2\\x80\\x99s hallowed halls. Mr Pipe, himself, should be prevented from making assertions about \\xe2\\x80\\x98crap\\xe2\\x80\\x99 on Council-owned premises.\\r\\nIt is disturbing when visions of farce start to become reality. The fact that Hackney highlights Mr Sinclair\\xe2\\x80\\x99s views on the Olympic Legacy and regeneration reveals the real reason for the ban. For Iain Sinclair to question the holy grail of East End Olympic regeneration requires Hackney\\xe2\\x80\\x99s knights to ride to its rescue! The tools of media manipulation and misinformation are close at hand when it comes to the Olympics. London 2012 tries to keep a tight rein on what can be said on its blog, see Higgins bl*gs again , and the infection spreads to other organisations like Art on the Underground, see Inclusive Censorship: Art on the Underground TriFLes with our lives .\\r\\nThe hallowed Olympic park itself is protected with the drawn sword of Anti-Terrorism legislation. The obsession with control and security descends into dangerous farce. Recently an artist taking a photograph of a child pictured on the blue fence was told by a security guard he had to hand over the film or have it taken off him! Because of the alignment of the fence the artist wasn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t even facing the park when taking the photograph, deemed on other occasions to be an offence. He had thought it quaint that the child was also taking a photo.\\r\\nHackney Council\\'s equally farcical venture into literary criticism plainly rests on its belief that its premises \\xe2\\x80\\x98belong\\xe2\\x80\\x99 to the Council, that is its staff and politicians, rather than to the people, like Iain Sinclair, who live in the Borough and pay for their upkeep along with the salaries of these same staff and politicians. These guardians of propriety present themselves as being above the din of ill-informed popular controversy, determined to prevent the pollution of Council-owned facilities by vulgar opinion.\\r\\nThe language of the ban is impersonal. We aren\\xe2\\x80\\x99t told who took the \\xe2\\x80\\x98decision\\xe2\\x80\\x99, only that \\xe2\\x80\\x98a decision was taken\\xe2\\x80\\x99. What arcane mystery does this conceal? How did this come about? It\\xe2\\x80\\x99s as if the ban is a kind of collective spiritual response from deep within the bowels of Hackney\\xe2\\x80\\x99s Council-owned facilities transmitted through the medium of a Council spokesperson!  The Council has a vague unease. It is not entirely sure of what it is objecting to. It does not clearly assert wrongdoing.  Only that something \\xe2\\x80\\x98inappropriate\\xe2\\x80\\x99 is about to happen! It seems to fear something \\xe2\\x80\\x98Sinclair\\xe2\\x80\\x99 is threatening the noble, Olympian ideals of Hackney - trying to keep it \\xe2\\x80\\x98crap\\xe2\\x80\\x99.\\r\\nBut, of course, being a Council it is \\xe2\\x80\\x98happy\\xe2\\x80\\x99 to advise on \\xe2\\x80\\x98more suitable\\xe2\\x80\\x99 venues. So they really are the good guys.\\r\\nAttachment\\r\\n'b\"Article | Legacy | Newham | Planning & Development | Regeneration\\r\\nIt\\xe2\\x80\\x99s not only the Chinese who censor comment! The following 'terminological inexactitudes' appeared on the London 2012 Blog from David Higgins , Chief Executive of the ODA, as the London Olympics tries to purloin every development in the vicinity of the Olympic park for the \\xe2\\x80\\x98Legacy\\xe2\\x80\\x99. Not only do we have a post-Games legacy but now a pre-Games legacy! Stratford City, Stratford 2011, Newham Council Major Opportunity Zone 1 (as in Newham's Unitary Development Plan) or whatever it's called is now just another example of the catalytic effect of the Games, even though it was approved before the Bid was won, was designed to stand alone if the Olympics did not come to London and had been Newham's pet project for the previous decade. The Mayor of Newham was so protective of this scheme that at one point he put out a press release accusing London 2012 of endangering its survival.\\r\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Thu, 04/09/2008 - 22:45.\\r\\n\"b\"Article | 2012 Finance | Cycling | Sport\\r\\nThe Lea Valley Regional Park Authority seems to be a trifle confused. In its 2007/8 accounts it identifies the 2012 Olympics as \\xe2\\x80\\x98a major risk that could affect all our key business objectives into the future.\\xe2\\x80\\x99 It goes on to say \\xe2\\x80\\x98The award of the Olympics to London will affect our land, business, financial and human resources. At this stage it is too early to fully assess the precise impact.\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Later on it goes on restate the problem \\xe2\\x80\\x98It is important that the Authority remains focused on the issues and related risk of the Olympics, and that the new Strategic Business Plan reflects the effect of the Olympics risk on our business objectives.\\xe2\\x80\\x99\\r\\nThe LVRPA is not renowned for being a controversial or outspoken organisation. For example, when the access bridge for the International Station was built over the River Lea it failed to insist on replacement land to make up for the land it lost. So it is a little surprising to find it expressing this kind of concern about the 2012 Olympics.\\r\\nHowever, elsewhere it is more on message. On its website it declares that \\xe2\\x80\\x98The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is an exciting and challenging project for the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA). By virtue of geography, statutory remit and landholding we are at the heart of the project and fully involved in the legacy master planning work for the Olympic Park.\\xe2\\x80\\x99\\r\\nThe LVRPA also reveals in its accounts that it is making a financial contribution to the Olympics. In 2006/7 net expenditure was \\xc2\\xa3215,000 and in 2007/8 \\xc2\\xa3233,000. This will, of course, also apply to a whole range of other organisations like local councils, sports, educational and arts organisations showing that the present budget of around \\xc2\\xa310 billion does not reveal the whole picture.\\r\\nOn its website it goes on to say \\xe2\\x80\\x98We are playing a key role in the planning of London 2012 venues which lie on LVRPA land and for which we will have long term responsibility such as the VeloPark, the White Water Canoe Slalom Course and the legacy facilities at Eton Manor. In terms of our contribution to the wider design of the Olympic Parklands we are greatly involved in specific work streams including parkland design, utilities and city form and type.\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Its accounts state that it has \\xe2\\x80\\x98an officer-led Olympic Project Team that is working on Olympic-related issues.\\xe2\\x80\\x99\\r\\nHowever, one piece of LVRPA expenditure on the Olympic Park is rather strange. Its accounts reveal net expenditure of \\xc2\\xa3337,000 in 2007/8 and \\xc2\\xa3754,000 in 2006/7 on the 'Lea Valley Cycle Circuit'. Unless the LVRPA has another cycle circuit somewhere else in the Lea Valley this cycle circuit at Eastway closed in the latter part of 2006!\\r\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Sat, 06/12/2008 - 19:47.\\r\\nlvrpa accounts\\r\\nSubmitted by paul (not verified) on Sun, 07/12/2008 - 17:31.\\r\\nSuspect these Cycle Circuit sums are LVRPA contributions towards the Olympic velodrome that LVRPA hope to take over post 2012 (in order presumably to make losses that then have to be paid for by the London boroughs. Either that or it was the cost of moving the newts from the Bully Fen nature reserve before it was destroyed.\\r\\nFascinating accounts. I always knew that the riding centre and the ice rink had never made any money but to see that they lost \\xc2\\xa3303,000 and \\xc2\\xa3801,000 respectively in 2007/08 came as a bit of a shock. You can see why LVRPA might be keen to take over a lot of the Olympic legacy park after 2012. Whatever the losses the London taxpayer will pay!\\r\\n\"b\"this data is currently not publicly accessible.\\r\\nTIMESTAMPS\\r\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\r\\nThe Olympic Park: the seven and a half hectares legacy\\r\\nBy Julian Cheyne\\r\\nCreated 3 Dec 2008 - 23:41\\r\\nIn his evidence on the Olympic Legacy to the 2006 Compulsory Purchase Inquiry, Lord Sir Sebastian Coe stated that it was impossible to know what the economic situation would be in 2012. Objectors did point out that this suggested some uncertainty as to what would happen at the end of the Olympics. Despite this he and others were sure in their prediction of Legacy benefits. Now that Coe\\xe2\\x80\\x99s worst case scenario has crunched, Tessa Jowell has said if they\\xe2\\x80\\x99d known this was going to happen the Government wouldn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t have put in a bid. But then she thought better of it and decided that, after all, the Olympics is a key part of their anti-crunch strategy.\\r\\nHowever, one thing about the Legacy was always predictable, and was predicted by objectors, credit crunch or no credit crunch, \\xe2\\x80\\x98the largest new park in Europe for 150 years\\xe2\\x80\\x99 was unlikely to materialise as planned. Even before the crunch it had shrunk from 129 hectares to 110 hectares in the 2004 and 2007 planning permissions respectively. Now it is down to 100 hectares.\\r\\nActually this shrinking was inherent to the plan. Livingstone, in his conversion to property speculator and believer in the miracle of ever rising property prices, had convinced himself that the costs of the Olympics could be recouped from the sale of land. As the non-profit making element in this land speculation the \\xe2\\x80\\x98largest new park in Europe\\xe2\\x80\\x99 was always going to be the meat in the sandwich, available to be cut up to increase the profits and reduce costs. Those more practised in the buying and selling of land had already pointed out land values would not be adequate to pull off this trick and so it proved even before the latest crash.\\r\\nThe problem with the sale of Olympic land for development is that the value of the land depends on the size and quality of the open space it surrounds. So the ODA is caught in a trap. The more land it sells to recoup the cost of the Games the less parkland remains. But the smaller the park the lower the value of the land being sold to developers, as they want to build expensive private housing next to a large area of green open space.\\r\\nThe \\xe2\\x80\\x98largest new park in Europe for 150 years\\xe2\\x80\\x99 is now around three-quarters its original size and is no longer described as the largest new park in Europe for 150 years. But no matter, ODA chief executive David Higgins has a new slogan, \\xe2\\x80\\x98it will be a park for the 21st century\\xe2\\x80\\x99. That\\xe2\\x80\\x99s handy, seeing as we are in the 21st century. According to Higgins, this \\xe2\\x80\\x98park for the 21st century\\xe2\\x80\\x99 will set \\xe2\\x80\\x98high standards which combine the best of British park heritage with sustainable living.\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Does he mean people are going to be living in eco-cottages and farming organically in the park?\\r\\nIn July 2008 I asked the ODA what the starting point was for the new park. I received the answer that before the Olympic programme there were 92.8 hectares of accessible and inaccessible open space in the area of the new park, see attached Freedom of Information requests. Just as cpo objectors tried to point out that the Lea Valley could have been developed on a piecemeal basis, so existing open space could have been made accessible, extended and linked to provide a new park of similar or greater size than proposed by the ODA, at limited cost, without the destruction of existing facilities. I also asked the ODA what the projected cost of creating this new park would be. The ODA declined to answer on the grounds of commercial sensitivity.\\r\\nGiven that the existing space was not in the same configuration as the planned new park, it is nevertheless the case that the new park is only going to add 7.2 hectares to what was already available. Interestingly in one FoI response the ODA stated that it was bound by a planning condition to provide 102 hectares of open space. It now seems to have fallen below that requirement. Moreover, open space in this park, according to the ODA\\xe2\\x80\\x99s definition, includes hockey pitches, tennis venues, BMX and cycle tracks and a cricket pitch, gardens and areas around stadiums, as well as towpaths and walkways.\\r\\nThe new and reduced ODA park does not take account of the loss of parkland suffered by local communities such as those at Hackney Wick, which are now unlikely to receive even the limited promised replacement for Arena Fields. Even if the ODA does produce its Legacy plan in 2009, albeit two years late, it is likely to be subject to further revision, just as the stadiums and facilities agreed in the planning permission of 2007 are now being shuffled around. Circumstances, as Lord Sir Seb uncertainly anticipated, are likely to require further alterations and cutbacks by 2012. By then perhaps the Olympics will have made London the \\xe2\\x80\\x98world city\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Livingstone thinks it isn't and the \\xe2\\x80\\x98park for the 21st century\\xe2\\x80\\x99 will have become an \\xe2\\x80\\x98exciting experiment in modular park design for sustainable living in a 21st century world city\\xe2\\x80\\x99, surrounded by 21st century world city gated estates.\\r\\nAttachment\\r\\n\"b\"Article | 2012 Construction | Environment | Hackney | Legacy | Local groups | Planning & Development\\r\\nOn 15th October Shona Abantu-Choudhury posted the statement below on the noise and dust at Leabank Square on the Leabank Square Blogspot along with pictures of the machinery at work. You can see what other residents have to say by following the 'comments' link below his statement on the blogspot. Shona and his wife Nadira were also interviewed by BBC News . This follows earlier reports contained in More \\xe2\\x80\\x98Anecdotal\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Complaints of Noise and Dust from Leabank Square Residents about the situation at Leabank Square. Residents are increasingly concerned at the steadily diminishing legacy they and others in Hackney Wick will inherit once the Games are over. Having lost a vital green space at Arena Fields they are now worried the promised replacement parkland will not materialise.\\r\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Tue, 21/10/2008 - 00:53.\\r\\n\"b'Leabank Square residents have panned the design for the Media Centre. So has CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. Only they won\\'t have to live opposite what one resident has called a \\'tower block on its side\\'.\\r\\nLeabank Square blogspot carries the following article:\\r\\nTake a look at the picture above - you are going to be so sick of looking at it for the next couple of decades!!!\\r\\nThis is the best the Olympics could come up with as part of OUR legacy!!!!!\\r\\nThis is the reward we have been given for giving them OUR beloved green lung - Arena Fields!!!!\\r\\nThanks to everyone who has sent me comments, emails, letters, had chats in the gardens, etc! There is not a single resident of Arena Fields (nor Wick Village next door!!) who likes the design for the International Broadcast Centre & Main Press Centre!\\r\\nAgain - Hackney Wick has been dumped on by the Olympic Delivery Authority! We have always been seen as the poorest neighbour of the whole Olympic Park - and their attitude is that we should be grateful for anything we get.\\r\\nWell - we had a perfectly beautiful green park in Arena Fields directly opposite us - and now we have two massive blocks of steel & glass instead. My children\\'s lego creations have more imagination, beauty & practical use - than what Hackney Wick is going to get as a legacy!\\r\\nI was at a meeting last week where a suit from the Olympics was telling us that the buildings \\'will come alive\\' when the cladding is put on. Putting all your suggestions about living walls to him - he nearly passed out! Leabank Square - he\\'s \\'not sure\\' about living walls - but how about a nice greeny/greyee dappled metal finish?!\\r\\nSo - they took away Arena Fields - with our orchard & trees - and gave given us two massive glass & steel blocks - and won\\'t even consider cladding them in beautiful green, living, growing plants?!\\r\\nSome legacy!!!\\r\\nEven CABE The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment - who advise on well-designed buildings, places and spaces) said that:\\r\\n\"The architecture as shown is extremely weak, lacking real conviction as to how it could work in Transition and Legacy, and in the case of the IBC revealing a paucity of imagination and analysis which we find deeply disappointing.\\r\\nIn relation to specific buildings on the site, our greatest concern is the extraordinary banality of the IBC \\xe2\\x80\\x98mega structure\\xe2\\x80\\x99. In our view, it is simply not good enough as currently proposed. We would go so far as to say that its continued presence would blight rather than enhance the Olympic Legacy. We believe that a fundamental rethink needs to be undertaken in respect of the external appearance of this building. Otherwise the public might well ask why this sort of building, which has been removed from the Lower Lee Valley in order to create a vibrant new future, is being reinstated at a larger scale.\"\\r\\nAnd guess who the Olympic Delivery Authority need to submit the plans to in order to get permission to carry this architectural monstrosity forward? Themselves!\\r\\nThat\\'s right Leabank Square! The Olympics give themselves permission to build anything they want on our Arena Fields!\\r\\nHackney Council has no say. Boris Johnson has no say. Meg Hillier has no say (not that she ever does!). Gordon Brown has no say.\\r\\nThe Olympics decide what is best for us oiks across the canal to stare at for the next 50 years. And the picture above is the best they\\'ve come up with!\\r\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Wed, 06/05/2009 - 01:17.\\r\\n'b\"Gareth Blacker, Director of Olympic Development for the LDA to visit Manor Garden Allotments\\r\\nStart:\\r\\n25 Sep 2006 - 14:00\\r\\nFollowing a year long campaign by Manor Gardening Society, Gareth Blacker, Director of Development of the Olympics for the LDA will finally meet face to face with Albert and 83 yr old Tom on their plots. He will also try to explain to 10yr old Boris, who is so passionate about his parents plot that he wants to inherit it so he can leave it to his son. He celebrated his coming of age in traditional Turkish style at the allotments on Sunday.\\r\\nMr Blacker plans to tell the gardeners at the 100 year old allotments, bequeathed by Major Villiers to be allotments in perpetuity, that they have to move to make way for a footpath needed for the four week 'green' Olympics.\\r\\nHe will also meet with the steering group of plot holders, locallers and Senior Lecturer in Architecture at UEL, Tak Hoshimo. They have put together an alternative plan for retaining the plots. Mr Hoshimo is clear that the allotments can and should be retained, in line with modern sustainable architecture, to become the healthy heart and true legacy of the post Olympic 'Legacy' Park. 'The plans I've seen would not pass an architecture exam these days. Pieces of interesting and highly effective land use such as this should form the basis for the design, not be deleted to make way for iconic 19th century type civil engineering.'\\r\\nAddress: Manor Garden Allotments, Waterden Rd. borders of Newham and Hackney. E15.\\r\\nDirections: Silverlink train to Hackney Wick Station then 10 min walk via Carpenters Rd and Waterden Rd. Entrance next to Waterden Rd bus garage on East side of Waterden Rd., over single track bridge across River Lea. (not marked on A-Z)\\r\\nMore details tel:Julie Sumner:- 0208 525 0025\\r\\nor  07956 890 825\\r\\n\"b\"GLA Budget and Performance Committee\\r\\nThe Finances of the Olympic Legacy\\r\\nPart1: Olympic Park transfer and continuing liabilities\\r\\nOctober 2010\\r\\nA futile attempt to cut through the murk of the 2012 legacy financing and accountability. As one might expect, it's going to cost an awful lot of money on top of what's already been spent, no-one knows how much, when any benefits might be delivered, what they will be exactly or who will be accountable. Plus ca change.\\r\\nSubmitted by Charles Batsworth on Fri, 31/12/2010 - 11:36.\\r\\n\"b\"GLA Budgetary and Performance Committee report -  Olympic Park transfer and continuing liabilities Oct 2010\\r\\nGLA Budget and Performance Committee\\r\\nThe Finances of the Olympic Legacy\\r\\nPart1: Olympic Park transfer and continuing liabilities\\r\\nOctober 2010\\r\\nA futile attempt to cut through the murk of the 2012 legacy financing and accountability. As one might expect, it's going to cost an awful lot of money on top of what's already been spent, no-one knows how much, when any benefits might be delivered, what they will be exactly or who will be accountable. Plus ca change.\\r\\nIt's safe to say that local people who will be suffering the 'Olympic legacy' gave up any attempt to understand any of this years ago.\\r\\nAttachment\\r\\n\"b\"GLA Budget and Performance Committee\\r\\nThe Finances of the Olympic Legacy\\r\\nPart1: Olympic Park transfer and continuing liabilities\\r\\nOctober 2010\\r\\nA futile attempt to cut through the murk of the 2012 legacy financing and accountability. As one might expect, it's going to cost an awful lot of money on top of what's already been spent, no-one knows how much, when any benefits might be delivered, what they will be exactly or who will be accountable. Plus ca change.\\r\\nSubmitted by Charles Batsworth on Fri, 31/12/2010 - 11:36.\\r\\n\"b'Tessa Farmer, Laura Oldfield Ford, Karen Russo\\r\\nJune 6th \\xe2\\x80\\x93 June 26th 2009\\r\\nAs the consequences of the global recession take effect, the regeneration of the traditional home of London\\xe2\\x80\\x99s largest artist community in East London has slowed  and the promised Olympic legacy looks in doubt. It is within this context that SPACE presents \\xe2\\x80\\x98Slump City\\xe2\\x80\\x99, an exhibition presenting the work of three emerging artists whose visionary and haunting work combines gothic fantasy, poetic social realism and psycho-geography to imagine the urban periphery.\\r\\n'b\"Home\\r\\nProperty companies eye Olympic profits\\r\\nThe Property world is getting excited by the interest supposedly being showed in the Athletes\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Village and the Media Centre . Of course, expressions of interest are not the same as money on the table. But even if the money does materialise what does this signify? That property tycoons see an opportunity to make a profit? And that profit will be made at a loss to the public purse of at least \\xc2\\xa3150million on the Village and an unknown sum on the Media Centre.\\r\\nOf course none of the property journalists remember the residents of Clays Lane who were removed, and left worse off, to make way for this Village property fest. As Games Monitor has made plain their estate was included in the Stratford City project because of the Olympics, something which would not otherwise have occurred. And it was done on the basis of the continuing lie that this represents a housing legacy . The ODA had to admit that there was no legacy from the Village as the housing was going to be built anyway but that doesn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t prevent them continuing to claim it. One undeclared legacy is that private housing replaces the social housing demolished to make way for it.\\r\\nNeither does the property press remember that the Press and Broadcasting Media Centre stands on the former Arena Field, a play space for local people. Now it is just another investment opportunity. Earlier there were reports of the need to spend further money to make up the deficiencies of the Centre and upgrade it after the Olympics, a spend that may yet have to be met out of public funds. No wonder there are so many enthusiastic private sector bidders! Where were they when the property market collapsed and funding was needed and will they still be interested if they, rather than the public sector, have to fork out for this upgrade?\\r\\nPaul Norman also gets enthusiastic about an article in the Telegraph . Both place great reliance on a report from glorified estate agents CBRE, \\xe2\\x80\\x98advisors\\xe2\\x80\\x99 to the OPLC. That certainly makes CBRE unbiased observers! CBRE recycles a number of old LDA/ODA chestnuts, the first of which is that Westfield kept going in Stratford because of London 2012. Really? Westfield Stratford is not a one-off shopping centre but is designed as one of two shopping centres, the other at White City, to cover both ends of London. When Stratford City launched its planning application, granted before the Olympics, it was described as a 'Metropolitan Centre' to serve the whole of London. Matthew Black of CBRE declares that because of the Olympics Stratford will become an extension of Central London. He omits to mention that this was exactly what Stratford City was designed to achieve as a metropolitan centre. This posed a bit of problem for the LDA which had to explain why Stratford needed a second regeneration programme with the Olympics so it spent a lot of time rubbishing the Stratford City project during the CPO process. Once all that was over the ODA built it up again claiming it as a pre-Games legacy.\\r\\nThe report also refers to the 'problem' of 'fragmented land ownership' which we heard so much about during the CPO Inquiry - those of us who were there! Why is 'fragmented' landownership a problem? Or why is 'concentrated' land ownership, which is what we have now on the Olympic Park, a good thing? CBRE get excited about IKEA\\xe2\\x80\\x99s purchase of Sugar House Lane, which Matthew Black calls a \\xe2\\x80\\x98magic site\\xe2\\x80\\x99. How this supports the point about fragmented land ownership is unclear. Sugar House Lane is not in the Olympic Park and was not owned by the ODA, LDA or any other part of the new concentrated land management in the area. It was purchased from Cleveland, a \\xe2\\x80\\x98fragmented\\xe2\\x80\\x99 owner. CBRE is just rehashing, rather clumsily, the justification advanced by the Olympic bidders that the area needed the wholesale expropriation of land from one set of owners and its sale at a profit to another set, displacing existing users and owners as part of the deal, in order for it to be \\xe2\\x80\\x98developed\\xe2\\x80\\x99.\\r\\nCBRE also make the usual casual references to past dereliction and present refurbishment, so beloved of the LDA and ODA, to justify the programme. CBRE\\xe2\\x80\\x99s Mr Black refers to the obstacle of \\xe2\\x80\\x98contaminated, polluted land\\xe2\\x80\\x99. Games Monitor has pointed out the limitations and failings of the 2012 clean-up programme , which even the ODA acknowledges mean developers may well have to do further remediation before development can proceed. But the fact of the matter is that sites are regularly cleaned up by developers if sufficient profit can be made so contamination is not in itself a bar to development. This is the case with Sugar House Lane as it is outside the clean-up area and any decontamination will have to be carried out by IKEA.\\r\\nCBRE also claims the Olympics has resulted in the clean-up of the canal but once again this has nothing to do with Sugar House Lane as it is outside the Park and it is unclear there has been any clean up of these sections of the canal or river. Of course, the lock at Three Mills , constructed ostensibly to allow barges to take materials in and out of the Park (although almost no barges use the lock), has meant an end to the tidal flow on the river Lea, a public sector development which will make the river more attractive to property developers.\\r\\nAs for redundant buildings which CBRE says would have littered the area if the Olympics had not intervened, Sugar House Lane being outside the Park is, of course, full of redundant buildings, which is why it was available for purchase. The Olympic site, on the other hand was full of buildings, now demolished, which were in use and where 5000 people worked. Those people worked in \\xe2\\x80\\x98dirty\\xe2\\x80\\x99 industrial jobs which have been moved out of the area and will be replaced by \\xe2\\x80\\x98clean\\xe2\\x80\\x99 high-tech creative type work, which is unlikely meet the employment needs of locals.\\r\\nThen, of course, the report makes the usual nod towards the claims of investment in infrastructure brought about by the Olympics. Exactly what infrastructure is not stated. Most of the Olympic investment relates to specific buildings and roads within the Olympic Park. Much has been made of transport improvements but these are largely mythological. All the road, rail and tube infrastructure was in place before the Olympics turned up. Stratford was already one of the best connected places in the capital. In terms of housing, the Olympics, by taking land out of circulation, have actually held up development as Jason Prior, Olympics Master Planner, has stated. New housing is being built all over the area outside the Park and these developments have nothing to do with the Olympics. Nearby development zones like Three Mills have their own development plans which are entirely separate from the Olympics.\\r\\nThe Telegraph acknowledges the importance of the Westfield/Stratford City project for development in the area. Of course, Stratford City would have attracted further investment and prompted further development on its own account if the Olympics hadn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t come. Now it is tangled up with \\xe2\\x80\\x98legacy\\xe2\\x80\\x99 so we will never know how this would have occurred without the Olympics. However, it is certainly true that the investment of public funds has provided a considerable incentive for the private sector. Hardly surprising as this was what was intended all along. Private sector companies will \\xe2\\x80\\x98invest\\xe2\\x80\\x99 when the price is right and the profit is clear. The irony is that the prospects for Stratford were always much better than the Olympic bidders claimed and the public investment in the Olympic Park has simply added to the costs which need to be recovered.\\r\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Sun, 19/12/2010 - 23:03.\\r\\n\"b'Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive.  Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.\\r\\nTIMESTAMPS\\r\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\r\\nOur biggest local swimming pool is closing\\r\\nBy Martin Slavin\\r\\nCreated 2 Jul 2007 - 08:21\\r\\n\\xe2\\x80\\x9cThe Olympics will promote sport and healthy living in the capital,\\xe2\\x80\\x9d it says the website of Waltham Forest borough council. \\xe2\\x80\\x9cWe can now look forward to seeing the area regenerate with the best sporting, leisure and cultural facilities the world has ever seen.\"\\r\\nWaltham Forest has also unveiled its slogan for the Games. \\xe2\\x80\\x9cIt\\xe2\\x80\\x99s happening here,\\xe2\\x80\\x9d it boasts. And guess what is happening there? The biggest and best swimming pool, the one used by club swimmers and triathletes and talented teenagers with dreams of competing for Great Britain in 2012, is to close next month. It is closing because Waltham Forest College, where it is housed, cannot afford the \\xc2\\xa374,833 it loses every year, or the \\xc2\\xa3159,000 one-off maintenance payment that will be required in 2007-08.\\r\\nNow raise the ante to the Olympic mountain biking venue that will be constructed at South Weald in Essex. The cost is \\xc2\\xa35 million, the event will last six hours (including two medal ceremonies) and the facility will be torn down the moment it is over. We could keep the pool at Waltham Forest College going until 2074 with that cash.\\r\\nWaltham Forest College pool is significant because it is 33 metres long: still 17 metres short of Olympic standard but superior to most council-owned leisure pools, which is why it is home to 11 local schools in winter and numerous swimming and triathlon clubs throughout the year, including Leyton SC, Walthamstow Tritons SC, Swim4Tri and the Gators, more properly known as Borough of Waltham Forest SC. The Gators is a Swim21 Performance club, meaning it is serious about the sport, competition and coaching and adheres to the demanding development model of the Amateur Swimming Association.\\r\\nTo maintain this status it needs ten hours\\xe2\\x80\\x99 swim time each week and that is not possible at a council-run pool, which must serve a large community. Any swimmers with international ambitions will now leave the Borough of Waltham Forest team, or may be lost to the sport entirely. The nearest club of equivalent stature is in Ealing, West London, so it might as well be in Sheffield, where the only Olympic standard swimming pool in England resides.\\r\\nTo make the Olympic budget work, \\xc2\\xa32.2 billion has been taken from lottery funding. That is the reality of the London games. Big-ticket items constructed at the expense of grassroots sport. So, after the circus has left town, London will have one fantastic swimming pool based in Stratford, with a seating capacity of 2,500 \\xe2\\x80\\x93 but not much else. The London Pools campaign identified nine facilities in the capital that closed last year and sixteen more that were under threat. In addition, 10 per cent of school pools had shut.\\r\\nWaltham Forest College was also the only local educational establishment where people could gain water-based qualifications, such as life-guarding or swimming instruction That shortfall figure again: \\xc2\\xa374,833.\\r\\nLast year, the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, and assorted officials spent \\xc2\\xa336,000 on one Olympics-related visit to Cuba. In 2001, the London Development Agency, instrumental in the Olympic building project, settled a bill for \\xc2\\xa3140,000 on a lunch to announce plans to tackle (get this) urban poverty. The last Olympic budget, as discussed by Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, was \\xc2\\xa310.4 billion. And yet, between them, the mayor, the council, the Government, the lottery and all the other bureaucrats, politicians and self-promoters that are attached to our Olympic bid will stand idle as sport at its most beneficial level is bulldozed to make way for a three-week extravaganza.\\r\\nFrom:  Your brilliant Olympic legacy: the local pool\\xe2\\x80\\x99s closed, Martin Samuel The Times, June 12, 2007\\r\\nMore at: Draining the Pool [1]\\r\\nSource URL:\\r\\n'b'Getting a leg(acy) up\\r\\nby Stuart Fuller\\r\\nHere is a little secret for West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur awaiting the decision on who will get the Olympic Stadium next week.  Whisper it quietly, but football fans rarely want to watch football in an Olympic Stadium.  Why do I say that? Well a simple look at similar structures around the world, built for non-football events reveals quite a bit.  The prospect of an Olympic Games being awarded to a city sends them into construction meltdown, over promising and in most cases under delivering on the legacy of the games.  The whole story of whether a stadium will have an athletics track or not is not a new thing.  We all know that at the end of the day politics will win the day, and we have seen all sorts of stories in the past few weeks about who will do what when/if they win the bid.\\r\\nSubmitted by Steve Dowding on Tue, 25/01/2011 - 22:18.\\r\\n'b\"Home\\r\\nStratford City Construction Fatality Follows Safety Warnings\\r\\nIn mid 2009 IWW members produced a report on health and safety at Stratford City. Regrettably, it seems their concerns about the nature of working practices on the site have proved well-founded. On 16th December 2009, Shaun Scurry, an employee of Firesafe Installations, died after suffering serious injuries in a lift accident on 9th December 2009 at the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre site. Shaun from Kirkby, Liverpool, was 39, the father of two sons and engaged to be married. He was reportedly trapped between a steel beam and an industrial lift when he was installing lagging to ductwork. The accident is being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive. In January 2010, the IWW members updated their report, which is attached.\\r\\nThe authors say that they have compiled their report using statements by both IWW and non-IWW members working on site. They allege \\xe2\\x80\\x98systematic breaches of basic health and safety standards\\xe2\\x80\\x99 which place workers \\xe2\\x80\\x98at risk of injury and death\\xe2\\x80\\x99. They also accuse the police of \\xe2\\x80\\x98intimidation of workers and harassment of union activists\\xe2\\x80\\x99 and point to the \\xe2\\x80\\x98exclusive sweetheart deal\\xe2\\x80\\x99 with UCATT as a cause of the \\xe2\\x80\\x98proliferation of pyramid sub-contracting\\xe2\\x80\\x99 on the various sites. Firesafe Installations was one such contractor employed by Westfield to install fire safety systems.\\r\\nAccording to the IWW report, Mr Scurry was not being assisted by a second ground operator, as required, when the scissor lift was activated and rose crushing him against a beam. It goes on to allege that PC Harrington, another contracted company responsible for the management of this sector, then put up safety signs and fences, cleaned up walkways and secured ladders, which should have been done beforehand but had not, to give the impression to safety officers who arrived later that the site was well managed. As evidence of UCATT\\xe2\\x80\\x99s failure to properly represent the workers on site the report says that no UCATT stewards or officials visited the site of the accident to talk to workers or to investigate the accident. No information was supplied to workers by either UCATT or management about the condition of Mr Scurry. The report says workers have been angered by the behaviour of management and have collected over \\xc2\\xa313,000 for his family.\\r\\nThe Olympic Delivery Authority has long claimed Stratford City as part of the Olympic legacy and praised its partnership with Westfield. The IWW report claims that, contrary to the impression created by the ODA, accident rates are much higher than reported because site managers do not report accidents such as cuts and muscular injuries. They cite two reports, one by a worker on the Olympic Athletes\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Village site who was told to stay in the canteen after injuring a tendon so that \\xe2\\x80\\x98the absence would not be reported\\xe2\\x80\\x99 and another by a worker who aggravated a back injury after it wasn't treated.\\r\\nAmong other failings the report states that there are too many obstructed walkways, fall-through points, unprotected trenches and unsecured ladders and platforms, particularly in the sector managed by PC Harrington, all of which represent serious hazards for workers and have resulted in \\xe2\\x80\\x98multiple accidents\\xe2\\x80\\x99. This is an indication of poor site planning. Workers are not being provided with personal protective equipment, like dust masks and goggles, and are having to work long shifts with pneumatic drills, which may result in vibration injuries. The report contends that the proliferation of sub-contractors has exacerbated these problems. It also claims there is a lack of clean toilets, hot water and washing and drying facilities and that workers face harassment for taking toilet breaks and have had to work in wet clothes in the recent cold weather.\\r\\nThat workers may not be provided with personal protective equipment comes as no surprise to those who used to live at Clays Lane, the estate demolished to make way for the Olympics. In an email sent to Lawrence Waterman , the Director of Health and Safety for the ODA on 25th February 2008, (see attachment in link) I pointed out that residents and allotment holders had asked workers at Eastway and Clays Lane at different times \\xe2\\x80\\x98whether they knew what was on the site and they have said no. They were shocked when we told them about the industrial contamination and radioactive material and one group went and got themselves face masks. If, as the ODA says, this is a \\xe2\\x80\\x98heavily contaminated\\xe2\\x80\\x99 area then I would have thought some protective clothing was necessary. At one time workers were drilling on a site which was thought to be in the line of a possible migration of radioactive material but even then they were not using Geiger counters or wearing any particular clothing.\\xe2\\x80\\x99\\r\\nResidents had also experienced contractors working out of hours and in areas close to Clays Lane, which they were meant to avoid under planning controls. They also demolished housing while denying they were doing so and failed to control dust causing severe problems to the Travellers living next door. The ODA failed to act to control any of the breaches of planning regulations or to prevent the dust pollution. Residents at Leabank Square have highlighted similar problems with ODA operations and also faced intimidatory responses from the ODA. There is nothing particularly surprising, therefore, to find these kinds of statements being made in this report.\\r\\nAgainst a background of recession, companies\\xe2\\x80\\x99 cost cutting, blacklisting of workers and a refusal to allow access to officials of unrecognised unions, the authors are critical of the \\xe2\\x80\\x98practices of partnership\\xe2\\x80\\x99, represented by the domination of management and the lack of rank and file control over unions, in ensuring workers\\xe2\\x80\\x99 safety. A union like UCATT sees itself as a 'go-between', maintaining co-operation between workers and bosses. The report says that UCATT deploys non-elected stewards, who are appointed by officials, on the Stratford City site, which represents a serious conflict of interest. The steward who was responsible for the sector in which Mr Scully died was unelected. The report claims that these stewards are hand-picked, lack training and are moved from site to site 'with the clear understanding that they do not rock the boat when it comes to health and safety issues and industrial discontent.' The authors suggest the arrival on the site of mechanical and electrical trade workers has broken UCATT\\xe2\\x80\\x99s monopoly and there has since been an improvement in union activity, particularly in the case of Unite.\\r\\nOver six months ago the IWW members warned that workers on the Stratford City site were facing serious risk of injury or death. Workers had also demonstrated in May 2009 outside the Pudding Mill Lane entrance to the Olympic Park. A local Respect Councillor, Abjol Miah, said then \\xe2\\x80\\x98I\\xe2\\x80\\x99m very concerned about the gagging contracts being imposed by the ODA on contractors and employees which potentially prevent workers from whistle-blowing when health and safety issues arise.\\xe2\\x80\\x99 He expressed his concern that \\xe2\\x80\\x98as deadlines on contracts approach the pressure will inevitably grow for corners to be cut. We have to have strong union organisation and whistle-blowing protection to ensure health and safety is not jeopardised.\\xe2\\x80\\x99\\r\\nIt is worse than tragic that these warnings have been followed by the death of Mr Scurry.\\r\\nAttachment\\r\\n\"b'Home\\r\\n2012 promoters\\' new discovery - no health benefits\\r\\nThe watchdog which never barks the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 has suddenly realised that it is unlikely London 2012 will deliver any health benefits just as the Guardian reports the government is about to abandon its Olympic legacy pledge of inspiring one million more people to play sport. \"We\\'ve looked for evidence of previous Olympic Games or other major sporting events having an impact on health and sport participation and there isn\\'t any tangible evidence,\" said the Commission\\'s Shaun McCarthy.\\r\\nEven so the dozy doggie didn\\'t rule out the possibility. \"I think London can do it if attention is paid to the legacy,\" he said. \"That\\'s a big \\'if\\' because at the moment we\\'re seeing lots of really good initiatives that will effectively stop when the Games finish.\\r\\n\"They will only deliver long-term results if there is some proper focus on legacy.\"\\r\\nWell, woof! woof! to that.\\r\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Wed, 30/03/2011 - 15:58.\\r\\n'b'The role of Mega events in urban competitiveness and its consequences on people\\r\\nCarolina del Olmo Universidad Complutense Sept 2004\\r\\nSome years before filming Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore directed and starred in the film Roger and Me. In this film, Moore captures the consequences of the closure of a General Motors plant in his home town, Flint, Michigan. The plant closed down and moved in search of lower labour costs, leaving behind a landscape of unemployment and despair. However, Moore portrays this event in a comedic light. In fact, the most hilarious part of the film is seen when the city council of Flint decides to implement some measures to solve the population\\xe2\\x80\\x99s problems, with hopes that these measures convert Flint into a tourist destination. The urban government built an automotive theme park, a colossal hotel and a gigantic shopping mall, but obviously the plan failed in a few months and the new installations closed down. Strangely, by the implementation of these measures, the city council aimed to boost the spirit of the people, to give them back their self-confidence. Unfortunately, these plans are not as unique as they may seem. If we read about the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, we discover that one of its majorly recognized achievements was the increase of its citizen\\xc2\\xb4s pride in themselves and their city and the improvement of the image that the inhabitants had on their home town. In fact, this idea is a basic ingredient of the dominant ideology around mega-events.\\r\\nAnyway, if we were to study the strategy that consists in organizing large scale events of any kind in order to revitalize a city that before was destroyed by a mix of deindustrialization, unemployment and social service cuts, Spain would be a great example. In Barcelona, the Forum de las Culturas is about to conclude as I write this essay. Valencia is working to host the 32nd edition of the America\\xe2\\x80\\x99s Cup yacht race. And Madrid is striving to be the host city for the 2012 Olympic Games (along with Paris). Even if they last only a few weeks, these events require years of preparation, take up a huge amount of public funds and permanently change the physical landscape of the city.\\r\\nBut Spain is not alone in supporting this ideology. If we take a look at the figures, we will notice that the competition for hosting an Olympic event becomes more difficult every year since the economic success of the 1984 Los Angeles games (a success largely due to the growth of worldwide communications). The same rivalry prevails in the fight for hosting a World Fair or any other large scale event.\\r\\nHow can we explain this mega-event obsession? First of all, we must realize that this kind of competition is nothing more than the most conspicuous form of global competitiveness.\\xc2\\xa0 This competition between cities and regions is a consequence of the political and economical changes that have occurred in approximately the last thirty years. To summarize these changes, we can make use of a common term and discuss a transition from a Fordist regime of accumulation [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fordist] to a post-Fordist regime of increased flexibility. The growing geographical dispersion of production and a financial capital boom have played an essential role in allowing this transition to take place, a transition that, in turn, has had important consequences on capitalistic cities. Towns are experiencing a prolonged crisis related to the loss of traditional industries, the growing importance of tertiary sectors, and the increase of unemployment and poverty. They have begun to compete against each other in a fierce fight for attracting investments from the private sector or from different levels of government. They also strive to obtain money by promoting a culture of consumption, in search of some kind of compensation for the loss of steady jobs. The urban governments have taken the initiative in what has been called the \\xe2\\x80\\x9crise of an entrepreneurial city\\xe2\\x80\\x9d, encouraging a good business climate and taking measures to attract economic growth. Measures that, in turn, intensify flexibility and insecurity.\\r\\nAs was to be expected, the investments aimed to convert a city into a dynamic and competitive enterprise presume the use of scarce public resources in favour of firms and high level consumers at the expense of disadvantaged classes, specially in a fiscal austerity frame like the one we have had in the last years. As well as the deregulation of the labour market and the gifts (fiscal exemptions and all kind of incentives) that urban governments offer to firms to lure them to their cities, other efforts aimed to construct a competitive position for the city have primarily been concentrated in the field of urban environment transformation. The city, with the help of post-modern architecture, on the one hand becomes a spectacle in order to make it an attractive space for tourism and consumer spending. On the other hand, the city devotes itself to the construction of infrastructures of whatever kind that are highly valuable for corporations and quality customers, as convention centres, business areas, highways, airports and so on. In this frame of competitiveness and in this process of converting a city into a spectacle is where we must set the recent obsession with mega-events. This obsession is perfectly illustrated with Barcelona since they have hosted the 1992 Olympic Games. Since then, it has hosted the Forum this summer and, in between, has organised a myriad of minor tourism-based events.\\r\\nNow, let\\xe2\\x80\\x99s focus on the so-called advantages of these kind of events. Besides being able to heal the citizen\\xe2\\x80\\x99s psychological discomfort, as we previously noted, politicians constantly brag about two other virtues of mega-events: 1- they are believed to be the perfect occasion for the city to fulfil its longstanding general need for infrastructure and installations. 2- they can stimulate the economy and generate employment. This last claim reads as follows: the mega-event turns the city into a global focus of attention, providing a top-quality kind of marketing and advertising that contributes to sell the city\\xe2\\x80\\x99s image all over the world; as a result, the city will capture a huge amount of tourists and will also attract a lot of corporate headquarters and new events, with the resulting growth of economic activity in the long run and the creation of new jobs.\\r\\nAt first sight, these kind of aspirations and expectations may seem reasonable if we think about the economic significance of tourism in the last years for advanced capitalist societies. But even before evaluating if it is reasonable to expect the fulfilment of these expectations, a big problem arises, a problem that has to do with the urban pattern that this kind of economic development promotes. Public and private interventions in the touristic city usually focus on the surface and only renovates the central zones in a city, leaving the rest of the neighbourhoods in a sorry state of neglect. These kind of manoeuvres tend to generate gentrification and speculation, resulting in the rise of real estate prices and the eviction of the neighbours with lower purchasing power. The city becomes uncomfortable for the inhabitant, whose needs are subordinated to the pleasure of the visitor, and also becomes depersonalized with the arrival of big trade chains and the closure of small, traditional trade stores (a process of substitution that usually results in a net loss of jobs).\\r\\nBut there are also more serious disadvantages. The kind of jobs created by the tourist industry tend to be low wage, precarious, unqualified, non unionised and without benefits. Moreover, it seems reasonable to suppose that the growing number of tourist destinations will solidify the competition between cities, resulting in the need to reduce expenses and, of course, labour wages. This growing competitiveness is, in fact, one of the factors that makes the tourism-based economic pattern so risky, as well as the fact that the flow of visitors is very sensitive to trends and taste changes, or to questions of security or currency fluctuations.\\r\\nNonetheless, if the huge investment of public funds and the inconveniences caused to the people who inhabit the touristic city result in any kind of profits for the population, then we could find a justification for this pattern of development. But no social welfare exists in this pattern. Let\\xe2\\x80\\x99s think about the installations that a city \\xe2\\x80\\x9cgains\\xe2\\x80\\x9d when it hosts a mega-event. We are tired of hearing about the \\xe2\\x80\\x9cOlympic legacy\\xe2\\x80\\x9d and the official discourse is repeated again and again that when the mega-event concludes, the installations will remain in the city. But they never discuss what the use value of these infrastructures is, especially if we compare these \\xe2\\x80\\x9csinks\\xe2\\x80\\x9d of public investments with other installations and services that could have been financed with the same amount of funds (or a lot less). Public funds are a scarce resource, especially today, in this zero-deficit scenario. In this restricted frame, to finance these kind of events and infrastructures involve a budget cut in other, more necessary, sectors. Besides, there are cases, as in the Valencia Americas Cup, where it is simply impossible to imagine the usefulness of the installations that the event will leave behind: public funds are going to finance, among other things, an extension of the harbour that includes a big ship proprietor\\xe2\\x80\\x99s yacht club with its own heliport and a dock for ships more than 40 meters long. Moreover, these kinds of infrastructure tend to require a lot of re-investments to avoid the threat of devaluation that comes with the interurban competition and the changes in trends. That\\xe2\\x80\\x99s why it is so common to see these installations languishing in a state of neglect years after the event.\\r\\nThe Barcelona case represents these aspects extremely well. The 1992 Olympic Games are recorded as a success, even if they didn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t fulfil the expectations they claimed. The Olympic investments (in the broad sense, including some roads, coastal area renewal, cultural outlets, etc.), reached near 6 million euros and 53% of that budget were public funds. But the economic activity that this money generated didn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t have a positive impact on the economic indicators of the Barcelona area. Between 1987 and 1991 the number of jobs created in the construction sector were only 33.000, a figure much lower than was expected considering that three quarters of the total investment went towards the construction sector. On top of this, all of them were temporary jobs. In the hotel and catering trade sector only 20.000 new jobs appeared and only lasted the duration of the event, again, much less than was expected. In the other sectors, the labour impact was zero (we tend to forget that the Olympic volunteers take on a great amount of tasks that would otherwise generate jobs). During 1992, the number of jobs began to fall. If we take a look at trade, we will see that during 1992 the sales rate decreased and the number of tourists that visited the city (a million and a half) was lower than expected and spent less money than it was estimated (exactly the same has happened in Athens this last summer). Also, the Barcelona event resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of people that visited other destinations in the Barcelona region. Basically, the only economic indicator that experienced an important impact as a result of the Olympic Games were price levels. Since 1988, city price levels increased more than in the rest of the region and more than 1% over the inflation rate in Spain. In the year before the Games, prices rose more than 3% over the prices of the rest of Spain. And if we think that the city gains profit from television broadcasting rights, we should not forget that it is the Olympic Committee who collects this money. In fact, the progressive growth of this source of money has turned the International Olympic Committee into a big (and suspicious) enterprise.\\r\\nHow can we understand the minute economic impact and the lack of fulfilment of expectations? We could focus on the unbridled optimism that seems to encumber the people who do the impact studies, but, especially, we should focus on the limited frame in which the investments take place. If the demand related with the Olympic Games (or any other mega-event) takes up resources that would otherwise remain unused, it would be reasonable to expect an increase in employment, as well as an improvement of the economic indicators in general. Nonetheless, demand growth related with a mega-event doesn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t produce a net income, because it is a consequence of a mere change in the direction of the resource\\xe2\\x80\\x99s flow; that is, the resources go to a specific sector or a particular place but only because they are coming from another sector or place. The same goes for private capital: it tends to reduce its investments in other sectors or in other spatial areas. If we pay attention to the recommendations that the economic impact studies use to achieve a real net increase in profits, for example, to make the labour market more flexible, it is clear that the aim of obtaining net profits loses part of its appeal.\\r\\nAstonishingly, even if the mega-events don\\xe2\\x80\\x99t fulfil their expectations, this is never seen as a failure. Nobody seems to care for or to be surprised by this failure and the event ends with a sense of success. If we want to understand this incoherence, we should put aside the idea of competition as a heuristic tool and focus on the fabulous opportunity for businesses that follow urban transformations related with mega-events. Indeed, even the need to attract tourism and the desire to improve the competitive position of the city in the urban hierarchy seems a petty and secondary question if we compare this with the local elite\\xe2\\x80\\x99s focus on an easy profit. Of course, I am not saying that urban governments don\\xe2\\x80\\x99t want to promote the image of their cities with the purpose of generating employment, attracting enterprise headquarters and so on. Regrettably, one of our most serious problems is that urban governments seem to be convinced that, in a globalized world, there\\xe2\\x80\\x99s no point in promoting local enterprise development. They believe that the best they can do is to turn the city into an appealing zone for foreign investments. But the weakness of some of their strategies and the blindness with which they insist that these strategies actually work, make us question their genuine interests in the city.\\r\\nIn short, we cannot forget that when a mega-event is organized, the money that really flows into a city is, in the first place, public money that falls into the hands of private businessmen. That\\xe2\\x80\\x99s why it is so difficult to understand where the city expects to obtain incomes by organizing a mega-event, and how little the urban government cares. When asked about the profits the city of Madrid may gain from hosting the Olympic Games, a representative for the Olympic candidature discussed broadcasting copyrights (that, as I have previously stated, benefit Olympic Committee and not the city) and the tourist appeal that the city will gain. He referred to the Barcelona case as a big success and talked about the millions of tourists that have visited Barcelona in the last years as a result of the Olympic Games. What he forgot to mention is that the flow of tourists into Barcelona has not been an easy or inexpensive achievement. The strategy has only worked with the help of a continuous and huge public investment in private business, for example, in the hotel sector, dangerously close to bankruptcy \\xe2\\x80\\x93all in all, another typical episode of socialization of losses and privatisation of profits.\\r\\nHowever, if we consider that the investors that promoted and financed a big part of the Olympic Games budget in Barcelona were real estate and construction companies, property developers, land speculators, finance companies and hotel and catering trade firms, we will understand that, indeed, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics can be considered a success. Of course, as a result of the Olympic candidature, Barcelona witnessed a frantic building activity, an increase in the housing and land prices and a huge urban transformation that entailed the conversion of a big amount of industrial land into service or housing plots.\\r\\nIn fact, urban renewal related to a mega-event is not as much a secondary effect as it is a fundamental raison d\\xe2\\x80\\x99\\xc3\\xaatre. The recent Forum Universal de las Culturas that has taken place in Barcelona this summer confirms this idea: instead of organizing a mega-event that could reuse the installations built ten years ago as a result of the Olympic Games, the Barcelona government and elite have decided to invent a new kind of event whose major aim, no one can doubt, is urban transformation. This multicultural event has proven to be an effective excuse to finally implement urban renewal in the last coastal area of Barcelona that still has a low income population. A made-to-measure operation for the private capital that has been a real fiasco for the city.\\r\\nThe Spanish case is especially serious since in Spain the construction sector represents almost 18% of the GDP, and 60% of the investments in fixed capital formation. It also employs two million people. After a huge process to merge enterprises, the building sector is now dominated by six big firms, five of which are numbered among the ten largest construction companies in Europe. The sector has become a safe allocation for investments due to the housing price boom and to the approval of huge public infrastructure plans. Even if the present economic climate differs from that of Barcelona 92, the results that we may expect from Madrid 2012 may be very similar. In Barcelona, between 1986-1992, the construction boom and the rise in prices were partially caused by the recent entry of Spain into the European Union, consequently causing an influx of foreign capital into the country, especially into the real estate sector. Nowadays, the potential rise in prices and the worsening of the speculative bubble will come from the fact that we are passing through a difficult period for stock exchange investments. And these bad times for the investors have turned the real estate sector into a safe haven that takes up more than 40% of foreign investment in Spain. In fact, in the last years, banks, investment funds and thousands of corporations had entry into the sector in search of a higher profitability.\\r\\nSo, we had a scenario of uncontrolled growth of the construction and real estate sectors, that has made Madrid one of the cities with the lowest rate of inhabitants per dwelling in Europe and, at the same time, one of the cities with the highest rates of vacant dwellings (and a significant unsatisfied demand). And in this scenario it is difficult to see what is the public interest of the new dwellings that the Olympic Village will leave to the city, or what profit could result from the new centrality zone that is planned for an old industrial area in the East of Madrid. The nearness of this new centrality to a proletarian neighbourhood as is San Blas raise also the fear of housing evictions, a phenomenon that always accompanies mega-events of this kind, as the inhabitants of the urban core in Barcelona know very well. Even the hotel trade sector, that could expect profits, suspiciously look at events such as the Madrid Olympics or Valencia\\xe2\\x80\\x99s Americas Cup, as they are afraid of a possible saturation of the sector with a consequent threat of devaluation.\\r\\nBy now it should be evident that the organization of a mega-event does not in fact generate benefits for the general public and, instead, causes several nuisances. But an advantage from these kind of events has not yet been mentioned, an advantage gained not for the people, but for the urban governments. I\\xe2\\x80\\x99m referring to the consensus that these events encourage. A consensus that functions as a distraction in order to carry out all kinds of business and urban operations that would, otherwise, generate opposition. Also, this consensus decreases the legitimacy of the groups that fight against urban renewal, turning the conflicts into a police matter. The significance of this consensus advantage seems very clear in the Forum de las Culturas case. In fact, it is very difficult to create a new event capable of generating a consensus that a traditional event such as the Olympic Games has by nature. That\\xe2\\x80\\x99s why the Forum\\xe2\\x80\\x99s organizers select as their motto \\xe2\\x80\\x9cPeace, cultural diversity and environmental sustainability\\xe2\\x80\\x9d, in an effort to win the people\\xe2\\x80\\x99s trust and approval. And, of course, the need for a consensus combined with the desire to offer a bright image of the city, always leads to a higher level of repression.\\r\\nI would like to finish by asking what can be expected or what can be done. One of the possible advantages of such events for the urban social movements is based on the government\\xe2\\x80\\x99s need to portray a peaceful and pleasant image of the city. These movements can exploit this need in order to catapult their stance up to an empowered position for negotiating with the local government. But if we focus on the Madrid Olympic candidacy, the future doesn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t look that clear: the Olympic candidacy has been approved almost unanimously. Regardless of the possible involvement of all political parties in the urban business, I believe that the seamless and enthusiastic support of the Olympic candidacy shown by leftwing politicians, is motivated by their traditional acceptance of orthodox development policies. The leftwing political parties usually carry the burden of an uncritical belief in the idea that good macro-economic figures entail benefits for the people. From a leftwing position, it is usual to accept that businessmen create jobs and raise wages when they obtain more profits, so it is worth it to make concessions and to offer incentives to firms in order to generate employment, even if the flexible laws that are required to please the businessmen allow the enterprises to move or to fire workers whenever they want. By now it should be evident that a city that strives to create a good business climate is not beneficial for its citizens or, at least, it is incompatible with the strong and well organized proletarian class, a class able to exert influence on its working conditions. I\\xe2\\x80\\x99m not trying to defend some kind of cancellation or reversal of development towards some sort of lost paradise. I only suggest that leftwing opposition parties should try to elaborate an alternate development strategy of those implemented by the activists of the city as a growth machine, an alternative that should pay attention to the old division between use value and exchange value, a division that only the local elites can afford to neglect. In fact, local elites must neglect this division, since they are deeply interested in claiming that economic growth and social welfare are one and the same. The mega-events strategy only highlights the trap in which the left always naively fall into (or, at least, that\\xe2\\x80\\x99s what I want to believe). As John Logan and Harvey Molotch said, \\xe2\\x80\\x9ca skilled politician delivers growth while giving a good circus\\xe2\\x80\\x9d.\\r\\nSubmitted by Martin Slavin on Thu, 07/07/2011 - 09:51.\\r\\n'b\"The Aftermath 2012\\r\\nAn article 'What Olympic Legacy?' published in the July 2011 issue of the Chartist\\r\\nThe Olympics is a sports jamboree lasting a few weeks which requires host cities to create a new Park every two years. To make this extravagance more palatable the host city contract requires a legacy after the Games. So London 2012 is supposed to make Britain fit and healthy and undo decades of neglect in East London. Nevertheless a full legacy plan, promised in 2006, is still awaited.\\r\\nRegardless of the quasi-legal language of inheritance the beneficiaries of this legacy have to pay for it themselves. The already inflated \\xc2\\xa39.3billion budget does not include the cost of acquiring and remediating the land or the Olympics spending of councils, quangos and government departments. In 2009, based on FoI requests, the Taxpayers\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Alliance calculated the cost at \\xc2\\xa312billion. Most of the \\xc2\\xa31.3billion national security budget for 2012 will go on the Olympics, taking it closer to \\xc2\\xa313billion. Hundreds of millions of pounds were diverted from Lottery funding for children\\xe2\\x80\\x99s sport and community and arts programmes.\\r\\nAnother cost is the forgotten legacies. London 2012 is a land grab designed to create \\xe2\\x80\\x98opportunities for property developers\\xe2\\x80\\x99. A working industrial area was dismissed as a \\xe2\\x80\\x98scar\\xe2\\x80\\x99. Business owners were denied the true price of their land, two Traveller communities had to move while the Clays Lane community was demolished, leaving residents on average \\xc2\\xa350 a week worse off. Open space was lost at Hackney Marshes, Arena Field, the Eastway Cycle Track and Major Road while a set of allotments was relocated to a waterlogged site.\\r\\nThen there are the legacies which never were, like the Athletes\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Village, which the ODA admits would have been built anyway, or the \\xe2\\x80\\x98largest new park in Europe for 150 years\\xe2\\x80\\x99 which can only claim to be the largest new urban open space in London since 1996. The European Tourism Operators Association has long warned there wouldn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t be a tourism legacy. VisitBritain finally acknowledged this in 2010.\\r\\nNext are the doubtful legacies. In 2006 the Commons DCMS Select Committee warned an increase in sport participation was unlikely. Five years later the Sustainability Commission, which feebly monitors London 2012, reached the same conclusion. The original plan for a dedicated athletics stadium has been abandoned while there is a lack of community sports facilities. The swimming centre will be difficult to adapt for public use and the BMX and cycle circuits simply replace the demolished Eastway facilities.\\r\\nLondon 2012 has claimed to be a \\xe2\\x80\\x98green\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Olympics, but the wind turbines have been abandoned, almost no material has been moved by canal and its record on not using roads rests on the fortunate coincidence that there is a railhead on site. Over 7,000 tonnes of radioactively contaminated soil, including some non-exempt material, is stored on the Park, radioactive material was lost and permissions for work were given retrospectively. Land which did not need to be remediated was dug up creating a radioactive dust hazard for neighbouring communities and most of the Park is covered with a plastic sheet to warn developers that further remediation may be needed.\\r\\nThe Olympics also allows for experimental legacies, like the creation of a special development authority, the alteration of planning rules and powers to take over parkland like Wanstead Flats and Greenwich Park. Extraordinary security measures can be tested, drones overflying the Olympic Park, anti-terrorism exercises on inner city housing estates, armed transport police on the Tube, a top security Park surrounded by an electrified fence and an exclusion zone in which no protest will be allowed. Likewise, British Waterways is using the Olympics to introduce new rules governing boat owners\\xe2\\x80\\x99 use of the canals.\\r\\nThen there\\xe2\\x80\\x99s the legacy de resistance, the regeneration of East London. Except Stratford already had a regeneration programme, Stratford City, expected to create 35,000 jobs and over 5,000 homes. It also had fantastic transport connections. In fact the authorities agreed development would have happened anyway and the Olympics, by taking land out of circulation would actually slow that process. Another development programme will further boost property prices making it harder for existing communities to live in Stratford.\\r\\nOn the jobs legacy, the LDA warns that its own projections should be treated \\xe2\\x80\\x98with caution\\xe2\\x80\\x99 and are spread over a \\xe2\\x80\\x98thirty year economic cycle\\xe2\\x80\\x99. 5,000 \\xe2\\x80\\x98dirty\\xe2\\x80\\x99 industrial jobs were removed, to be replaced by new \\xe2\\x80\\x98clean\\xe2\\x80\\x99 jobs. In Docklands local unemployment rose even as new jobs were created at Canary Wharf. However, no creative industries have shown any interest in the Media and Broadcasting Centre where these \\xe2\\x80\\x98clean\\xe2\\x80\\x99 jobs are supposed to be located.\\r\\nFinally, there\\xe2\\x80\\x99s the anticipated legacy. In 2002, long before the credit crunch, Game Plan, a Government report signed by Tony Blair, said \\xe2\\x80\\x98We conclude that the quantifiable evidence to support each of the perceived benefits for mega events is weak, The explicit costs of hosting a mega event should be weighed very carefully against the perceived benefits\\xe2\\x80\\xa6(which) appear to be more about celebration than economic returns\\xe2\\x80\\x99. The party legacy!\\r\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Mon, 11/07/2011 - 22:01.\\r\\n\"b'What\\'s WickED?\\r\\nThis story has been updated as it has developed.\\r\\nWhat\\'s wicked? What exactly is going on with Hackney WickED? Or with London2012? The HackneyWickED Art Festival has succumbed to the blandishments of the London Olympics. It now includes the OPLC as one of its \\'sponsors and partners\\'.\\r\\nHowever, what may be a case of ambush marketing concerns the event being run by Exchange Project Space which London 2012 claims is part of London 2012\\'s BP supported Open Weekend art event Dysarticulate , which is something to do with putting up flags! London 2012 has included the Hackney WickED logo on its site, suggesting a link between them.\\r\\nOn its webpage Exchange Project Space describes its event as \\'Education programme. Hackney Wicked Art Festival 2011\\'. However, a quick search of the Hackney WickED site does not produce any result for this event.\\r\\nSo who is being wicked?\\r\\nBrand ambushing?: The outstanding question is whether the organisers of Hackney Wicked actually knew London2012 had used their logo?\\r\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Fri, 22/07/2011 - 23:55.\\r\\nFollowing comment on Twitter\\r\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Sat, 23/07/2011 - 07:41.\\r\\nFollowing comment on Twitter by RooftopJaxx \\'did @juliancheyne perhaps miss the nuance of @Hackney_WickED\\'s https://twitter.com/Hackney_Wicked/status/94024857200766976 re #HackneyWickED\\' this story was updated.\\r\\nWere @Hackney_WickED aware?\\r\\nSubmitted by Charles Batsworth on Sat, 23/07/2011 - 23:02.\\r\\nOPLC sponsorship no doubt buys the right to claim HackneyWicked as an Olympic \\'legacy\\'.\\r\\nInteresting that they only appeared as a Sponsor a week before the event - a few days ago it didn\\'t appear on the website. And the Cultural Olympiad \\'Create\\' brand appears as a Friend.\\r\\nRegarding Dysarticulate, this appeared in the 2/6/2011 Artists Opportunities bulletin with no apparent connection to HW (and the statutory use of \\'engage\\' and \\'celebrate\\'):\\r\\n\"Call for artists to deliver London 2012 Open Weekend project across the UK, July 22 \\xe2\\x80\\x93 24 2011\\r\\nAs part of London 2012 Open Weekend, the \\xe2\\x80\\x98Dysarticulate\\xe2\\x80\\x99 project, led by artist Jon Adams, aims to engage artists and audiences from across the UK and \\xe2\\x80\\x98celebrate\\xe2\\x80\\x99 by creating and planting one million flags recycled from book pages. There are paid opportunities for artists to help deliver the project over London 2012 Open Weekend (22-24 July.\"\\r\\nour \\'legacy\\' sponsors\\r\\nSubmitted by Steve Dowding on Mon, 25/07/2011 - 21:04.\\r\\nYep, and the independently inaugurated festival formerly known as Hackney Wick Community Festival (which of course went with that recuperative process of becoming an \\'Inspired by\\' event) also now lists OPLC as a \"Sponsor\" . Its not in any way symbolic that the \\'Community\\' word has been dropped as part of same process, is it?\\r\\n'b\"Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive.  Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.\\r\\nTIMESTAMPS\\r\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\r\\nStratford City Construction Fatality Follows Safety Warnings\\r\\nBy Julian Cheyne\\r\\nCreated 1 Feb 2010 - 03:11\\r\\nIn mid 2009 IWW members produced a report on health and safety at Stratford City. Regrettably, it seems their concerns about the nature of working practices on the site have proved well-founded. On 16th December 2009, Shaun Scurry, an employee of Firesafe Installations, died after suffering serious injuries in a lift accident on 9th December 2009 at the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre site. Shaun from Kirkby, Liverpool, was 39, the father of two sons and engaged to be married. He was reportedly [1] trapped between a steel beam and an industrial lift when he was installing lagging to ductwork. The accident is being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive. In January 2010, the IWW members updated their report, which is attached.\\r\\nThe authors say that they have compiled their report using statements by both IWW and non-IWW members working on site. They allege \\xe2\\x80\\x98systematic breaches of basic health and safety standards\\xe2\\x80\\x99 which place workers \\xe2\\x80\\x98at risk of injury and death\\xe2\\x80\\x99. They also accuse the police of \\xe2\\x80\\x98intimidation of workers and harassment of union activists\\xe2\\x80\\x99 and point to the \\xe2\\x80\\x98exclusive sweetheart deal\\xe2\\x80\\x99 with UCATT as a cause of the \\xe2\\x80\\x98proliferation of pyramid sub-contracting\\xe2\\x80\\x99 on the various sites. Firesafe Installations was one such contractor employed by Westfield to install fire safety systems.\\r\\nAccording to the IWW report, Mr Scurry was not being assisted by a second ground operator, as required, when the scissor lift was activated and rose crushing him against a beam. It goes on to allege that PC Harrington, another contracted company responsible for the management of this sector, then put up safety signs and fences, cleaned up walkways and secured ladders, which should have been done beforehand but had not, to give the impression to safety officers who arrived later that the site was well managed. As evidence of UCATT\\xe2\\x80\\x99s failure to properly represent the workers on site the report says that no UCATT stewards or officials visited the site of the accident to talk to workers or to investigate the accident. No information was supplied to workers by either UCATT or management about the condition of Mr Scurry. The report says workers have been angered by the behaviour of management and have collected over \\xc2\\xa313,000 for his family.\\r\\nThe Olympic Delivery Authority has long claimed Stratford City as part of the Olympic legacy and praised its partnership with Westfield. The IWW report claims that, contrary to the impression created by the ODA, accident rates are much higher than reported because site managers do not report accidents such as cuts and muscular injuries. They cite two reports, one by a worker on the Olympic Athletes\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Village site who was told to stay in the canteen after injuring a tendon so that \\xe2\\x80\\x98the absence would not be reported\\xe2\\x80\\x99 and another by a worker who aggravated a back injury after it wasn't treated.\\r\\nAmong other failings the report states that there are too many obstructed walkways, fall-through points, unprotected trenches and unsecured ladders and platforms, particularly in the sector managed by PC Harrington, all of which represent serious hazards for workers and have resulted in \\xe2\\x80\\x98multiple accidents\\xe2\\x80\\x99. This is an indication of poor site planning. Workers are not being provided with personal protective equipment, like dust masks and goggles, and are having to work long shifts with pneumatic drills, which may result in vibration injuries. The report contends that the proliferation of sub-contractors has exacerbated these problems. It also claims there is a lack of clean toilets, hot water and washing and drying facilities and that workers face harassment for taking toilet breaks and have had to work in wet clothes in the recent cold weather.\\r\\nThat workers may not be provided with personal protective equipment comes as no surprise to those who used to live at Clays Lane, the estate demolished to make way for the Olympics. In an email sent to Lawrence Waterman [2], the Director of Health and Safety for the ODA on 25th February 2008, (see attachment in link) I pointed out that residents and allotment holders had asked workers at Eastway and Clays Lane at different times \\xe2\\x80\\x98whether they knew what was on the site and they have said no. They were shocked when we told them about the industrial contamination and radioactive material and one group went and got themselves face masks. If, as the ODA says, this is a \\xe2\\x80\\x98heavily contaminated\\xe2\\x80\\x99 area then I would have thought some protective clothing was necessary. At one time workers were drilling on a site which was thought to be in the line of a possible migration of radioactive material but even then they were not using Geiger counters or wearing any particular clothing.\\xe2\\x80\\x99\\r\\nResidents had also experienced contractors working out of hours and in areas close to Clays Lane, which they were meant to avoid under planning controls. They also demolished housing while denying they were doing so and failed to control dust causing severe problems to the Travellers living next door. The ODA failed to act to control any of the breaches of planning regulations or to prevent the dust pollution. Residents at Leabank Square [3] have highlighted similar problems with ODA operations and also faced intimidatory [4] responses from the ODA. There is nothing particularly surprising, therefore, to find these kinds of statements being made in this report.\\r\\nAgainst a background of recession, companies\\xe2\\x80\\x99 cost cutting, blacklisting of workers [5] and a refusal to allow access to officials of unrecognised unions, the authors are critical of the \\xe2\\x80\\x98practices of partnership\\xe2\\x80\\x99, represented by the domination of management and the lack of rank and file control over unions, in ensuring workers\\xe2\\x80\\x99 safety. A union like UCATT sees itself as a 'go-between', maintaining co-operation between workers and bosses. The report says that UCATT deploys non-elected stewards, who are appointed by officials, on the Stratford City site, which represents a serious conflict of interest. The steward who was responsible for the sector in which Mr Scully died was unelected. The report claims that these stewards are hand-picked, lack training and are moved from site to site 'with the clear understanding that they do not rock the boat when it comes to health and safety issues and industrial discontent.' The authors suggest the arrival on the site of mechanical and electrical trade workers has broken UCATT\\xe2\\x80\\x99s monopoly and there has since been an improvement in union activity, particularly in the case of Unite.\\r\\nOver six months ago the IWW members warned that workers on the Stratford City site were facing serious risk of injury or death. Workers had also demonstrated in May 2009 [6] outside the Pudding Mill Lane entrance to the Olympic Park. A local Respect Councillor, Abjol Miah, said then \\xe2\\x80\\x98I\\xe2\\x80\\x99m very concerned about the gagging contracts being imposed by the ODA on contractors and employees which potentially prevent workers from whistle-blowing when health and safety issues arise.\\xe2\\x80\\x99 He expressed his concern that \\xe2\\x80\\x98as deadlines on contracts approach the pressure will inevitably grow for corners to be cut. We have to have strong union organisation and whistle-blowing protection to ensure health and safety is not jeopardised.\\xe2\\x80\\x99\\r\\nIt is worse than tragic that these warnings have been followed by the death of Mr Scurry.\\r\\nAttachment\\r\\n\"b\"Home\\r\\n'After' (OED) the Games, the Park\\r\\nIt\\xe2\\x80\\x99s difficult to keep track of the changing size and definition of the much vaunted \\xe2\\x80\\x98largest new park, or new urban park, in Europe, or in London, for 200, 150, 100, 20 or even 12 years \\xe2\\x80\\x99. First it was 129 hectares, then it was 110, 102 and now perhaps just 100 hectares. And is a car park parkland? At one time, according to the ODA, it wasn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t but now apparently it is when it is in an Olympic legacy park and so is the field of play of the Main Stadium, even though it is in the middle of a large building.\\r\\nThe new park includes 45 hectares of \\xe2\\x80\\x98habitat\\xe2\\x80\\x99 but then that was the amount of habitat in this part of the Lea Valley before the Olympics. And 92.8 hectares of open space was already available, including the former Eastway Cycle Track, most of which has been incorporated into the new park. Plans for Stratford City, drawn up before the Olympic Bid, showed parkland on the west side of the River Lea where most of the new open space is to be located showing that this idea was already in the public arena.\\r\\nBack in January 2009 I asked the ODA how they had arrived at the conclusion that the open space in the Olympic Park was the largest new urban park in Europe for 150 years. The ODA replied \\xe2\\x80\\x98CABE Space and the London Parks and Green Spaces Forum have assisted the ODA in preparing benchmark studies on parks around the world and in London including previous Olympic Parks. Our understanding is that the Olympic Park will be the largest urban park of its type in Europe.\\xe2\\x80\\x99  That \\xe2\\x80\\x98understanding\\xe2\\x80\\x99 hardly seemed conclusive when there were much larger parks in places like Katowice and Duisburg . But the ODA dismissed these as different \\xe2\\x80\\x98types\\xe2\\x80\\x99 of park.\\r\\nA few weeks ago I decided to ask them again whether they had made any further checks on other European parks.: \\xe2\\x80\\x98As you have now had several years to make comparisons with other European parks I would be grateful if you could provide me with the comparisons you have now made in order to establish that this is the largest urban park in Europe for 150 years.\\xe2\\x80\\x99 However, the ODA had not seized the opportunity. \\xe2\\x80\\x98We can confirm that no new comparisons between the Olympic Park and other European parks have been carried out. The statement made in the sustainability document you refer to in your request is based on the comparative studies we have already provided you with information about in response to your request reference EN00285 dated 22nd April 2009.\\xe2\\x80\\x99\\r\\nBizarrely, in that reply the ODA had referred me to the Oxford English Dictionary to explain how everything depended on the definition of the word \\xe2\\x80\\x98after\\xe2\\x80\\x99. \\xe2\\x80\\x98The focus of the London 2012 Games will be the Olympic Park in east London, which will house the new sports venues. After the Games the area will be transformed into the largest urban park created in Europe for more than 150 years.\\xe2\\x80\\x99\\r\\n\\xe2\\x80\\x98It is implicit in these sentences that there could be no \\xe2\\x80\\x9cOlympic Park\\xe2\\x80\\x9d (our emphasis) without the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (the Games). The comparisons between the urban park created post the Games with other parks created post an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games is stated in the following sentence \\xe2\\x80\\x9cAfter the Games the area will be transformed into the largest urban park created in Europe for more than 150 years.\\xe2\\x80\\x9d The word \\xe2\\x80\\x9cafter\\xe2\\x80\\x9d being used in terms of the Oxford English Dictionary definition \\xe2\\x80\\x9cthe time following and (sic) event\\xe2\\x80\\x9d, in this case the event is an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games.'\\r\\nIt is unclear how this makes it the \\xe2\\x80\\x98largest new park in Europe for 150 years\\xe2\\x80\\x99 as opposed to the largest urban park created in Europe for more than 150 years \\xe2\\x80\\x98after\\xe2\\x80\\x99 (OED definition) an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games.\\r\\nBut that\\xe2\\x80\\x99s not all. The ODA went on to say they had \\xe2\\x80\\x98studied the most recent modern Olympic Parks which would be relevant comparators\\xe2\\x80\\x99, which included \\xe2\\x80\\x98Munich, Los Angeles through to Beijing.\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Of course, Los Angeles and Beijing are not in Europe as they went on to point out, so actually the comparison was with Munich, Barcelona and Athens. In fact they restricted their comparison to Barcelona and Athens, but I will be generous as they did also refer to Munich.\\r\\nSo that\\xe2\\x80\\x99s the largest new park by comparison with three European Olympic Games!\\r\\nRather confusingly they then said \\xe2\\x80\\x98while we have compared the London 2012 Olympic Park against other parks which were created post an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games, we have also considered other parks which were not created post a Games.\\xe2\\x80\\x99 But \\xe2\\x80\\x98The ODA does not have a list of parks which specifically compares their size against that of the Olympic Park as well as reasons why they do not \\xe2\\x80\\x9cmeet the criteria of the 2012 park\\xe2\\x80\\x9d, nor are we required to create new information in order to answer your request\\xe2\\x80\\x99.\\r\\nSo they do not have specific comparisons with other parks and nor do they know the specific reasons why they don\\xe2\\x80\\x99t meet the criteria of the 2012 park. One such failure might be considered a misfortune, two looks like carelessness.\\r\\nAnd what did they have to say about Katowice and Duisburg? Katowice is dissed because its development was \\xe2\\x80\\x98prompted by a voluntary membership of several cities\\xe2\\x80\\x99 while Duisburg is dismissed because it is \\xe2\\x80\\x98a regional scale park\\xe2\\x80\\x99. And, of course, they were not created after an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games. Yet the Olympic park also arises from the (possibly) voluntary membership of \\xe2\\x80\\x98several boroughs\\xe2\\x80\\x99 and the area of the park is run by an organisation called the Lea Valley \\xe2\\x80\\x98Regional\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Park Authority, which still owns most of the land and describes itself as governing a region. Indeed it closed the Eastway Sports Centre because it considered it a local not a regional facility. But it is true they weren't created after an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games.\\r\\nReassuringly with the ODA there is old fashioned bureaucratic obstruction. Defiantly they declare they are not \\xe2\\x80\\x98required to create new information\\xe2\\x80\\x99 to answer my request.\\r\\nThey do themselves an injustice. They have been very creative with their information,\\r\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Wed, 17/08/2011 - 23:29.\\r\\n\"b'University College London propose redevelopment of the Carpenters Estate Stratford\\r\\nOne block on the Carpenters Estate\\r\\nUCL and the London Borough of Newham have today announced plans to explore the establishment of a new campus for UCL in the Olympic borough of Newham, in addition to the University\\xe2\\x80\\x99s Bloomsbury location.\\r\\nUnder the terms of the agreement signed by UCL and Newham Council, both parties now have six months to progress proposals for the development, which could include teaching and research space as well as additional community, residential and commercial space. The proposed site is within the Greater Carpenters Neighbourhood, east of the Olympic Park, which has been earmarked for redevelopment since 2010. The development proposed would be consistent with Newham Council\\xe2\\x80\\x99s Stratford Metropolitan Masterplan as well as UCL\\xe2\\x80\\x99s Bloomsbury Masterplan published last week, which sets out UCL\\xe2\\x80\\x99s vision for developing its estate. It is anticipated that the Mayor of Newham and Cabinet will consider the proposals developed in mid-2012. There is no obligation from either Newham Council or UCL to proceed with the plans after this date.\\r\\nAll proposals will take into account existing commitments made by the Council to those people affected by the re-housing programme. Residents and stakeholders in the area will be consulted on the plans, and UCL has established an academic representative committee to lead engagement on the proposals across the University. UCL has appointed Drivers Jonas Deloitte as its lead adviser in determining the feasibility of the project\\r\\nSir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham said: \\xe2\\x80\\x9cThis is an exciting and ambitious proposition which offers great opportunities for Newham and we look forward to working with UCL. This development of world-class academic facilities in Stratford would create a wealth of benefits for the local area, the borough and East London as a whole. With leading educational institutions already firmly established in the area, another university would inspire Newham youngsters to look at the wider opportunities available to them. As well as presenting employment opportunities, a new campus will provide a significant boost to the local economy and provide a lasting legacy for the community.\\r\\n\\xe2\\x80\\x9cNewham Council is committed to redeveloping the Carpenters Neighbourhood to ensure the delivery of a high quality, educational community for the benefit of existing residents and the wider community. In any negotiations going forward, local residents will not lose out.\\xe2\\x80\\x9d\\r\\nRelated links\\r\\nProfessor Malcolm Grant, UCL President and Provost, said: \\xe2\\x80\\x9cThe Carpenters Neighbourhood proposal represents a great opportunity for UCL, creating an additional campus at the heart of the Olympic Legacy with excellent transport links to our existing facilities. \\xe2\\x80\\x9cAs a world-leading university, UCL has ambitious growth plans for the coming years, but we are constrained in our central London location in meeting the demand for suitable space to support the development of world-class teaching and research. UCL has a strong record of engaging with our local community in Bloomsbury, and working effectively with local councils, schools, community groups and businesses. The challenges of delivering this exciting vision will be substantial, but the regeneration potential is of great significance for the local community, the Olympic Legacy and the economy of London as a whole.\\xe2\\x80\\x9d\\r\\n'b\"Home\\r\\nA little 'hyperlocal' legacy\\r\\nLast weekend an 'unconference' took place both on- and offline - London Neighbourhoods Online . By Monday two new hyperlocal blogs had sprung up in Olympic boroughs, both started by famous figures within the London Blogosphere.\\r\\nBow local hero Diamond Geezer kicked off ee three and is inviting others to get involved:\\r\\nOnly news and comment from the E3 postcode  will be permitted. That includes Mile End, Bow and Bromley-by-Bow, even Three Mills and Fish Island, but not Victoria Park or the Olympic Park. Please let's have nothing extreme, nor rampantly advertorial, nor anything applicable to Tower Hamlets as a whole\\r\\nAdam Bienkov aka Tory Troll is now flying his Kidbrooke Kite .\\r\\nBy way of Olympic-themed tasters:\\r\\nuphill sruggle?\\r\\nSubmitted by Steve Dowding on Mon, 11/10/2010 - 11:04.\\r\\nAnother ripple from the force that is the Sarf London blogosphere: e-ShootersHill with more scrutiny of the Olympics.\\r\\nIn Green Legacy Gym it raises concerns about provision for future maintenance costs for the rash of outdoor gyms springing up as legacy gains:\\r\\nI had absolutely no idea that oxleas wood was going to get an olympic legacy, until today that is, when I stumbled across the gym  in the picture, just near the caf\\xc3\\xa9, by the conker trees. Currently it\\xe2\\x80\\x99s fenced off, but it looks like it could unveiled at any time soon.\\r\\nSince seeing the gym, I\\xe2\\x80\\x99ve found out that whilst the olympic legacy fund has donated the money to install these new facilities, their upkeep has not yet been provided for. This may mean that once the facilities have been damaged by the elements, the joggers or the vandals, they will not be repaired!\\r\\nOn a related topic, following some chat on Twitter Adam Bienkov came up with a document from the not-so-transparent Greenwich website - a report relating  to the Charlton Adizone (we think).\\r\\n\"b'Home\\r\\nHigh Street 2012 & the London Festival of Architecture\\r\\nHigh Street 2012 is an initiative that will use the 2012 Games as a catalyst for improvements to the A11/A118 corridor through the centre of Tower Hamlets (taking in Whitechapel High Street, Whitechapel Road, Mile End Road and Bow Road) and on into Stratford in Newham. See also: Stratford High Street public realm improvements\\r\\nThe London Festival of Architecture is mounting a PR spectacle on Sat 26th - Sun 27th June East Weekend  High Street 2012\\r\\n\"The East of London between Whitechapel and Stratford will host High Street 2012, representing the last 6km of the London Olympic Marathon in 2012, as well as a wider streetscape and regeneration strategy. It will also host a series of Festival activities including a new commission from critically-acclaimed Austrian architects Feld72 reviving a vacant town centre building, guided tours of the dynamic area in historic Routemaster buses, and interactive installations designed and built by international architecture students\"\\r\\nFor an online wander through the history of this stretch of road, which they wanted to call Olympic Boulevard until drowned out by a chorus of disapproval, see Diamond Geezer\\'s London blog .\\r\\nGamesMonitor recommends the Savage Messiah\\xe2\\x80\\x99s Guide to East London bus tour\\r\\nSubmitted by Martin Slavin on Fri, 25/06/2010 - 21:56.\\r\\nAnother Olympic legacy - a lick of paint\\r\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Mon, 28/06/2010 - 20:14.\\r\\nPolishing up the vicinity is a well established routine for mega events in the grand tradition of not frightening the visitors. Spend a few million on tarting up frontages, planting some shrubbery and putting up hoardings to hide embarrassing views, along with evicting unsightly occupants. In Beijing they used a blue fence to hide the housing they didn\\'t want visitors to see, the same kind of traditional housing they had been demolishing so they could build the brand new shiny concrete and glass edifices to make the place look modern.\\r\\nHS2012\\r\\nSubmitted by Ben (not verified) on Wed, 21/07/2010 - 11:31.\\r\\nI feel that with the London Games, the idea - with High Street 2012 anyway- is to show off the areas and historic buildings we\\'ve already got, rather than hide any away or knock any down (see Beijing, Delhi, etc). The Olympics is the excuse to fund it - not the reason to do it\\r\\nHigh Street\\r\\nSubmitted by Steve Dowding on Tue, 27/07/2010 - 10:01.\\r\\nBen, Agreed it\\'s much better than what\\'s happened in Beijing, Delhi and so on. But as to the Olympics being \"the excuse to fund it\" - don\\'t you think it could have been done anyway? Done at much better value than as part of a public-subsidised party for the rich which when it comes down to it is really what the Olympics are?\\r\\nHigh Street\\r\\nSubmitted by Ben (not verified) on Fri, 30/07/2010 - 10:40.\\r\\nI know what you mean Steve - but in my experience it couldnt have been done anyway - esp in a time of cuts.  Things like High Street 2012 and the other Olympic projects stop all of the money and the benefits of the Games being confined to the Olympic park site.  The public purse will get its money back too - albeit you\\'re right it has to shell out in the short term..\\r\\n'b\"Home\\r\\nA cornerstone of lies\\r\\nSports Minister Hugh Robbertson has called the \\xc2\\xa3135million lottery funding to be spent under the the Places People Play strategy 'the cornerstone of a grassroots legacy from hosting the Olympic Games.' As others have pointed out this comes after the coalition took away \\xc2\\xa3300million sports funding, cuts which will have a particular impact on children's sport.\\r\\nBack in 2006 the previous government said spending money on the 2012 Games would provide 'a long-term legacy use for the public after 2012' even as it took \\xc2\\xa3340million away from children's sport to spend on the elite event instead.\\r\\n2012 Budget masseuse Tessa Jowell, responsible for that 2006 raid on children's sport funding, felt able to accuse the coalition's Mr Rubberstamp of breaking the legacy promise she had so faithfully kept. 'The legacy promise that we made in Singapore was to transform a generation of young people through sport. However they dress it up, the Olympic Legacy promise that we made to this country's young people is yet another promise that has been broken by the Coalition Government.'\\r\\nThe only thing about this 2010 fiasco that is Olympic is the constant and unremitting lying.\\r\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Wed, 17/11/2010 - 03:15.\\r\\n\"b\"This collection includes all collaborative Olympic crawls performed by IA for the IIPC.\\r\\nTIMESTAMPS\\r\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\r\\nMore 2012 Bl**ging Censorship\\r\\nBy Julian Cheyne\\r\\nCreated 11 Jan 2010 - 02:58\\r\\nThe 2012 blog continues to churn out the same misleading information. A recent posting by a local resident [1]reminded me of the experience of going through the compulsory purchase inquiry and having our estate and community dismissed by the LDA. I tried to post a comment but, not for the first time [2], that was disallowed. Like a true colonialist operation the ODA claims to listen to ordinary people and to practise inclusion, but its own publicly funded website refuses to allow a proper debate.\\r\\nThe local resident was unrestrained in his praise of the Olympic project and combined this with the usual dismissal of what had been on the site before the Olympic project. He declared: \\xe2\\x80\\x9cThree years ago the site in Stratford was a redundant, disused and neglected area. Today as I have seen for myself - this is no more.\\xe2\\x80\\x9d Sickening and ignorant.\\r\\nSo I tried to send in a response:-\\r\\n\\xe2\\x80\\x9cThe 2012 blog seeks to perpetuate its stereotypical portrayal of the Lower Lea Valley. This is becoming an almost colonial description of a piece of land on which apparently no-one lived or did anything worthwhile, which justified its takeover by those who would put it to good use. Your correspondent even considers it to be his \\xe2\\x80\\x98backyard\\xe2\\x80\\x99, also reminiscent of colonial ownership where inferior neighbours are expected to be quiet and grateful.\\r\\nYour local explorer has seen for himself \\xe2\\x80\\x93 \\xe2\\x80\\x98this is no more\\xe2\\x80\\x99 and can report back to civilization that the visionaries have moved in to make something of the wasteland.\\r\\nSo just to correct some impressions left by your correspondent:\\r\\nDisused? People lived there. Our community at Clays Lane [3] was demolished despite promises to sustain and support local communities. We lived next to the constantly used Eastway Cycle Track which included a lovely wild open space to walk over.\\r\\nNeglected? What of the amazing Manor Gardens allotments [4], wrecked by the relocation which created a waterlogged bog [5] at Marsh Lane Fields and decimated the allotments community? Or Arena Field, the playground of the children from Hackney Wick now concreted over for the Media Centre?\\r\\nRedundant? The Lea Valley is an area famous for industrial innovation [6], most notably in recent times for the diode valve, essential to the development of television and computers, as well as being important for, among other things, plastics, chemicals and transport industries and even nuclear research. Stratford was at the centre of the construction of the Channel Tunnel rail link.\\r\\nYour correspondent repeats the familiar \\xe2\\x80\\x98vision\\xe2\\x80\\x99 for the future as though there was no hope without the Olympics. Actually, jobs and businesses were and are being created regardless of the Olympics. Stratford City, not an Olympic project [7], was designed to create 35,000 jobs and over 5,000 homes. It is well known that development [8] in the area would have happened whether or not the Olympic bid was won. Even Lord Coe was prepared to admit this in evidence to the compulsory purchase inquiry.\\r\\n5,000 jobs [9] were moved out of the Park for the Olympics, although some remained in the locality, meaning a net loss of permanent local jobs to date. One businessman [10] commented about the relocation of his business \\xe2\\x80\\x9cwe worked so hard on relocating. It\\xe2\\x80\\x99s no thanks to the LDA or the government. The LDA were useless.\\xe2\\x80\\x9d Industrial areas are often not pretty but that doesn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t mean they are unproductive or derelict. Far from providing employment the planned new jobs may well not fit local skills and, as occurred in Docklands [11], it is likely local unemployment will rise.\\r\\nSmall local companies [12] operate below the ODA\\xe2\\x80\\x99s radar and cannot get contracts. Even large ones like Spitalfields Market [13], the largest vegetable market in the country literally across the road from the Park, is not included in LOCOG\\xe2\\x80\\x99s \\xe2\\x80\\x98sustainable\\xe2\\x80\\x99 food vision. The LDA warns that its own post-Games job predictions [14] should be treated \\xe2\\x80\\x98with caution\\xe2\\x80\\x99.\\r\\nYour explorer can easily see that homes were and are being built all over the Stratford area. The canals and rivers are a developer\\xe2\\x80\\x99s dream. Jason Prior, the Olympic Masterplanner, said the Olympics would actually slow up these developments by taking land out of circulation till after 2012. Gareth Blacker of the LDA said \\xe2\\x80\\x98we're creating a prime opportunity for the property industry\\xe2\\x80\\x99 [15]. The Olympics is certainly a prime opportunity for sponsoring multinational corporations and large construction companies.\\r\\nThe percentage of affordable homes will depend on future financial constraints. In fact, because land will have to be sold to recover costs the amount of affordable housing may well be lower than it would otherwise have been. The reality is that land values [16] and rents rise following these events meaning local people find it harder to stay in the area and gentrification leads to the arrival of a new population. The statistics will change but so will the people.\\r\\nThere were already 92.8 hectares of open space available in the Olympic Park which will only be increased to 110 hectares in the new park, and it is not the \\xe2\\x80\\x98largest new park in Europe for 150 years\\xe2\\x80\\x99 [17] contrary to what has been claimed.  All the planning guidance for the area required an extension of the existing green space. The area boasted great bio-diversity precisely because it was not micro-managed.\\r\\nTourism operators [18] disagree that there will be a tourism legacy and even the ODA agrees there is no housing legacy [19] from the Athletes\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Village as the housing was going to be built anyway. Despite the remediation thousands of tons of low level radioactive material remain buried on the site while local residents have been badly affected by noise and dust from the site.\\r\\nAs for sports facilities, it remains entirely unclear whether they will be available for local people as they are designed for elite events. There is, as yet, no end use for the main stadium, plans for local sports facilities have been abandoned, the velodrome is of little use for most cyclists and other facilities will be demolished precisely because they do not have a post-Games use. There will be a cycle track but then there already was one before the Olympics came and demolished [20] it!\\r\\nContrary to your explorer\\xe2\\x80\\x99s assertions, actors like Judi Dench [21] disagree that the Olympics is contributing to the Arts in Britain as their funding has been cut to pay for the Games. Likewise, over \\xc2\\xa3500million of Lottery funding has been taken away from children\\xe2\\x80\\x99s and community sports projects [22] to back this elite event. There is no evidence to show that elite sports events promote sport participation or improve health.\\r\\nAnd, of course, the project is not, as is often claimed, within budget. It is more than three times over, despite the repeated assurances of the former Mayor and the Minister in 2006 that it was on budget, and all kinds of expenditure [23], like the acquisition of the land or the building of the Three Mills Lock, are not even included. So whatever benefits may accrue will come at a high financial cost.\\r\\nWhen the LDA was seeking to buy up the land it sought to justify this by describing the area as a wasteland of no interest or merit. Those of us living at Clays Lane were told our surroundings were so bad that the beautiful green space at the Eastway \\xe2\\x80\\x98isolated\\xe2\\x80\\x99 us.\\r\\nMr Higgins later called the Lower Lea Valley a \\xe2\\x80\\x98scar\\xe2\\x80\\x99 [24]. Now, in Fish Island, which was originally part of the land the LDA wished to acquire, the ODA has \\xe2\\x80\\x98discovered\\xe2\\x80\\x99 areas which it considers merit designation as conservation zones!\\r\\nOn occasion the whole project descends into farce as when, for example, on one day the LDA awards its buddies at LOCOG \\xe2\\x80\\x98Gold for Diversity\\xe2\\x80\\x99 [25] only for the Equalities Commission [26] to then criticise LOCOG for its failure to promote equality and diversity, supposedly at the heart of the Bid!\\r\\nThis website is publicly funded but does not allow a proper debate. Instead the ODA pursues its \\xe2\\x80\\x98manifest destiny\\xe2\\x80\\x99 of bringing civilization and its benefits to the benighted land east of the River Lea, backed up by the visionary experiences of its explorers as recounted on this website. At a recent meeting at UCL, Jason Prior said it wasn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t possible to carry out an Olympics style development in West London, because of resistance from better off communities. As a local resident, first of Newham and now, as a result of being forcibly removed, of Tower Hamlets, I am depressed by this relentless Olympics aggrandisement. This is truly a colonial experience for East London.\\xe2\\x80\\x9d\\r\\nSource URL:\\r\\n\"b'2012 Board given Lib Dem massage\\r\\nFollowing the appointment of Olympic budget masseuse Tessa Jowell to the 2012 Games Board two Liberal Democrats have joined her. It had been suggested there was a competition between Don Foster and Ming Campbell for just one place but it looks like another seat has been added to the table.\\r\\nDon decided to have a pop at Labour when he announced the appointments at the Lib Dem conference: \\xe2\\x80\\x9cWhile Labour\\'s support for the games can\\'t be questioned, their record in planning for its legacy certainly can.\"\\r\\nSebCo may have something to say about that. He said Jowell, Labour\\'s Olympics Minister, had made an \"enormous contribution\". Maybe he and the masseuse will put Don right at the next meeting of the Board.\\r\\nDon also felt it was necessary to make some complimentary remarks about Ming: \\xe2\\x80\\x9cIt is particularly pleasing that Ming, a former Olympic athlete, will be able to bring his knowledge, experience and wisdom to help ensure success in 2012.\\xe2\\x80\\x9d\\r\\nMaybe this was because not so long ago the Lib Dems thought he was past it and dumped him as leader on account of his age. So presumably they think the 2012 Board is a pretty easy number.\\r\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Thu, 23/09/2010 - 00:05.\\r\\n'b'This collection includes all collaborative Olympic crawls performed by IA for the IIPC.\\r\\nTIMESTAMPS\\r\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\r\\n2012 promoters\\' new discovery - no health benefits\\r\\nBy Julian Cheyne\\r\\nCreated 30 Mar 2011 - 15:58\\r\\nThe watchdog which never barks the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 [1] has suddenly realised that it is unlikely London 2012 will deliver any health benefits just as the Guardian reports the government is about to abandon its Olympic legacy pledge [2] of inspiring one million more people to play sport. \"We\\'ve looked for evidence of previous Olympic Games or other major sporting events having an impact on health and sport participation and there isn\\'t any tangible evidence,\" said the Commission\\'s Shaun McCarthy.\\r\\nEven so the dozy doggie didn\\'t rule out the possibility. \"I think London can do it if attention is paid to the legacy,\" he said. \"That\\'s a big \\'if\\' because at the moment we\\'re seeing lots of really good initiatives that will effectively stop when the Games finish.\\r\\n\"They will only deliver long-term results if there is some proper focus on legacy.\"\\r\\nWell, woof! woof! to that.\\r\\nSource URL:\\r\\n'b\"This collection includes all collaborative Olympic crawls performed by IA for the IIPC.\\r\\nTIMESTAMPS\\r\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\r\\nLeabank Square Residents speak out about Noise, Dust and Legacy\\r\\nBy Julian Cheyne\\r\\nCreated 21 Oct 2008 - 00:53\\r\\nOn 15th October Shona Abantu-Choudhury posted the statement below on the noise and dust at Leabank Square on the Leabank Square Blogspot [1] along with pictures of the machinery at work. You can see what other residents have to say by following the 'comments' link below his statement on the blogspot. Shona and his wife Nadira were also interviewed by BBC News [2]. This follows earlier reports contained in More \\xe2\\x80\\x98Anecdotal\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Complaints of Noise and Dust from Leabank Square Residents [3] about the situation at Leabank Square. Residents are increasingly concerned at the steadily diminishing legacy they and others in Hackney Wick will inherit once the Games are over. Having lost a vital green space at Arena Fields they are now worried the promised replacement parkland will not materialise.\\r\\n'Work on the Olympic site has now been brought right up to the neighbouring fence - and we can see all sorts of activity going on only metres from us.\\r\\nOf course this has brought fresh concerns from most of the Square - especially from the front 3 blocks. The noise at 7.00am hits you like the rudest alarm clock - and does not stop until 8.00pm.\\r\\nThe new floodlights set up around the soil washing plant bring daylight into our flats at night - and encourage the builders to make as much noise as they do during the height of the day.\\r\\nWe are back to debating the old question: Is having the Olympics on our doorstep - worth living next to the largest construction site in Europe?\\r\\nThe answer used to be yes.\\r\\nBut now we know a lot more about the Olympic Legacy.\\r\\n* We know that the leisure pool that was going to be attached to the racing pool has been scrapped. Those of us that had lobbied for just such a pool to introduce the East End kids to swimming - while seeing the older swimmers training & racing right next door - are very disappointed.\\r\\n* We know that no serious plans have been made for the Media Centre/International Press Centre to be bought by a national media company. There are now major discussions about turning this into a temporary building. The legacy promised a major centre of local employment - we'll probably get a dodgy money-making faith centre or massive tesco.\\r\\n* The Handball Court has now been scaled down. This was going to be a fantastic local Community Centre - what are the current plans now?\\r\\n* There is talk by Boris Johnson of siting a University Campus 'just south of the Media Centre'. Well - this is where we are supposed to be getting part of Arena Fields returned to a lush green breathing space.\\r\\nI could go on & on about legacy plans been leaked out to the media without the official Legacy Document been issued. Is this meant to soften all our expectations until it comes out in Spring 2009.\\r\\nSo - Leabank Square - what is the answer to the question now?\\r\\nIs the end result - an Olympic Park with no relevant legacy to us - its closest existing residential neighbours - worth all the noise & dust?\\r\\nDiscuss............\\r\\nPlease feel free to add any comment about this blog entry! Simply click \\xe2\\x80\\x98comments\\xe2\\x80\\x99 below & you can tell us all what you think. You can use your own name, a pseudonym, be anonymous, or even join blogger yourself. The more we all discuss Leabank Square \\xe2\\x80\\x93 the more we all feel part of it!!'\\r\\nPosted by Leabank Square at 10:42\\r\\nSource URL:\\r\\n\"b\"This collection includes all collaborative Olympic crawls performed by IA for the IIPC.\\r\\nTIMESTAMPS\\r\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\r\\n'After' (OED) the Games, the Park\\r\\nBy Julian Cheyne\\r\\nCreated 17 Aug 2011 - 23:29\\r\\nIt\\xe2\\x80\\x99s difficult to keep track of the changing size and definition [1] of the much vaunted \\xe2\\x80\\x98largest new park, or new urban park, in Europe, or in London, for 200, 150, 100, 20 or even 12 years [2]\\xe2\\x80\\x99. First it was 129 hectares, then it was 110, 102 and now perhaps just 100 hectares. And is a car park parkland? At one time, according to the ODA, it wasn\\xe2\\x80\\x99t but now apparently it is when it is in an Olympic legacy park and so is the field of play of the Main Stadium, even though it is in the middle of a large building.\\r\\nThe new park includes 45 hectares of \\xe2\\x80\\x98habitat\\xe2\\x80\\x99 but then that was the amount of habitat in this part of the Lea Valley before the Olympics. And 92.8 hectares of open space was already available, including the former Eastway Cycle Track, most of which has been incorporated into the new park. Plans for Stratford City, drawn up before the Olympic Bid, showed parkland on the west side of the River Lea where most of the new open space is to be located showing that this idea was already in the public arena.\\r\\nBack in January 2009 I asked the ODA how they had arrived at the conclusion that the open space in the Olympic Park was the largest new urban park in Europe for 150 years. The ODA replied \\xe2\\x80\\x98CABE Space and the London Parks and Green Spaces Forum have assisted the ODA in preparing benchmark studies on parks around the world and in London including previous Olympic Parks. Our understanding is that the Olympic Park will be the largest urban park of its type in Europe.\\xe2\\x80\\x99  That \\xe2\\x80\\x98understanding\\xe2\\x80\\x99 hardly seemed conclusive when there were much larger parks in places like Katowice [3] and Duisburg [4]. But the ODA dismissed these as different \\xe2\\x80\\x98types\\xe2\\x80\\x99 of park.\\r\\nA few weeks ago I decided to ask them again whether they had made any further checks on other European parks: \\xe2\\x80\\x98As you have now had several years to make comparisons with other European parks I would be grateful if you could provide me with the comparisons you have now made in order to establish that this is the largest urban park in Europe for 150 years.\\xe2\\x80\\x99 However, the ODA had not seized the opportunity. \\xe2\\x80\\x98We can confirm that no new comparisons between the Olympic Park and other European parks have been carried out. The statement made in the sustainability document you refer to in your request is based on the comparative studies we have already provided you with information about in response to your request reference EN00285 dated 22nd April 2009.\\xe2\\x80\\x99\\r\\nBizarrely, in that reply the ODA had referred me to the Oxford English Dictionary to explain how everything depended on the definition of the word \\xe2\\x80\\x98after\\xe2\\x80\\x99. \\xe2\\x80\\x98The focus of the London 2012 Games will be the Olympic Park in east London, which will house the new sports venues. After the Games the area will be transformed into the largest urban park created in Europe for more than 150 years.\\xe2\\x80\\x99\\r\\n\\xe2\\x80\\x98It is implicit in these sentences that there could be no \\xe2\\x80\\x9cOlympic Park\\xe2\\x80\\x9d (our emphasis) without the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (the Games). The comparisons between the urban park created post the Games with other parks created post an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games is stated in the following sentence \\xe2\\x80\\x9cAfter the Games the area will be transformed into the largest urban park created in Europe for more than 150 years.\\xe2\\x80\\x9d The word \\xe2\\x80\\x9cafter\\xe2\\x80\\x9d being used in terms of the Oxford English Dictionary definition \\xe2\\x80\\x9cthe time following and (sic) event\\xe2\\x80\\x9d, in this case the event is an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games.'\\r\\nIt is unclear how this makes it the \\xe2\\x80\\x98largest new park in Europe for 150 years\\xe2\\x80\\x99 as opposed to the largest urban park created in Europe for more than 150 years \\xe2\\x80\\x98after\\xe2\\x80\\x99 (OED definition) an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games.\\r\\nBut that\\xe2\\x80\\x99s not all. The ODA went on to say they had \\xe2\\x80\\x98studied the most recent modern Olympic Parks which would be relevant comparators\\xe2\\x80\\x99, which included \\xe2\\x80\\x98Munich, Los Angeles through to Beijing.\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Of course, Los Angeles and Beijing are not in Europe as they went on to point out, so actually the comparison was with Munich, Barcelona and Athens. In fact they restricted their comparison to Barcelona and Athens, but I will be generous as they did also refer to Munich.\\r\\nSo that\\xe2\\x80\\x99s the largest new park by comparison with three European Olympic Games!\\r\\nRather confusingly they then said \\xe2\\x80\\x98while we have compared the London 2012 Olympic Park against other parks which were created post an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games, we have also considered other parks which were not created post a Games.\\xe2\\x80\\x99 But \\xe2\\x80\\x98The ODA does not have a list of parks which specifically compares their size against that of the Olympic Park as well as reasons why they do not \\xe2\\x80\\x9cmeet the criteria of the 2012 park\\xe2\\x80\\x9d, nor are we required to create new information in order to answer your request\\xe2\\x80\\x99.\\r\\nSo they do not have specific comparisons with other parks and nor do they know the specific reasons why they don\\xe2\\x80\\x99t meet the criteria of the 2012 park. One such failure might be considered a misfortune, two looks like carelessness.\\r\\nAnd what did they have to say about Katowice and Duisburg? Katowice is dissed because its development was \\xe2\\x80\\x98prompted by a voluntary membership of several cities\\xe2\\x80\\x99 while Duisburg is dismissed because it is \\xe2\\x80\\x98a regional scale park\\xe2\\x80\\x99. And, of course, they were not created after an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games. Yet the Olympic park also arises from the (possibly) voluntary membership of \\xe2\\x80\\x98several boroughs\\xe2\\x80\\x99 and the area of the park is run by an organisation called the Lea Valley \\xe2\\x80\\x98Regional\\xe2\\x80\\x99 Park Authority, which still owns most of the land and describes itself as governing a region. Indeed it closed the Eastway Sports Centre because it considered it a local not a regional facility. But it is true they weren't created after an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games.\\r\\nReassuringly with the ODA there is old fashioned bureaucratic obstruction. Defiantly they declare they are not \\xe2\\x80\\x98required to create new information\\xe2\\x80\\x99 to answer my request.\\r\\nThey do themselves an injustice. They have been very creative with their information,\\r\\nSource URL:\\r\\n\"b'This collection includes all collaborative Olympic crawls performed by IA for the IIPC.\\r\\nTIMESTAMPS\\r\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\r\\nLeabank Square Residents pan Media Centre design\\r\\nBy Julian Cheyne\\r\\nCreated 6 May 2009 - 01:17\\r\\n[0]\\r\\nLeabank Square residents have panned the design for the Media Centre. So has CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. Only they won\\'t have to live opposite what one resident has called a \\'tower block on its side\\'.\\r\\nLeabank Square blogspot carries the following article:\\r\\nLeabank Square Extremely Disappointed with Olympic Architects!! [1]\\r\\nTake a look at the picture above - you are going to be so sick of looking at it for the next couple of decades!!!\\r\\nThis is the best the Olympics could come up with as part of OUR legacy!!!!!\\r\\nThis is the reward we have been given for giving them OUR beloved green lung - Arena Fields!!!!\\r\\nThanks to everyone who has sent me comments, emails, letters, had chats in the gardens, etc! There is not a single resident of Arena Fields (nor Wick Village next door!!) who likes the design for the International Broadcast Centre & Main Press Centre!\\r\\nAgain - Hackney Wick has been dumped on by the Olympic Delivery Authority! We have always been seen as the poorest neighbour of the whole Olympic Park - and their attitude is that we should be grateful for anything we get.\\r\\nWell - we had a perfectly beautiful green park in Arena Fields directly opposite us - and now we have two massive blocks of steel & glass instead. My children\\'s lego creations have more imagination, beauty & practical use - than what Hackney Wick is going to get as a legacy!\\r\\nI was at a meeting last week where a suit from the Olympics was telling us that the buildings \\'will come alive\\' when the cladding is put on. Putting all your suggestions about living walls to him - he nearly passed out! Leabank Square - he\\'s \\'not sure\\' about living walls - but how about a nice greeny/greyee dappled metal finish?!\\r\\nSo - they took away Arena Fields - with our orchard & trees - and gave given us two massive glass & steel blocks - and won\\'t even consider cladding them in beautiful green, living, growing plants?!\\r\\nSome legacy!!!\\r\\nEven CABE [2] The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment - who advise on well-designed buildings, places and spaces) said that:\\r\\n\"The architecture as shown is extremely weak, lacking real conviction as to how it could work in Transition and Legacy, and in the case of the IBC revealing a paucity of imagination and analysis which we find deeply disappointing.\\r\\nIn relation to specific buildings on the site, our greatest concern is the extraordinary banality of the IBC \\xe2\\x80\\x98mega structure\\xe2\\x80\\x99. In our view, it is simply not good enough as currently proposed. We would go so far as to say that its continued presence would blight rather than enhance the Olympic Legacy. We believe that a fundamental rethink needs to be undertaken in respect of the external appearance of this building. Otherwise the public might well ask why this sort of building, which has been removed from the Lower Lee Valley in order to create a vibrant new future, is being reinstated at a larger scale.\"\\r\\nAnd guess who the Olympic Delivery Authority need to submit the plans to in order to get permission to carry this architectural monstrosity forward? Themselves!\\r\\nThat\\'s right Leabank Square! The Olympics give themselves permission to build anything they want on our Arena Fields!\\r\\nHackney Council has no say. Boris Johnson has no say. Meg Hillier has no say (not that she ever does!). Gordon Brown has no say.\\r\\nThe Olympics decide what is best for us oiks across the canal to stare at for the next 50 years. And the picture above is the best they\\'ve come up with!\\r\\nSource URL:\\r\\n'b'This collection includes all collaborative Olympic crawls performed by IA for the IIPC.\\r\\nTIMESTAMPS\\r\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\r\\nChicago\\'s 2016 Olympic Bid. The Hype and the Nitty Gritty\\r\\nBy Martin Slavin\\r\\nCreated 26 Feb 2008 - 16:14\\r\\n[0].\\r\\nPART 1 The Hype\\r\\nAs part of Chicago 2016\\xe2\\x80\\x99s ongoing effort to make legacy and sustainable benefits an integral part of its plan for the Olympic Games, the bid announced today the establishment of a multimillion dollar fund to support this goal. The intention of the grants is to support programs that aim to revitalize neighborhoods through affordable as well as market rate housing, and increase levels of education, job training and employment.\\r\\nMayor Richard Daley noted, \\xe2\\x80\\x9cAs we\\xe2\\x80\\x99ve said in the past, one of the great strengths of our city ( is that we work together with government, business and our communities to keep our city moving forward. Chicago is home to some of the most prominent and civic-minded foundations in the world, and this latest commitment underscores their generosity and continued investment in the future of our city and the development of our neighborhoods.\\xe2\\x80\\x9d\\r\\nFrom: Chicago 2016 Announces Community Initiative to Ensure Lasting Benefit of Olympic Games\\r\\nBelow; Extracts from the Applicant City Document\\r\\nThe Games provide an extraordinary opportunity to accelerate the sustainable redevelopment of Chicago\\xe2\\x80\\x99s South and West sides - two of the city\\xe2\\x80\\x99s key long-term urban-renewal priorities - leaving a lasting Olympic legacy. The Olympic Village (the area will be developed regardless of whether Chicago hosts the 2016 Games), Olympic Stadium and Olympic Aquatics Center will serve as catalysts for urban redevelopment and transformation, a process that is already under way.\\r\\nIn creating its plan, Chicago made the post-Games use of venues a priority, utilized existing and temporary facilities where possible and planned on building new facilities only where justified by long-term community needs and financial viability.\\r\\nThe Village\\xe2\\x80\\x99s lakefront location will feature a stunning array of amenities, including a 5,000-seat central dining hall, a running track and world-class fitness facility, a private beach and a promenade including shops, Internet cafes, service centers, clubs, a cinema and a concert stage. After the Games, the residential units will be converted to affordable, moderate and market rate housing. Mixed-use retail and residential amenities will form the core of a new, vibrant and sustainable neighborhood, served by mass-transit systems, on the city\\xe2\\x80\\x99s near South Side.\\r\\nChicago\\xe2\\x80\\x99s candidature will serve as a powerful catalyst for the city to expedite its long-term civic plans. Chicago is a leader in reforming public schools, enhancing public-safety and security initiatives, providing affordable housing in attractive and economically sound communities, ensuring accessibility for all and fostering social, economic and environmental sustainability.\\r\\nChicago\\xe2\\x80\\x99s Olympic Stadium represents a unique opportunity for the Olympic Movement. At the time of the Games, it will be a dramatic purpose-built athletics stadium that meets or exceeds the ideal standards of the IAAF and key Olympic and Paralympic constituencies. Post-Games, the scaled-down reconfigured stadium will be the centerpiece for the revitalization of Washington Park and Chicago\\xe2\\x80\\x99s South Side. The accessible, community-based venue will be used for sports, concerts and other civic events and can be expanded to host major international athletics events. The sustainable, cost-saving approach of the stadium design could be a blueprint for future host cities.\\r\\nThere is no organized opposition to the bid. Chicago 2016 is engaged in ongoing dialogue with individuals or groups that have expressed concerns about the impact of specific areas of the bid. While none of these individuals or groups has voiced opposition to bringing the Games to Chicago, the bid committee continues to work with each of them to find solutions to the issues they have raised.\\r\\nDownload the PDF from; Applicant File [1]\\r\\nPART 2. The Nitty Gritty\\r\\nWille \"J R\" Fleming addressing the housing displacement potential of the Olympics in Chicago.\\r\\nWillie \"J.R.\" Fleming is a Cabrini Green resident/organizer/documentarian/ website designer and researcher with the Coalition to Protect Public Housing, and presented testimony before the U.N. Office of the High Commission on Human Rights this year. He also led the March for the Right to Return with public housing residents and leaders in New Orleans during the Hurricane Katrina one-year memorial. He filmed and edited a gospelmentary titled \"Voice of the Voiceless\" along with several other short videos on housing that can be found at housingisahumanright.com. Before joining the Coalition to Protect Public Housing, Fleming was the director of a gang intervention music program for young men in Cabrini Green, and is currently the Chairman for the Hip Hop Congress Community Chapter in Chicago which deals with issues of social and economic injustice using music as a platform to unite the people. This year Fleming protested the U.S. Olympic Committee in Chicago by noting that the Olympics can cause poor people to be evicted from their communities and homes. He also took part in training housing and homelessness advoates on how to utilize housing as a human rights mechanism in the United States and educating their communities in fighting for housing as a human right.\\r\\nBelow ; Extracts from: A Report to the \\'Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination\\' on Racial Discrimination in Homelessness and Affordable Housing in the United States, Dec 2007\\r\\n...the Chicago housing market is becoming more inaccessible each day. Public housing is being eradicated, project-based Section 8 contracts in buildings housing thousands of people are set to expire, homelessness is on the rise, condo [Freehold] conversions have saturated the market, and private low income and affordable housing options have virtually disappeared\\r\\nAccording to a recent study, only 20 percent of current and potential Chicago homeowners can afford the city\\xe2\\x80\\x99s median home price of about $250,000. ...the city is short by nearly 100,000 units of affordable to poor households. Additionally, there is an active effort within public housing developments in Chicago to displace the current residents in favor of gentrification.\\r\\nUnder its Plan for Transformation, the Chicago Housing Authority has sought to demolish the existing stock of affordable housing in favor of mixed-income development. 19,000 units of public housing have already been demolished without replacement. The dislocation of residents of Chicago public housing is an issue of racial justice given that approximately 84% of residents are African-American and 5.4% Latino.\\r\\nAt any given time, over half of the public housing authorities in Illinois have closed waiting lists for Housing Choice Vouchers \\xe2\\x80\\x93 meaning families cannot even sign up to wait for assistance. 81.1% of Illinoisans eligible for Housing Choice Vouchers are not receiving them.\\r\\nEven for those fortunate enough to receive a housing unit or a housing voucher, significant problems can persist, such as racial and economic segregation, placement in high crime areas with little or no economic development opportunities, overcrowded and infested buildings, and unresponsive landlords. The state of housing in Illinois only serves to perpetuate poverty and racial discrimination.\\r\\nThe Plan for Transformation guaranteed the CHA $1.6 billion in federal funds to demolish 51 high-rise buildings over a 10-year period and to replace them with lower-density, mixed income housing. However, when completed, the plan will have a total of 25,000 units \\xe2\\x80\\x93 13,000 fewer than Chicago had when the plan was approved in 2000.  Based on the number of occupied units at the time and not the number of families in need, the CHA plan falls well short of the estimated need for 153,000 affordable housing units for people earning less than $20,000 a year, a figure determined by a city-supported study completed before the plan was approved.\\r\\nWithout new prevention and permanent housing resources, the city\\xe2\\x80\\x99s meager measures will have a devastating effect on homeless Chicagoans of color, and stand in the way of any significant steps toward eradicating homelessness.\\r\\nChicago\\xe2\\x80\\x99s 10-year Plan to End Homelessness, launched in 2003, severely underestimates the number of new permanent housing units needed because it only counts people currently in the shelter system, ignoring increasing numbers of people living in precarious housing situations. Since 2003, the City of Chicago has added only $3 million to the 10-year plan. This is only enough funding to create 18 new units of affordable housing for a city of nearly three million residents.   Additionally, the city plans to eliminate more than 1,200 shelter beds by 2012, representing a 32 percent reduction.\\r\\nCHA qualifying policies, moreover, have a disproportionate impact on people of color. Anyone considered in default of a CHA lease, owing money to a utility company, and ex-offenders with drug offenses are prohibited from occupying new public housing developments or Section 8 homes. Upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in March 2002, this last exemption reflects the national \\xe2\\x80\\x9cone strike\\xe2\\x80\\x9d policy that can result in eviction of entire families if one member or a visitor is convicted of a drug-related offense on CHA property\\r\\nAt the request of the Chicago Housing Authority, the Chicago Police Department is stopping African American men, women and children in the Cabrini Green and Harold Ickes housing developments, checking their identification, and if they do not posses a local address, charging them with trespassing, even if they have a valid reason to be in the area. Police data show that that there are over 220 arrests per month for trespassing.  Sadly these numbers only represent two of the many public housing communities throughout America where similar systematic human right abuses take place.\\r\\nSee: Full Report attached below\\r\\nAttachment\\r\\n'b'This collection includes all collaborative Olympic crawls performed by IA for the IIPC.\\r\\nTIMESTAMPS\\r\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\r\\nThe London Olympics: How we can use the spectacle to build resistance\\r\\nStart:\\r\\n22 Oct 2011 - 17:00\\r\\nThe London Olympics: How we can use the spectacle to build resistance [1]\\r\\nThe upcoming 2012 London Olympics has already been a disaster for London. The five \\xe2\\x80\\x9cOlympic boroughs\\xe2\\x80\\x9d have been culturally and economically cleansed. The \\xe2\\x80\\x9cOlympic legacy\\xe2\\x80\\x9d has failed to materialise in every area from housing to local jobs to the environment, with increased security and gentrification the only things left to look forward to. Come along to discuss what action we can take between now and the Games in July 2012 to strengthen campaign networks and organise resistance to the Olympics.\\r\\nOrganised by: Corporate Watch [2] and the Counter Olympics Network [3]\\r\\nRoom 326, The Bancroft Building , Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS\\r\\nSource URL:\\r\\n'b'Public Accounts Committee Feb 2012 Report\\r\\nSummary\\r\\nThe Olympic Delivery Authority\\xe2\\x80\\x99s programme is on track and within budget. The Delivery Authority\\xe2\\x80\\x99s management of its building programme has been exemplary. However, due mainly to significant increases in the cost of venue security, the likelihood of staying within the overall \\xc2\\xa39.3 billion Public Sector Funding Package is very finely balanced once the Department\\xe2\\x80\\x99s own best estimates of the most likely costs are taken into account. The Funding Package of \\xc2\\xa39.3 billion allocated to the Olympics does not cover the totality of the costs to the public purse of delivering the Games and their legacy, which are already heading for around \\xc2\\xa311 billion.\\r\\nThe Government is highly dependent on LOCOG to deliver a successful Games and is obliged to meet any shortfall between LOCOG\\xe2\\x80\\x99s costs and revenues. However, operational and financial risks have emerged in areas of LOCOG\\xe2\\x80\\x99s responsibility. LOCOG\\xe2\\x80\\x99s initial estimates for the cost and scale of venue security were based on a \\xe2\\x80\\x9cfinger in the air estimate\\xe2\\x80\\x9d, there have been delays in the LOCOG-led consultations over transport arrangements, and LOCOG itself now has almost no contingency left to meet further costs, even though it has done well in its revenue generation.\\r\\nThe number of security guards required in and around the venues has more than doubled from LOCOG\\xe2\\x80\\x99s early estimate of 10,000 guards to 23,700. Consequently, the total cost to the Public Sector Funding Package of venue security has nearly doubled in a year from \\xc2\\xa3282 million in 2010 to \\xc2\\xa3553 million in December 2011. 7,500 of the extra guards will be military personnel. LOCOG and its security contractor, G4S, now face a significant challenge to recruit, train and coordinate all the security guards in time for the Games.\\r\\nLOCOG has had to renegotiate the contract for venue security it awarded to G4S in December 2010. However, there is no evidence that the Government has secured any price advantage, even though the value of the business it is putting to its contractor has increased from \\xc2\\xa386 million to \\xc2\\xa3284 million. Despite the assertions of LOCOG and the Home Office, we consider that LOCOG\\xe2\\x80\\x99s estimates for venue security could have been better informed much earlier, and that LOCOG\\xe2\\x80\\x99s late planning undermined its negotiating position and ability to drive down costs.\\r\\nWith only 109,000 new people regularly participating in sport against an original target (which the new Government chose not to adopt) of 1 million by March 2013, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has got poor value for money for the \\xc2\\xa3450 million spent through sporting National Governing Bodies. It is unclear what the sporting participation legacy of the Games is intended to be.\\r\\nOn two matters - additional money for ceremonies and the dropping of the sports participation target - the Accounting Officer declined to engage with us on the grounds that these were Ministerial policy decisions. It is important to note that where policy has changed the Accounting Officer remains accountable to Parliament for the value for money of public expenditure incurred. Whilst we applaud the progress made so far, we heard that responsibility for delivery of the legacy is shared across many different parts of Government, and this rings alarm bells about the effective integration of the various legacy plans and about clear accountability to us and the taxpayer. When we return to the examination of the Olympic legacy we expect clarity over precisely who will be accountable to Parliament for delivering the benefits to taxpayers from their significant spending on this programme. We were concerned that the Department was unable to quantify what funding has been set aside by London boroughs for the socio-economic regeneration of East London as in the current economic climate such funding must be regarded as uncertain.\\r\\nFull Report Attached\\r\\n'b\"Home\\r\\nOlympic Legacy or 'Emperors New Clothes' ?\\r\\nDavid Mackay, architect for Barcelona's Olympic Village and Port and co-author of the pre-Olympic masterplan for the Lower Lea Valley doubts the lasting benefits of London's Olympic development.\\r\\nSouth of the Hackney Marsh in the Lea Valley Regional Park, today are the local recreation grounds, Lea Valley Sports Centre and Cycle circuit, Sports grounds and other open spaces. Until now Regional Parks were protected by law from encroaching constructions.\\r\\nIn consideration of this restriction the Park Authority had for sometime wished to link up with the river Thames creating sinuous green routes along the waterways forming a related cityparkway, providing an opportunity for new canal communities . The Olympic Games could have been the instrument to achieve this, just as Barcelona used it to invade brownfield industrial land to open the city to the waterfront. The idea of recovering the natural features of the Valley has \\xe2\\x80\\xa6 escaped the Olympic Authorities.\\r\\nUnfortunately London has lost this opportunity by deciding to agree to cover the existing recreation facilities with the silliest architecture seen for years with no real concern for a legacy. Recently speaking to a person responsible for legacy within the Olympic Delivery Authority it was apparent that this person was not even aware that legacy is of primary importance.\\r\\nJudging by what has been published and written by the various overlapping Government agencies and the questionable cultural quality of some of the key players, so far as legacy is concerned, we are being asked to look at the Emperor's New Clothes \\xe2\\x80\\x93 so delicate that nobody can see them.  Instead of enhancing the geographical and historical capacity of the Valley (as Capability Brown would have done in the English landscape tradition and remembering that the Lower Lea Valley is comparable in size to Nash's Regent Park including Regent Street all the way down to the Thames) the authors EDAW, HOK Sport, Foreign Office with Allies and Morrison have slapped down over water and land an independent decorative layout.\\r\\nA committee is the wrong way to try to improve matters, Stuart Lipton and Richard Rogers at heart must know that. The \\xe2\\x80\\x9cfine-tuning\\xe2\\x80\\x9d published last June is exactly what would be expected \\xe2\\x80\\x93 adjusting a bad beginning that has no landscape concept or understanding of heritage. If carried out, and with only five years to go, the Olympic legacy is more likely to be like a Hollywood set for a ghost town or an abandoned Expo site.\\r\\nFrom: Olympic legacy or 'Emperor's New Clothes'?, David Mackay, Planning in London, Issue 59, October-Dec 2006, Pages 5-7, Leader/Opinions.\\r\\nDownload full text PDF from: 5 LEADER/OPINIONS\\r\\n\"b'The London Olympics: How we can use the spectacle to build resistance\\r\\nThe upcoming 2012 London Olympics has already been a disaster for London. The five \\xe2\\x80\\x9cOlympic boroughs\\xe2\\x80\\x9d have been culturally and economically cleansed. The \\xe2\\x80\\x9cOlympic legacy\\xe2\\x80\\x9d has failed to materialise in every area from housing to local jobs to the environment, with increased security and gentrification the only things left to look forward to. Come along to discuss what action we can take between now and the Games in July 2012 to strengthen campaign networks and organise resistance to the Olympics.\\r\\nOrganised by: Corporate Watch and the Counter Olympics Network\\r\\nRoom 326, The Bancroft Building , Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS\\r\\n'b'The Second Annual Poverty Olympics will be held on February 8, 2009\\r\\nDear Visitor,\\r\\nWelcome to Vancouver. You are coming to one of the greatest cities in the world: eye-popping scenery, efficient services, moderate climate, relaxed and diverse population.\\r\\nThe United Nations survey on livability rates Vancouver in the top handful of cities on earth. And in 2010, we\\xe2\\x80\\x99re going to host the winter Olympics! What a great opportunity to enjoy Vancouver\\xe2\\x80\\x99s attractions \\xe2\\x80\\x94 including all the Olympic legacies, like new stadiums, highways and tourist sights.\\r\\nBut one legacy that won\\xe2\\x80\\x99t be so enjoyable is the thousands of homeless people on the streets of Vancouver. You can\\xe2\\x80\\x99t help seeing them as you walk around downtown, and in many other neighbourhoods around the city.\\r\\nUnless we do something about this shameful situation, visitors in 2010 will be treated to a city with more homeless people than athletes competing in the Games!\\r\\nGrinding poverty and growing homelessness are happening despite some bold promises to create a positive Olympic legacy \\xe2\\x80\\x94 promises such as building more social housing, reducing homelessness, and not displacing poor people to make way for Olympics-driven development.\\r\\nSo we are organizing new games that reflect the unique local flavour of the 2010 host city \\xe2\\x80\\x94 the Poverty Olympics. The first annual games took place on Sunday February 3 2008, in the Downtown Eastside (Vancouver\\xe2\\x80\\x99s poorest neighbourhood).\\r\\nWe\\xe2\\x80\\x99ve asked the International Olympic Committee to make these games part of the official 2010 program. We hope that shining the international spotlight on the dark side of our prosperous city and province might finally convince our governments to take action.\\r\\nWe hope, dear visitor, that you\\xe2\\x80\\x99ll take a few minutes to look around\\xe2\\x80\\xa6 Learn more about the poverty amid plenty\\xe2\\x80\\xa6 Help us make change by taking some simple actions\\xe2\\x80\\xa6 And don\\xe2\\x80\\x99t forget to invite your friends to visit our fair city!\\r\\nSincerely,\\r\\n'b\"New Year Feast & Bonfire at Manor Gardens\\r\\nStart:\\r\\n7.30pm Broadcast of ITV\\xe2\\x80\\x99s 'Disappearing London' featuring our campaign\\r\\n8:30pm Fresh food will be served!\\r\\nMoro restaurant owners Samantha and Samuel Clark will cook alongside in house 'Food Heroes' Hassan and Reg assisted by Adile.\\r\\nPlease come to show the strength of support to showcase this precious part of Lea Valley's heritage rather than the 'Green' Olympics plan to bulldoze 100 year old Manor Garden Allotments for a screen to show events to non-ticket holders.\\r\\nDavid Mackay, Author of the original Stratford City plan and lead Architect for the Barcelona Olympic Village and Port, flagged up as the most successful Olympics for regeneration recently wrote, 'Unfortunately London has lost this opportunity by deciding to agree to cover the existing recreation facilities with the silliest architecture seen for years with no real concern for a legacy.... So far as Legacy is concerned we are being asked to look at the Emperor's New Clothes - so delicate that nobody can see them.....If carried out, and with only five years to go, the Olympic legacy is more likely to be like a Hollywood set for a ghost town or an abandoned Expo site.'\\r\\nThe eviction date is set to be 2nd April at the latest.  The planning application for the Olympic Park will be submitted to the ODA at the end of January 07. The public can lodge objections for the next three to four weeks.\\r\\nCleve West, garden writer for the Independent and Chelsea Gold Medal winner, wrote 'If the Olympic ideal means anything, it should apply to much more than four weeks of running, jumping and swimming. Friendship, tolerance, vision and healthy, sustainable living are fanfared by Manor Garden Allotments.'\\r\\nManor Gardens, bequeathed to be allotments 'in perpetuity' by their original owner the ' Right Hon' Major Villiers, sit in the North central section of the Olympic Park. The LDA plan to remove them to make a footpath to the stadia and now to house a screen, destroying in the process a century of devoted cultivation and a close-knit community rooted in this irreplaceable site. Old timers, Tom and Albert, have been growing veg and keeping fit here for 54 and 58 years respectively, taking over from their fathers. 10 year old Boris, whose parents are members, nags them to come to the plot and wants to hand his plot down to his son. Members trust in the permanence of the site led one plot holder to scatter his brother's ashes on his plot.\\r\\nHowever this diverse community of Turks Cypriots, Greeks, Jamaicans, Africans and Brits welcome the potential for regeneration brought by the Olympic development. Rather than being moved out of the way they want to offer their contribution which seems to them to be entirely consistent with the Olympic and Government ambitions. They believe to remove the allotment gardens would be to rip out the 'healthy heart' of the Olympic Park area as well as to fragment the community.\\r\\nEven if the Manor Gardening community could be protected by relocation there is growing opposition  from people local to the relocation site on Marsh Lane fields. If planning permission is granted it would only be for seven years after which the Society may be moved again. Yet it would take at least twenty years, plus the right conditions, to re-establish our current food production levels and to create a similarly viable community.\\r\\nAs plot holder Armagan and her friend Cavide said, 'We could make the London Olympics different from all other Olympics'. 'Having the allotments in the Olympic Park and preserving them for the Legacy Park would send out the message world wide that the UK really does care after all.'\\r\\nBut do the LDA and the Mayor care about local grown initiatives even when they are successful examples, like Manor Garden Allotments, of the Governments own strategies such as the London Food  and the Biodiversity Strategies?\\r\\nWriter and supporter of the campaign to incorporate the allotments, Iain Sinclair says, 'We don't want it (the Olympic Park) imagining for us. We don't want it over-imagined. We want to imagine it for ourselves. Please preserve the soul of the place as represented by the beautiful Manor Garden Allotments.'\\r\\nAt the end of the day the TV will be turned on in the Community Shed to show the broadcast of 'Disappearing London' featuring Manor Garden Allotments on ITV at 7.30pm.\\r\\nRSVP to info@lifeisland.org\\r\\nInvitation and map attached below.\\r\\nJulie Sumner\\r\\n\"b'b\\'In the lead up to Liverpool 2008, European Capital of Culture and the London 2012 Olympic Games, CCPR is developing its major events research strand with a mixture of academic and commissioned projects and a particular focus on Olympic-related research.\\\\r\\\\nJobs\\\\r\\\\nhttp://www.youngfoundation.org.uk/index.php\\\\r\\\\nThis report provides useful information on the state of knowledge and preparation for the Olympics of two important, predominantly Asian retail and catering streets in London\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s East End. As the report describes,these two streets, one in Tower Hamlets and one in Newham, could be affected by the impact of the Olympics for better or for worse. The report analyses what local retailers believe will happen to their street and to themselves. It also points to some of the possible hazards brought about by successful regeneration, in particular the danger of large retail chains driving out small independent and family-based businesses.\\\\r\\\\nSkills\\\\r\\\\nhttp://www.hlst.heacademy.ac.uk/olympics.html\\\\r\\\\nHLST and the Olympic Games.  London\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s hosting of the 30th Olympiad in 2012 brings a unique opportunity to raise the profile of the subjects in our Network, their contribution to a successful event and to the long-term legacy of lifestyle enhancement which is promised. Our courses provide the professional skills, knowledge and understanding which are essential for success in such a multifaceted and complex event and to ensuring secure foundations for the future development, our research and scholarship, and our capacity to provide consultancy will inform practice.\\\\r\\\\nLegacy\\\\r\\\\nhttp://www.villierspark.org.uk/vpabout.php\\\\r\\\\nVilliers Park Educational Trust was founded in 1924 as The Manor Charitable Trust by four old Etonians (Arthur Villiers, Gerald Wellesley, Alfred Wagg and Sir Edward Cadogan) to provide a charitable trust to run and support the Eton Manor Boys Club in Hackney.\\\\r\\\\nPlanning\\\\r\\\\nhttp://www.beyondgreen.co.uk/\\\\r\\\\nTheir Mission Statement says:       \"Sustainable development is a tough agenda that people tend to think of as someone elses job. We help people to treat sustainabilty as an integral part of what they do. Our aim is to help make the ideal practical, working in close partnership with clients and their stakeholders to translate what once seemed like wishful thinking into tangible programmes and achievements.  Beyond Green applies the principles of sustainable development to housing, regeneration, place-making, lifestyles, design, and communications.  We conceive, plan, design, communicate, consult on, train, develop business models for and help to deliver sustainable developments.\"  Their client list includes:  Olympic Delivery Authority, East of England Development Agency, The Housing Corporation, English Partnerships, The London Borough of Islington, Manchester City Council, New East Manchester Ltd (urban regeneration company), The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, Unilever.\\\\r\\\\nCentre for Local Economic Strategies:\\\\r\\\\nhttp://www.cles.org.uk/\\\\r\\\\nCentre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) is an independent think-doing organisation involved in regeneration, local economic development and local governance. CLES brings together a network of subscribing organisations, which includes regeneration partnerships, local authorities, regional bodies, community groups and voluntary organisations.\\\\r\\\\nCompulsory Purchase Order Inquiry website:\\\\r\\\\nLower Lea Valley, Olympic and Legacy, Compulsory Purchase Order Inquiry website. Objectors submissions available here.\\\\r\\\\nEDAW Press Room:\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\\'In the lead up to Liverpool 2008, European Capital of Culture and the London 2012 Olympic Games, CCPR is developing its major events research strand with a mixture of academic and commissioned projects and a particular focus on Olympic-related research.\\\\r\\\\nJobs\\\\r\\\\nhttp://www.youngfoundation.org.uk/index.php\\\\r\\\\nThis report provides useful information on the state of knowledge and preparation for the Olympics of two important, predominantly Asian retail and catering streets in London\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s East End. As the report describes,these two streets, one in Tower Hamlets and one in Newham, could be affected by the impact of the Olympics for better or for worse. The report analyses what local retailers believe will happen to their street and to themselves. It also points to some of the possible hazards brought about by successful regeneration, in particular the danger of large retail chains driving out small independent and family-based businesses.\\\\r\\\\nSkills\\\\r\\\\nhttp://www.hlst.heacademy.ac.uk/olympics.html\\\\r\\\\nHLST and the Olympic Games.  London\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s hosting of the 30th Olympiad in 2012 brings a unique opportunity to raise the profile of the subjects in our Network, their contribution to a successful event and to the long-term legacy of lifestyle enhancement which is promised. Our courses provide the professional skills, knowledge and understanding which are essential for success in such a multifaceted and complex event and to ensuring secure foundations for the future development, our research and scholarship, and our capacity to provide consultancy will inform practice.\\\\r\\\\nLegacy\\\\r\\\\nhttp://www.villierspark.org.uk/vpabout.php\\\\r\\\\nVilliers Park Educational Trust was founded in 1924 as The Manor Charitable Trust by four old Etonians (Arthur Villiers, Gerald Wellesley, Alfred Wagg and Sir Edward Cadogan) to provide a charitable trust to run and support the Eton Manor Boys Club in Hackney.\\\\r\\\\nPlanning\\\\r\\\\nhttp://www.beyondgreen.co.uk/\\\\r\\\\nTheir Mission Statement says:       \"Sustainable development is a tough agenda that people tend to think of as someone elses job. We help people to treat sustainabilty as an integral part of what they do. Our aim is to help make the ideal practical, working in close partnership with clients and their stakeholders to translate what once seemed like wishful thinking into tangible programmes and achievements.  Beyond Green applies the principles of sustainable development to housing, regeneration, place-making, lifestyles, design, and communications.  We conceive, plan, design, communicate, consult on, train, develop business models for and help to deliver sustainable developments.\"  Their client list includes:  Olympic Delivery Authority, East of England Development Agency, The Housing Corporation, English Partnerships, The London Borough of Islington, Manchester City Council, New East Manchester Ltd (urban regeneration company), The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, Unilever.\\\\r\\\\nCentre for Local Economic Strategies:\\\\r\\\\nhttp://www.cles.org.uk/\\\\r\\\\nCentre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) is an independent think-doing organisation involved in regeneration, local economic development and local governance. CLES brings together a network of subscribing organisations, which includes regeneration partnerships, local authorities, regional bodies, community groups and voluntary organisations.\\\\r\\\\nCompulsory Purchase Order Inquiry website:\\\\r\\\\nLower Lea Valley, Olympic and Legacy, Compulsory Purchase Order Inquiry website. Objectors submissions available here.\\\\r\\\\nEDAW Press Room:\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"A. BACKGROUND\\\\r\\\\nWho is the London Development Agency (LDA)?\\\\r\\\\nThe LDA is the Mayor of London\\'s agency for sustainable economic growth and is working to build a thriving economy for London\\'s communities and businesses.\\\\r\\\\nThe LDA has the responsibility of acquiring land for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. To do this we are working with the people who currently live and run businesses on the Olympic Park site to find new homes and business premises by July 2007.\\\\r\\\\nWhat is the Traveller relocation process?\\\\r\\\\nThere are currently two licensed Traveller and Gypsy sites within the Olympic Park site, one of which is Waterden Crescent in the London Borough of Hackney, with the other in Newham. The LDA has been working with Hackney Council and the Traveller families to relocate those families living at Waterden Crescent to new sites within Hackney. These planning applications are in relation to the Waterden Road Traveller site.\\\\r\\\\nHow many families are being relocated?\\\\r\\\\n20 Traveller families of Irish Traveller heritage need to be relocated. They have been living at Waterden Crescent on Waterden Road for 13 years, which is a Hackney Council licensed site.\\\\r\\\\nWhy does the Traveller site need to be relocated?\\\\r\\\\nThe current Traveller site needs to be relocated because it is located within the area required for the Olympic Park. The LDA is working with all residents and businesses that are within the Olympic Park area to relocate them by July 2007.\\\\r\\\\nUnder the Race Relations Act, Travellers of Irish and Romani Gypsy heritage are officially recognised as ethnic groups. The Housing Act 2004 and Department of Communities and Local Government Circular give Councils a duty to assess Traveller needs and provide appropriate sites for them to live in.\\\\r\\\\nWill there be any benefit to the local community?\\\\r\\\\nThe Travellers live on an area of land that is crucial to the Olympic Park and the legacy development. The regeneration of the area can only happen if we relocate the Traveller families to new sites ahead of the Games. The regeneration plans for the area will bring long-term benefits to the local community. There will be new state of the art sports facilities, new parkland and thousands of new jobs and homes as part of the Olympic Legacy plan.\\\\r\\\\nWhere can I find out more information?\\\\r\\\\nPlease contact our Community Relations Team on 0800 377 7346 or visit www.lda.gov.uk\\\\r\\\\nB. MILLFIELDS ROAD DEPOT TRAVELLER SITE PROPOSAL\\\\r\\\\nFollowing consultation with Hackney Council and the Travellers families, it has been agreed that the current site would be split into three new sites. One of three sites is being proposed on Millfields Road depot and the LDA submitted a planning application on 20 April.\\\\r\\\\nWhere is the site located?\\\\r\\\\nThe Millfields Road depot is south of the South Millfields Park on Millfields Road in the Lea Bridge area. This site would accommodate eight pitches.\\\\r\\\\nWhat is there at the moment?\\\\r\\\\nThe site is currently a Hackney Council domestic waste and recycling depot.\\\\r\\\\nWhat will happen to the existing depot?\\\\r\\\\nThe waste transfer facility would be moved to the far northern end of the site. This would reduce the impact of current waste operations on local residents and allow for the development of moving waste by water. The residential development would be carried out on the western part of the current depot site.\\\\r\\\\nThere would be two Travellers\\' pitch which could include:\\\\r\\\\n-amenity block (kitchen, living area and bathroom)\\\\r\\\\n-outside area\\\\r\\\\n\"b\\'Article - Barcelona 1992 - Economics - Regeneration\\\\r\\\\nBarcelona Housing Demo October 2006\\\\r\\\\nFrom:  The role of Mega events in urban competitiveness and its consequences on people,  Carolina del Olmo, Universidad Complutense, Sept 2004\\\\r\\\\nWe are tired of hearing about the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cOlympic legacy\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d and the official discourse is repeated again and again that when the mega-event concludes, the installations will remain in the city. But they never discuss what the use value of these infrastructures is, especially if we compare these \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9csinks\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d of public investments with other installations and services that could have been financed with the same amount of funds (or a lot less). Public funds are a scarce resource, especially today, in this zero-deficit scenario. In this restricted frame, to finance these kind of events and infrastructures involve a budget cut in other, more necessary, sectors.\\\\r\\\\nMoreover, these kinds of infrastructure tend to require a lot of re-investments to avoid the threat of devaluation that comes with the interurban competition and the changes in trends. That\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s why it is so common to see these installations languishing in a state of neglect years after the event.\\\\r\\\\nThe Barcelona case represents these aspects extremely well. The 1992 Olympic Games are recorded as a success, even if they didn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t fulfil the expectations they claimed. The Olympic investments (in the broad sense, including some roads, coastal area renewal, cultural outlets, etc.), reached near 6 million euros (\\\\xc2\\\\xa34.1m) and 53% of that budget were public funds. But the economic activity that this money generated didn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t have a positive impact on the economic indicators of the Barcelona area.\\\\r\\\\nBetween 1987 and 1991 the number of jobs created in the construction sector were only 33.000, a figure much lower than was expected considering that three quarters of the total investment went towards the construction sector. On top of this, all of them were temporary jobs. In the hotel and catering trade sector only 20.000 new jobs appeared and only lasted the duration of the event, again, much less than was expected. In the other sectors, the labour impact was zero (we tend to forget that the Olympic volunteers take on a great amount of tasks that would otherwise generate jobs). During 1992, the number of jobs began to fall.\\\\r\\\\nIf we take a look at trade, we will see that during 1992 the sales rate decreased and the number of tourists that visited the city (a million and a half) was lower than expected and spent less money than it was estimated (exactly the same has happened in Athens this last summer). Also, the Barcelona event resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of people that visited other destinations in the Barcelona region.\\\\r\\\\nBasically, the only economic indicator that experienced an important impact as a result of the Olympic Games were price levels. Since 1988, city price levels increased more than in the rest of the region and more than 1% over the inflation rate in Spain. In the year before the Games, prices rose more than 3% over the prices of the rest of Spain. And if we think that the city gains profit from television broadcasting rights, we should not forget that it is the Olympic Committee who collects this money. In fact, the progressive growth of this source of money has turned the International Olympic Committee into a big (and suspicious) enterprise.\\\\r\\\\nHow can we understand the minute economic impact and the lack of fulfilment of expectations? We could focus on the unbridled optimism that seems to encumber the people who do the impact studies, but, especially, we should focus on the limited frame in which the investments take place. If the demand related with the Olympic Games (or any other mega-event) takes up resources that would otherwise remain unused, it would be reasonable to expect an increase in employment, as well as an improvement of the economic indicators in general. Nonetheless, demand growth related with a mega-event doesn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t produce a net income, because it is a consequence of a mere change in the direction of the resource\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s flow; that is, the resources go to a specific sector or a particular place but only because they are coming from another sector or place.\\\\r\\\\nThe same goes for private capital: it tends to reduce its investments in other sectors or in other spatial areas. If we pay attention to the recommendations that the economic impact studies use to achieve a real net increase in profits, for example, to make the labour market more flexible, it is clear that the aim of obtaining net profits loses part of its appeal.\\\\r\\\\nAstonishingly, even if the mega-events don\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t fulfil their expectations, this is never seen as a failure. Nobody seems to care for or to be surprised by this failure and the event ends with a sense of success. If we want to understand this incoherence, we should put aside the idea of competition as a heuristic tool and focus on the fabulous opportunity for businesses that follow urban transformations related with mega-events.\\\\r\\\\nIndeed, even the need to attract tourism and the desire to improve the competitive position of the city in the urban hierarchy seems a petty and secondary question if we compare this with the local elite\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s focus on an easy profit. Of course, I am not saying that urban governments don\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t want to promote the image of their cities with the purpose of generating employment, attracting enterprise headquarters and so on.\\\\r\\\\nRegrettably, one of our most serious problems is that urban governments seem to be convinced that, in a globalized world, there\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s no point in promoting local enterprise development. They believe that the best they can do is to turn the city into an appealing zone for foreign investments. But the weakness of some of their strategies and the blindness with which they insist that these strategies actually work, make us question their genuine interests in the city.\\\\r\\\\nIn short, we cannot forget that when a mega-event is organized, the money that really flows into a city is, in the first place, public money that falls into the hands of private businessmen. That\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s why it is so difficult to understand where the city expects to obtain incomes by organizing a mega-event, and how little the urban government cares.\\\\r\\\\nWhen asked about the profits the city of Madrid may gain from hosting the Olympic Games, a representative for the Olympic candidature discussed broadcasting copyrights (that, as I have previously stated, benefit Olympic Committee and not the city) and the tourist appeal that the city will gain. He referred to the Barcelona case as a big success and talked about the millions of tourists that have visited Barcelona in the last years as a result of the Olympic Games. What he forgot to mention is that the flow of tourists into Barcelona has not been an easy or inexpensive achievement. The strategy has only worked with the help of a continuous and huge public investment in private business, for example, in the hotel sector, dangerously close to bankruptcy \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93all in all, another typical episode of socialization of losses and privatisation of profits.\\\\r\\\\nHowever, if we consider that the investors that promoted and financed a big part of the Olympic Games budget in Barcelona were real estate and construction companies, property developers, land speculators, finance companies and hotel and catering trade firms, we will understand that, indeed, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics can be considered a success. Of course, as a result of the Olympic candidature, Barcelona witnessed a frantic building activity, an increase in the housing and land prices and a huge urban transformation that entailed the conversion of a big amount of industrial land into service or housing plots.\\\\r\\\\nIn fact, urban renewal related to a mega-event is not as much a secondary effect as it is a fundamental raison d\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99\\\\xc3\\\\xaatre. The recent Forum Universal de las Culturas that has taken place in Barcelona this summer confirms this idea: instead of organizing a mega-event that could reuse the installations built ten years ago as a result of the Olympic Games, the Barcelona government and elite have decided to invent a new kind of event whose major aim, no one can doubt, is urban transformation. This multicultural event has proven to be an effective excuse to finally implement urban renewal in the last coastal area of Barcelona that still has a low income population. A made-to-measure operation for the private capital that has been a real fiasco for the city.\\\\r\\\\nThe Spanish case is especially serious since in Spain the construction sector represents almost 18% of the GDP, and 60% of the investments in fixed capital formation. It also employs two million people. After a huge process to merge enterprises, the building sector is now dominated by six big firms, five of which are numbered among the ten largest construction companies in Europe. The sector has become a safe allocation for investments due to the housing price boom and to the approval of huge public infrastructure plans.\\\\r\\\\nEven if the present economic climate differs from that of Barcelona 92, the results that we may expect from Madrid 2012 may be very similar. In Barcelona, between 1986-1992, the construction boom and the rise in prices were partially caused by the recent entry of Spain into the European Union, consequently causing an influx of foreign capital into the country, especially into the real estate sector.\\\\r\\\\nNowadays, the potential rise in prices and the worsening of the speculative bubble will come from the fact that we are passing through a difficult period for stock exchange investments. And these bad times for the investors have turned the real estate sector into a safe haven that takes up more than 40% of foreign investment in Spain. In fact, in the last years, banks, investment funds and thousands of corporations had entry into the sector in search of a higher profitability.\\\\r\\\\nFrom:  The role of Mega events in urban competitiveness and its consequences on people,  Carolina del Olmo, Universidad Complutense, Sept 2004.\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\\'Article | Displacement | Funding | Funding for Training | Waltham Forest\\\\r\\\\n\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cThe Olympics will promote sport and healthy living in the capital,\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d it says the website of Waltham Forest borough council. \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cWe can now look forward to seeing the area regenerate with the best sporting, leisure and cultural facilities the world has ever seen.\"\\\\r\\\\nWaltham Forest has also unveiled its slogan for the Games. \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cIt\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s happening here,\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d it boasts. And guess what is happening there? The biggest and best swimming pool, the one used by club swimmers and triathletes and talented teenagers with dreams of competing for Great Britain in 2012, is to close next month. It is closing because Waltham Forest College, where it is housed, cannot afford the \\\\xc2\\\\xa374,833 it loses every year, or the \\\\xc2\\\\xa3159,000 one-off maintenance payment that will be required in 2007-08.\\\\r\\\\nNow raise the ante to the Olympic mountain biking venue that will be constructed at South Weald in Essex. The cost is \\\\xc2\\\\xa35 million, the event will last six hours (including two medal ceremonies) and the facility will be torn down the moment it is over. We could keep the pool at Waltham Forest College going until 2074 with that cash.\\\\r\\\\nWaltham Forest College pool is significant because it is 33 metres long: still 17 metres short of Olympic standard but superior to most council-owned leisure pools, which is why it is home to 11 local schools in winter and numerous swimming and triathlon clubs throughout the year, including Leyton SC, Walthamstow Tritons SC, Swim4Tri and the Gators, more properly known as Borough of Waltham Forest SC. The Gators is a Swim21 Performance club, meaning it is serious about the sport, competition and coaching and adheres to the demanding development model of the Amateur Swimming Association.\\\\r\\\\nTo maintain this status it needs ten hours\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 swim time each week and that is not possible at a council-run pool, which must serve a large community. Any swimmers with international ambitions will now leave the Borough of Waltham Forest team, or may be lost to the sport entirely. The nearest club of equivalent stature is in Ealing, West London, so it might as well be in Sheffield, where the only Olympic standard swimming pool in England resides.\\\\r\\\\nTo make the Olympic budget work, \\\\xc2\\\\xa32.2 billion has been taken from lottery funding. That is the reality of the London games. Big-ticket items constructed at the expense of grassroots sport. So, after the circus has left town, London will have one fantastic swimming pool based in Stratford, with a seating capacity of 2,500 \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 but not much else. The London Pools campaign identified nine facilities in the capital that closed last year and sixteen more that were under threat. In addition, 10 per cent of school pools had shut.\\\\r\\\\nWaltham Forest College was also the only local educational establishment where people could gain water-based qualifications, such as life-guarding or swimming instruction That shortfall figure again: \\\\xc2\\\\xa374,833.\\\\r\\\\nLast year, the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, and assorted officials spent \\\\xc2\\\\xa336,000 on one Olympics-related visit to Cuba. In 2001, the London Development Agency, instrumental in the Olympic building project, settled a bill for \\\\xc2\\\\xa3140,000 on a lunch to announce plans to tackle (get this) urban poverty. The last Olympic budget, as discussed by Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, was \\\\xc2\\\\xa310.4 billion. And yet, between them, the mayor, the council, the Government, the lottery and all the other bureaucrats, politicians and self-promoters that are attached to our Olympic bid will stand idle as sport at its most beneficial level is bulldozed to make way for a three-week extravaganza.\\\\r\\\\nFrom:  Your brilliant Olympic legacy: the local pool\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s closed, Martin Samuel The Times, June 12, 2007\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\\'Article | Barcelona 1992 | Economics | Regeneration\\\\r\\\\nBarcelona Housing Demo October 2006\\\\r\\\\nFrom:  The role of Mega events in urban competitiveness and its consequences on people,  Carolina del Olmo, Universidad Complutense, Sept 2004\\\\r\\\\nWe are tired of hearing about the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cOlympic legacy\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d and the official discourse is repeated again and again that when the mega-event concludes, the installations will remain in the city. But they never discuss what the use value of these infrastructures is, especially if we compare these \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9csinks\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d of public investments with other installations and services that could have been financed with the same amount of funds (or a lot less). Public funds are a scarce resource, especially today, in this zero-deficit scenario. In this restricted frame, to finance these kind of events and infrastructures involve a budget cut in other, more necessary, sectors.\\\\r\\\\nMoreover, these kinds of infrastructure tend to require a lot of re-investments to avoid the threat of devaluation that comes with the interurban competition and the changes in trends. That\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s why it is so common to see these installations languishing in a state of neglect years after the event.\\\\r\\\\nThe Barcelona case represents these aspects extremely well. The 1992 Olympic Games are recorded as a success, even if they didn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t fulfil the expectations they claimed. The Olympic investments (in the broad sense, including some roads, coastal area renewal, cultural outlets, etc.), reached near 6 million euros (\\\\xc2\\\\xa34.1m) and 53% of that budget were public funds. But the economic activity that this money generated didn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t have a positive impact on the economic indicators of the Barcelona area.\\\\r\\\\nBetween 1987 and 1991 the number of jobs created in the construction sector were only 33.000, a figure much lower than was expected considering that three quarters of the total investment went towards the construction sector. On top of this, all of them were temporary jobs. In the hotel and catering trade sector only 20.000 new jobs appeared and only lasted the duration of the event, again, much less than was expected. In the other sectors, the labour impact was zero (we tend to forget that the Olympic volunteers take on a great amount of tasks that would otherwise generate jobs). During 1992, the number of jobs began to fall.\\\\r\\\\nIf we take a look at trade, we will see that during 1992 the sales rate decreased and the number of tourists that visited the city (a million and a half) was lower than expected and spent less money than it was estimated (exactly the same has happened in Athens this last summer). Also, the Barcelona event resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of people that visited other destinations in the Barcelona region.\\\\r\\\\nBasically, the only economic indicator that experienced an important impact as a result of the Olympic Games were price levels. Since 1988, city price levels increased more than in the rest of the region and more than 1% over the inflation rate in Spain. In the year before the Games, prices rose more than 3% over the prices of the rest of Spain. And if we think that the city gains profit from television broadcasting rights, we should not forget that it is the Olympic Committee who collects this money. In fact, the progressive growth of this source of money has turned the International Olympic Committee into a big (and suspicious) enterprise.\\\\r\\\\nHow can we understand the minute economic impact and the lack of fulfilment of expectations? We could focus on the unbridled optimism that seems to encumber the people who do the impact studies, but, especially, we should focus on the limited frame in which the investments take place. If the demand related with the Olympic Games (or any other mega-event) takes up resources that would otherwise remain unused, it would be reasonable to expect an increase in employment, as well as an improvement of the economic indicators in general. Nonetheless, demand growth related with a mega-event doesn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t produce a net income, because it is a consequence of a mere change in the direction of the resource\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s flow; that is, the resources go to a specific sector or a particular place but only because they are coming from another sector or place.\\\\r\\\\nThe same goes for private capital: it tends to reduce its investments in other sectors or in other spatial areas. If we pay attention to the recommendations that the economic impact studies use to achieve a real net increase in profits, for example, to make the labour market more flexible, it is clear that the aim of obtaining net profits loses part of its appeal.\\\\r\\\\nAstonishingly, even if the mega-events don\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t fulfil their expectations, this is never seen as a failure. Nobody seems to care for or to be surprised by this failure and the event ends with a sense of success. If we want to understand this incoherence, we should put aside the idea of competition as a heuristic tool and focus on the fabulous opportunity for businesses that follow urban transformations related with mega-events.\\\\r\\\\nIndeed, even the need to attract tourism and the desire to improve the competitive position of the city in the urban hierarchy seems a petty and secondary question if we compare this with the local elite\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s focus on an easy profit. Of course, I am not saying that urban governments don\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t want to promote the image of their cities with the purpose of generating employment, attracting enterprise headquarters and so on.\\\\r\\\\nRegrettably, one of our most serious problems is that urban governments seem to be convinced that, in a globalized world, there\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s no point in promoting local enterprise development. They believe that the best they can do is to turn the city into an appealing zone for foreign investments. But the weakness of some of their strategies and the blindness with which they insist that these strategies actually work, make us question their genuine interests in the city.\\\\r\\\\nIn short, we cannot forget that when a mega-event is organized, the money that really flows into a city is, in the first place, public money that falls into the hands of private businessmen. That\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s why it is so difficult to understand where the city expects to obtain incomes by organizing a mega-event, and how little the urban government cares.\\\\r\\\\nWhen asked about the profits the city of Madrid may gain from hosting the Olympic Games, a representative for the Olympic candidature discussed broadcasting copyrights (that, as I have previously stated, benefit Olympic Committee and not the city) and the tourist appeal that the city will gain. He referred to the Barcelona case as a big success and talked about the millions of tourists that have visited Barcelona in the last years as a result of the Olympic Games. What he forgot to mention is that the flow of tourists into Barcelona has not been an easy or inexpensive achievement. The strategy has only worked with the help of a continuous and huge public investment in private business, for example, in the hotel sector, dangerously close to bankruptcy \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93all in all, another typical episode of socialization of losses and privatisation of profits.\\\\r\\\\nHowever, if we consider that the investors that promoted and financed a big part of the Olympic Games budget in Barcelona were real estate and construction companies, property developers, land speculators, finance companies and hotel and catering trade firms, we will understand that, indeed, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics can be considered a success. Of course, as a result of the Olympic candidature, Barcelona witnessed a frantic building activity, an increase in the housing and land prices and a huge urban transformation that entailed the conversion of a big amount of industrial land into service or housing plots.\\\\r\\\\nIn fact, urban renewal related to a mega-event is not as much a secondary effect as it is a fundamental raison d\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99\\\\xc3\\\\xaatre. The recent Forum Universal de las Culturas that has taken place in Barcelona this summer confirms this idea: instead of organizing a mega-event that could reuse the installations built ten years ago as a result of the Olympic Games, the Barcelona government and elite have decided to invent a new kind of event whose major aim, no one can doubt, is urban transformation. This multicultural event has proven to be an effective excuse to finally implement urban renewal in the last coastal area of Barcelona that still has a low income population. A made-to-measure operation for the private capital that has been a real fiasco for the city.\\\\r\\\\nThe Spanish case is especially serious since in Spain the construction sector represents almost 18% of the GDP, and 60% of the investments in fixed capital formation. It also employs two million people. After a huge process to merge enterprises, the building sector is now dominated by six big firms, five of which are numbered among the ten largest construction companies in Europe. The sector has become a safe allocation for investments due to the housing price boom and to the approval of huge public infrastructure plans.\\\\r\\\\nEven if the present economic climate differs from that of Barcelona 92, the results that we may expect from Madrid 2012 may be very similar. In Barcelona, between 1986-1992, the construction boom and the rise in prices were partially caused by the recent entry of Spain into the European Union, consequently causing an influx of foreign capital into the country, especially into the real estate sector.\\\\r\\\\nNowadays, the potential rise in prices and the worsening of the speculative bubble will come from the fact that we are passing through a difficult period for stock exchange investments. And these bad times for the investors have turned the real estate sector into a safe haven that takes up more than 40% of foreign investment in Spain. In fact, in the last years, banks, investment funds and thousands of corporations had entry into the sector in search of a higher profitability.\\\\r\\\\nFrom:  The role of Mega events in urban competitiveness and its consequences on people,  Carolina del Olmo, Universidad Complutense, Sept 2004.\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\\'Two stories in the local papers catch my eye for showing how fragile are boosterist promises about investment levels particularly in the aftermath of the Five Ring Circus leaving town.\\\\r\\\\nThe first is from yesterday\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s Waltham Forest Guardian by Carl Brown who writes;\\\\r\\\\n\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cCyclists organisations have accused Olympic authorities of downgrading the velopark for the Games.\\\\r\\\\nIn February The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) announced plans for a 34 hectare velopark. Original plans featured a 1,500 capacity velodrome, a BMX track, a 1.6km [1 mile] racing circuit, a cross country mountain bike course and an outdoor cycle speedway circuit.\\\\r\\\\nUnder new plans, however, the velopark, which will be on the site of the old Eastway Cycle Circuit, in Leyton, will now take up fewer than ten hectares. This according to the Eastway User\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s group means that the new off-road area of the velopark has shrunk in size and there will be no replacement for the full-size mountain bike circuit after the Games.\\\\r\\\\nThe group is angry because it was persuaded to drop its objection to the Compulsory Purchase Order for the Eastway site last summer on the basis that matching facilities would be reinstated after 2012\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d\\\\r\\\\nKeith Bingham in Cycling Week  for 27th Feb writes:\\\\r\\\\n\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cCurrent plans see the Olympic velodrome and BMX track \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 bequeathed to the sport as part of the Legacy \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 now being squeezed alongside an unsatisfactory road circuit which is too close to the main road for comfort. The speedway track has gone, and only a pitiful off-road course is to be shoehorned in after protest.  The ODA is trying to fit too much into the area, to cater for other sports, extra housing and the return of allotments.\\\\r\\\\nFrom: King goes to Stratford for Eastway Velopark crisis meeting: Tuesday 27th February 2007 - Keith Bingham\\\\r\\\\nMore at: Velopark crisis\\\\r\\\\nFrom Jenny Copnall, reigning British MTB champion:\\\\r\\\\n\"It is with sorrow and concern that I heard from the Eastway Users\\\\\\' Group of the ODA\\\\\\'s decision not to provide mountain bike racers with an adequate facility in the Legacy Park after the Olympics have taken place.  I fully expect the spectacle of the mountain bike cross country event at the 2012 Olympics to bring more young riders into our fantastic sport, many likely to be from the London area. It is essential that these potential future Olympians have access to grassroots competition in a safe yet challenging environment.\\\\r\\\\nEastway has, until now, provided this, and played a pivotal role in my introduction and development as a young racer. It means a great deal to me that future generations of riders in the London area are able to enjoy the same opportunities that I did. The Eastway mountain bike events not only whet the appetites of new racers, they also provide newcomers with a social hub of knowledge and experience, which is crucial for development.\\\\r\\\\nThe London area is not blessed with offroad riding places. In view of this I feel that it is very important that the finest example be reinstated, albeit with the break period during the Games, so that those who wish to become mountain bike racers can do so, without their urban roots hindering their progress.\"\\\\r\\\\nFrom: Little off road Olympic legacy at Eastway, Michael Humphreys, Bikemagic, 28 2 07\\\\r\\\\nMore at: Jenny Copnall\\\\r\\\\nMartin Slavin writes: More about Olympic skimping comes from the Newham Recorder for Wed 28th Feb from Pat Coughtrey who writes:\\\\r\\\\n\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cGovernment cash cuts have thrown back into the mix some of the thinking behind plans to breathe fresh life into the hidden network of East End rivers in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.\\\\r\\\\n\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\xa6But the body that manages the country\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s 2,200 mile water network has been told it faces a \\\\xc2\\\\xa335 million grants cut over the next five years. British Waterways has already axed jobs and scrapped over \\\\xc2\\\\xa35 million worth of canal maintenance.  And it has confirmed that it is forced to reconsider plans for the River Lea and Bow Back Rivers, including the lock replacement and centre,\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d\\\\r\\\\nMartin writes; It is an omission not to have spelled out what \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98the lock replacement and centre\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 refers to but it is salutory to read of these two examples of being provided with less for more money. There is a lot of confusion and obfuscation to be found the closer these schemes are scrutinised.\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Martin Slavin on Fri, 02/03/2007 - 15:11.\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\\'Article | Barcelona 1992 | Economics | Regeneration\\\\r\\\\nBarcelona Housing Demo October 2006\\\\r\\\\nFrom:  The role of Mega events in urban competitiveness and its consequences on people,  Carolina del Olmo, Universidad Complutense, Sept 2004\\\\r\\\\nWe are tired of hearing about the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cOlympic legacy\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d and the official discourse is repeated again and again that when the mega-event concludes, the installations will remain in the city.\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Martin Slavin on Sun, 19/11/2006 - 12:56.\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"Hackney Travellers Relocation Frequently Asked Questions\\\\r\\\\nA. BACKGROUND\\\\r\\\\nWho is the London Development Agency (LDA)?\\\\r\\\\nThe LDA is the Mayor of London\\'s agency for sustainable economic growth and is working to build a thriving economy for London\\'s communities and businesses.\\\\r\\\\nThe LDA has the responsibility of acquiring land for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. To do this we are working with the people who currently live and run businesses on the Olympic Park site to find new homes and business premises by July 2007.\\\\r\\\\nWhat is the Traveller relocation process?\\\\r\\\\nThere are currently two licensed Traveller and Gypsy sites within the Olympic Park site, one of which is Waterden Crescent in the London Borough of Hackney, with the other in Newham. The LDA has been working with Hackney Council and the Traveller families to relocate those families living at Waterden Crescent to new sites within Hackney. These planning applications are in relation to the Waterden Road Traveller site.\\\\r\\\\nHow many families are being relocated?\\\\r\\\\n20 Traveller families of Irish Traveller heritage need to be relocated. They have been living at Waterden Crescent on Waterden Road for 13 years, which is a Hackney Council licensed site.\\\\r\\\\nWhy does the Traveller site need to be relocated?\\\\r\\\\nThe current Traveller site needs to be relocated because it is located within the area required for the Olympic Park. The LDA is working with all residents and businesses that are within the Olympic Park area to relocate them by July 2007.\\\\r\\\\nUnder the Race Relations Act, Travellers of Irish and Romani Gypsy heritage are officially recognised as ethnic groups. The Housing Act 2004 and Department of Communities and Local Government Circular give Councils a duty to assess Traveller needs and provide appropriate sites for them to live in.\\\\r\\\\nWill there be any benefit to the local community?\\\\r\\\\nThe Travellers live on an area of land that is crucial to the Olympic Park and the legacy development. The regeneration of the area can only happen if we relocate the Traveller families to new sites ahead of the Games. The regeneration plans for the area will bring long-term benefits to the local community. There will be new state of the art sports facilities, new parkland and thousands of new jobs and homes as part of the Olympic Legacy plan.\\\\r\\\\nWhere can I find out more information?\\\\r\\\\nPlease contact our Community Relations Team on 0800 377 7346 or visit www.lda.gov.uk\\\\r\\\\nLONDun\\\\r\\\\n\"b\\'Article | Cycling | Displacement | Planning & Development | Sustainability\\\\r\\\\nBelow is the press release from the official governing body of our sport... Reading between the long, wordy, lines, it seems that British Cycling are now realising what the Eastway Users\\\\\\' Group has been telling them all along; that the plans for the new velodrome didn\\\\\\'t show good enough facilities for a road or a mountain bike circuit. And without the bulldozing of these circuits, there wouldn\\\\\\'t be any Olympic Park at all...\\\\r\\\\nThe Board of British Cycling met on Saturday 9 June to continue its ongoing consideration of the \\\\\\'legacy facilities\\\\\\' which are currently proposed for the sport following the London Olympic Games. Disappointment was expressed that, despite the advice and support offered over the last several months to the Olympic Delivery Authority, and the assurances received from that body in return, there was still insufficient evidence of appropriate changes being made to the outline Legacy proposals, to allow the Board to consider those proposals to be acceptable.\\\\r\\\\nThe Board is happy with the siting, layout and basic specifications of the proposed velodrome and BMX track, both of which are to be used for Olympic competition. The Board also considers the proposals for a legacy Cycle Speedway facility to be acceptable. However from the Board\\\\\\'s point of view the basic problem remains that there is insufficient space allocated in the current plans within the proposed Olympic Park to permit adequate provision for the road and off-road competition and training.\\\\r\\\\nThe Board has to consider both the adequacy of the Olympic competition facilities (which are progressing satisfactorily) and also the planned provision of cycling facilities after the Games (which currently are not satisfactory). The Board has always been very concerned to ensure that the promises that have been made in relation to the provision of adequate road racing and off road facilities after the Games will be honoured. Over months now we have been constantly reminding the ODA of its responsibilities.\\\\r\\\\nCycle sport has a unique relationship to the Games of 2012, one that cannot be claimed by any other sport. First we are one of the most successful Olympic sports in terms of medals won. Cycling stands, with a small number of other Sports, head and shoulders above the rest in terms of recent Olympic success. The real difference however, and what sets cycling apart, is that cycling also has an historic association with the venue that is to be transformed for Olympic and post Olympic use. Quite simply the 2012 Games would not be possible without the acquisition of the former Eastway site with the consequence that London cyclists are currently without a facility that has served them well for over 30 years.\\\\r\\\\nNor is the issue just a London problem, the Board recognise that Eastway had wider national significance and formed an important part of the nation\\\\\\'s cycling facilities network. The Board need to guard against a situation in which cyclists who want to practice road racing and MTB Cross-Country in London are left worse off after the Games than they were before them. The two disciplines of Road Racing and MTB Cross-Country in particular represent a large and thriving element of the sport and until they are adequately catered for in the Legacy plan, British Cycling cannot endorse the Legacy proposals.\\\\r\\\\nHaving considered the views of members and officials of the three Regions of British Cycling with responsibility for managing and developing the sport in London and the South East, and having taken further advice from the Chief Executive and his staff, as well as from our legal advisers, the Board has agreed what it believes to be the most appropriate and effective way for it to register its concerns.\\\\r\\\\nThe Board has resolved firstly to register its objections in respect of the Legacy provisions directly at the highest level with the Olympic Delivery Authority with whom we have been working to achieve the right outcome. These \\\\\\'cycling project sponsors\\\\\\' need to understand that the Board, the Regions and the user groups all share the same concern with what is being proposed as the Legacy \\\\\\'Velo Park\\\\\\' and in the Board\\\\\\'s view they will need to address fundamental changes to the Legacy Masterplan in order to achieve an acceptable outcome.\\\\r\\\\nSecondly, in respect of the current planning applications, that British Cycling will make a formal objection to the ODA Planning Decisions Team including a \"Request for Conditions to be Imposed\" on the relevant application. This will state the case for the Legacy cycling facilities to include a proper Road circuit that can be fairly described as a replacement for what has been lost, and for an off-road competition facility that genuinely provides for racing at the level previously carried out at Eastway.\\\\r\\\\nAs part of the objection that will be made to the Planning Decisions Team, we will request that any permissions that are granted in respect of the applications that have currently been made will include conditions designed to secure replacement facilities for what has been given up at Eastway.\\\\r\\\\nThese requested conditions will cover the adequacy of the Road and Mountain Bike facilities in the light of previous promises and commitments made by the ODA and others and specifically in light of the conditions that had previously been attached to the Olympic Planning consents that were granted in 2004 during the Olympic bidding phase. The detailed wording will be agreed with our legal and technical advisers in time to make a formal submission by the 15 June deadline.\\\\r\\\\nBritish Cycling President Brian Cookson said:\\\\r\\\\n\"British Cycling is very pleased to be playing a key role in the design of the Olympic Park and we are committed to helping the ODA deliver outstanding Olympic facilities for our sport. However we are very disappointed at the failure by the ODA to make sufficient clear movement towards meeting our legitimate concerns regarding the legacy provision, concerns which we have been expressing to them for some time now. We will also be raising our concerns at the highest level with other relevant bodies and agencies involved in the delivery and legacy provision of the London 2012 Olympics.\"\\\\r\\\\nFrom: From Olympic Legacy - British Cycling Board confirms stance against Legacy Masterplan, Singletrack Magazine, Mon 11 june\\\\r\\\\nOne of the Singletrack comments says:\\\\r\\\\nby: plurien on: Thursday 14 June 2007 , The consultation for the applications being made closes on 15th June. The plans show NO MOUNTAINBIKE COMPETITION FACILITY AT ALL.\\\\r\\\\nPoints you may wish to raise in objection:\\\\r\\\\nThere has been no consultation, no attempt made to identify the needs of the cycling community based at Eastway.\\\\r\\\\nThe plans are not suitable for cycle sport outdoors\\\\r\\\\nThere is no off-road competition permitted within the constraints of the scheme applied for, so there can be no guarantee or planning condition made for it unless the scheme is rejected\\\\r\\\\nThe road circuit is unsafe and does not allow for large fields to circulate\\\\r\\\\nIts layout is uninspiring, being pushed right against the A12 in the shadow of a large building\\\\r\\\\nThe facility is cut in two by the A12 which brings noise and air pollution\\\\r\\\\nThere is no possibility of safe concurrent running of road and off-road sessions of any kind\\\\r\\\\nThe area made available for a legacy replacement is unsuitably small and in a marginal position\\\\r\\\\nNo amount of \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98design\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 prior to a subsequent detailed application for legacy can alleviate the absence of land area being made available in the outline application for the cycling facility in legacy phase\\\\r\\\\nUsers were made promises and given numerous assurances about the vailidity of a legacy before they willingly gave up their facility to make way for the Games.\\\\r\\\\nThe scheme now applied for in no way matches those schemes that were outlined and does not even come close to replacing the road and off-road cycling which made Eastway so successful as the base of a thriving community of people doing Olympic sports in Inner East London.\\\\r\\\\nFrom Olympic Legacy - British Cycling Board confirms stance against Legacy Masterplan, Singletrack Magazine, Mon 11 june\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"Waterlogged Allotments at Marsh Lane Fields.  Feb  2008 \\\\xc2\\\\xa9 Martin Slavin\\\\r\\\\nFrom: \\'Fools Gold\\' a report by the New Economics Foundation\\\\r\\\\nThis purpose of this report is to examine how to ensure the 2012 Olympics leaves a positive local legacy for the residents of East London. The remit of the work was to reopen and reframe the debate around the Olympic legacy and suggest new approaches for maximising the public and community benefit \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 social, economic and environmental \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 created by the Games.\\\\r\\\\nThe 2012 London Olympics have been presented by the Government and the Olympic delivery bodies as a \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98once-in-a-lifetime\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 opportunity to help regenerate one of the UK\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s most economically disadvantaged areas, the Lower Lea Valley.\\\\r\\\\nFew would question that the bid\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s greatest strength was the social, economic and environmental legacy that it proposed to create for this area and its positioning of the Games as complementing the broader economic development of the Lower Lea Valley, Europe\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s largest regeneration project. No previous Games has made regeneration so central to its vision. It is intended that this should leave a legacy which has been defined as: new sports facilities, housing, increased employment and a more skilled population, as well as industrial, technical and transport infrastructure that will further help regenerate the area.\\\\r\\\\nSignificant supply-side interventions \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 including huge training and brokerage programmes \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 are taking place to get the local population and businesses ready to take advantage of the opportunities created by the Games. Local expectations are high. There is no doubt that the Olympics will bring about a permanent change to the economy of East London, The question is what kind of change, and who will benefit.\\\\r\\\\nHere lies the challenge. The problem is that previous Olympics have failed to help the most economically disadvantaged groups living in the areas where the Games have taken place. In the UK, flagship regeneration projects in East London and elsewhere have also failed to improve the well-being of local residents. The Docklands development is the most glaring example.\\\\r\\\\nWhat tends to happen instead is that regeneration leads to gentrification. Assets of the local communities get transferred out of the local area, because local people who don\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t own local homes or business are priced out of the area. High land values, fragmented ownership patterns and poor engagement of the community in planning decisions and local stewardship all go together to undermine the development of sustainable communities. Local retail, services, and local enterprises struggle to survive in the face of rising commercial rents and competition from larger companies.\\\\r\\\\nYet it is the general public that pays for the Olympics and arguably the poorest residents of the area supposed to be regenerated who pay the highest costs, certainly in terms of disruption and dislocation. The various delivery bodies involved in the Games have promised new jobs, new businesses, new green areas and new homes. But big questions remain about precisely how local people and local businesses will benefit from the preparation, delivery or legacy of the Games.\\\\r\\\\nIt is already clear that smaller, local firms are struggling to compete for a part of the huge Olympic construction, service and sponsorship contracts, many of the latter already allocated to multinational firms with no obligation to make sure that investment benefits the local community. At the time of writing, of the approximately 500 contracts already awarded, worth \\\\xc2\\\\xa31 billion, only 11 per cent had gone to companies based within the five Olympic boroughs. There is still little clarity about who will own, manage and fund, particularly revenue funding, the Olympic legacy.\\\\r\\\\nThe initial legacy plans for the Olympic physical assets seem to have little connection to the needs of local residents. There have been only tokenistic attempts by the organising Olympic authorities, ODA and LOCOG, to give local people and organisations an active role in the legacy planning process. There was a commitment to \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98sustainable regeneration\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 in the 2007 Olympic and Paralympic planning applications, but it is still not clear what mechanisms and organisational infrastructure are in place to capture and safeguard the benefits of investment in the area for the benefit of the people who live there.\\\\r\\\\nIn the broader scheme of regeneration projects in the Lower Lea Valley, the Olympics pale in comparison in size and value with Stratford City, Crossrail and a number of other large regeneration programmes . Yet because of the intense media attention and the Games ideals \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 peace, common humanity and dignity \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 they have enormous symbolic value. Promises around local regeneration and legacy thus have enormous importance in terms of setting a standard for other developments.\\\\r\\\\nThis report sets out a vision for the creation of real community assets for the Lower Lea Valley that could prevent it being trampled in the Olympic gold rush. It comes at a key time.\\\\r\\\\nThe Olympic Board published its Sustainability Plan in December 2007 and the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 has issued its first report, casting some doubts on the ability of the Olympic authorities to deliver on their sustainability objectives. While much of the planning and procurement for the Games has already been completed, most of the Tier Two supplier decisions will be made in 2008. LOCOG will shortly be publishing its own procurement policy which could still provide an opportunity to harness the potential for community benefit.\\\\r\\\\nOn the legacy front, the Olympic Board is currently in the process of completing the Olympic Legacy Masterplan Framework (OLMF) for the Olympic Park after the end of the Games. The masterplan will form the basis of an outline planning application in 2009 which will provide the context for the development of the Olympic Park after 2012.\\\\r\\\\nOn the Olympic site itself, ODA has developed a preferred consortium of developers to take on the legacy planning for the 15,000 square metre Olympic Village, which will include 4,000 homes, 30 per cent of which are intended to be \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98affordable\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. The consortium is currently developing its plans which will include a Section 106 agreement leading to the creation of a community development trust. The London Thames Gateway Development Corporation is also consulting on a comprehensive Section 106 strategy for the wider Lower Lea Valley development programme.\\\\r\\\\nHow can London 2012 create a meaningful legacy? Around the UK there are many examples of how community benefits can be built into major procurement projects. There are other examples of how the wealth created by major investments can stay circulating in local communities. East London includes some of the most deprived areas of the country, but it is also home to many enterprising small businesses and communities, many of whom have come to the UK to make a better life for their families. If the wealth creation the Games will deliver can leverage this enterprise and energy, rather than displace it, then the regeneration aims that were so integral to the 2012 bid might still be achieved.\\\\r\\\\nFrom: Introduction to \\'Fools Gold\\', New Economics Foundation, April 2008.\\\\r\\\\n\"b\"Article | Finance | Funding for Training | Legacy\\\\r\\\\nThere has been no end of promises for a sporting legacy for London in the wake of the 2012 Games. But fine sentiments alone are not going to deliver it to future generations of Londoners, argues Kurt Barling, BBC London.\\\\r\\\\nQueen Elizabeth Stadium in Enfield, north London, was built in the post Olympic glow of 1948. Officially inaugurated in 1953, the year of the Coronation, QE served many generations of school athletes.   Local children of all ages, including myself, pitted themselves against their local peers.  A few even went on to achieve athletic greatness.   All this was provided and maintained out of local government revenues.\\\\r\\\\nIn recent years the stadium has begun to look tired and worn.  Maintenance of the infrastructure has waned and many local people have begun to wonder if this reflects the commitment to keep young people involved in sport.\\\\r\\\\nLast week, almost unnoticed, the athletics running track was closed after it failed a UK Athletics safety inspection. The future of the stadium has been hotly debated in recent months.  Various local sporting outfits, football, rugby, athletics would like to use the venue but no agreement can be brokered without the participation of the local authority because it is their land and their responsibility to get the best value for money for local council tax payers. Enfield Council did tell BBC London that it is: \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9c..committed to ensuring a viable future for the Queen Elizabeth II Stadium as a sports stadium and is currently consulting residents and the local sporting community about how they would want to use it in the future\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d.\\\\r\\\\nSport England has an online inventory of sports facilities around the country.  In London it lists 21 athletics tracks including the QE stadium and the Barn Elms athletics track, managed by Richmond Upon Thames council.  The latter is also under threat. As in Enfield, local people in Barnes have discovered that it has become less of a priority for maintenance.  The council has said the only way to raise the investment funds needed to rejuvenate the facilities is by selling off some of the public land. The council has put on hold a sell-off plan in order that the local community can come up with \\\\xc2\\\\xa34 million pounds to save the playing fields and facilities for public use.\\\\r\\\\nIt is very difficult to see how a legacy can be created out of the Olympics when local decisions like these seem to pass under the radar of those supposedly responsible for building it. For this to happen there needs to be a cultural change.  The new Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has appointed Kate Hoey MP as his Olympics adviser.  It seems that if she is to come to grips with the legacy issue she will need to scrutinise on Londoners\\' behalf many of these decisions that are being taken at a local level.\\\\r\\\\nIndeed the Mayor and his advisers already have within City Hall a document which maps out the scale of the problem. In May 2006 the Greater London Authority carried out an audit of playing fields in the capital and found that there were around 1500 in total.  Most are owned and managed by local authorities on behalf of communities; many others are managed by clubs or private organisations. The report recognises that in the past five years the loss of playing fields has slowed down but that lack of access, safety and attractiveness of facilities will put people off using them.  In these circumstances it becomes easier to justify selling off public land and facilities.\\\\r\\\\nTalking last week to its author London Assembly Member Murad Qureshi he made the simple point that new ways of financing and managing public facilities will be needed if we are to preserve our publicly accessible sporting venues. For this to happen there needs to be genuine dialogue between those seeking a sporting legacy, those charged with managing it i.e. local authorities and those communities who will eventually benefit from them.\\\\r\\\\nAt the QE stadium in Enfield the council has no doubt taken advice that it must, for health and safety reasons, keep the public out.   I understand that a local Athletics Partnership has sought to keep the facility open by offering to do the maintenance work that the council won\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t do.  That offer has, allegedly, been ignored. Seven local secondary schools canvassed for their views have said that the facility is a key part of their ability to deliver a sporting curriculum.  They would like to see the facilities maintained for their use.\\\\r\\\\nIt is to be seen just how effective local consultation will be over the coming months.   Based on this consultation, the plan is to have a range of proposals on the table by the autumn. These will then be put to the local decision makers who in turn have promised to let local people know what the choices are before finalising what should be done.\\\\r\\\\nIf an Olympic legacy is to be realised across the capital and beyond, then scrutinising these decisions and not just the building works at Stratford, will be crucial.\\\\r\\\\nFrom: Sporting legacy \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 whose responsibility ? Kurt Barling, BBC London, 28 May 2008\\\\r\\\\n\"b\"Article | Clays Lane | Compulsory Purchase | Displacement | Planning & Development | Sustainability\\\\r\\\\nRecent reports in the Press (see attachment) reveal that businesses evicted to make way for the Olympics are still having to battle with the LDA over compensation. Looking back in time to reports published by the media can provide an interesting insight into the attitudes of the Olympic team (and how the media approached the project) and the difference between the rhetoric and the reality of the programme. One such report was contained in the Property Week Newsletter of 05.12.03 (see attachment) which included some particularly chilling assertions for the residents at Clays Lane.\\\\r\\\\nTaking the present experience of the businesses as a starting point, Jason Prior\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s comments in the article show the casual \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98we can do as we please\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 attitude which pervaded their approach to the various evictees: \\'We are trying to do this by open negotiation and discussion, but if we have to use compulsory purchase orders (CPO), we will. But this isn\\'t necessarily about acquisition, it\\'s about partnership building. Why acquire it if you can find another way of doing it?\\' The careless use of terms like \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98partnership\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 runs through all the LDA and ODA documents. Far from seeing themselves as partners in the LDA\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s grand acquisition of their sites the businesses are still protesting at the way they were treated and at the undervaluing of their assets.\\\\r\\\\nThe author of this fascinating if sickening piece, Charles Williams, wrote \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98Deal structures and joint venture proposals have yet to be developed, but will follow the precedent of the LDA\\'s Royal Docks development, where it is working in partnership with Development Securities and Standard Life. The LDA will buy the sites and take the schemes through the planning phases and then turn them over to private partners for development and construction.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99  Williams turned to the LDA\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s Gareth Blacker to elaborate, \\'We don\\'t think it will be difficult to get partners,\\' says LDA head of property and development Gareth Blacker. \\'If we do the site assembly we\\'re proposing to do, we\\'re creating a prime opportunity for the property industry.\\' Well, that\\'s clear enough!\\\\r\\\\nProperty journalists are not necessarily the keenest investigative reporters. Williams went on to declare, \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cThe Olympic plan has naturally been prioritised; details of the non-Olympic and Olympic legacy plans are sketchy\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d but failed to probe more deeply. Instead he relied on Jason Prior, \\'We\\'re still working on the non-Olympic plan,\\' Prior says. \\'Ultimately it should be largely the same as the legacy plan, but with differences based around the types of uses you\\'d want to cluster around a stadium.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Actually this was all complete rubbish. There was no non-Olympic plan when this interview took place. Prior revealed in his evidence to the Compulsory Purchase Inquiry that it wasn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t even commissioned until the summer of 2004. That didn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t stop the LDA turning up with a drawing purporting to be a non-Olympic scenario when they came to talk to Clays Lane residents at the end of 2003. The difference between journalists and residents was that we did do some research and found out very quickly in early 2004 that there was no non-Olympic plan.\\\\r\\\\nFailing to comment on, or perhaps to spot, the contradiction Williams reported that \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cPrior believes the long-term regeneration elements and development opportunities will happen with or without the Olympics. What may differ is the pace of change. In the event of a successful bid, developers in partnerships might have to play a longer-term game \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 the land would not be freed for its end use until after the 2012 event.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d So not only was Prior saying regeneration would happen without the Olympics but that the Games might actually hold up development! At the cpo inquiry Prior and the LDA insisted regeneration would not happen without the Olympics. They also claimed Stratford City would not have gone ahead without the Olympics. They still do. We tried to point out to the cpo inspector that the regeneration of the area was not dependent on the Olympics but he paid no attention.\\\\r\\\\nWilliams moved on to Stratford City and developers Chelsfield, whose project director Keith Redshaw was delighted to be able to get his hands on Clays Lane, courtesy of the Olympics, \\'There\\'s a precedent for this,\\' Redshaw says. \\'It\\'s what happened in Sydney. If there are no Olympics, Clays Lane is not included in the Stratford City plans, so this is a very positive and constructive approach with a big regeneration legacy.\\' It is plain that without the Olympics Clays Lane would not have been demolished.\\\\r\\\\nRedshaw\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s assertions about the legacy value of the site were untrue. We pointed out to the cpo inquiry that there was no housing legacy as the Athletes\\' Village was being built on the site of Stratford City where housing was going to be built anyway. Arup had already pointed out that the Stratford site for the Athletes\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Village had less legacy potential than their preferred location at Mill Meads, but the cpo inspector ignored their report and our evidence when concluding the Stratford site had the greatest legacy value.\\\\r\\\\nNeither Redshaw nor Prior showed any concern about the impact on Clays Lane residents. For Redshaw this was just a property killing. Prior was asked at the cpo inquiry what assessment had been made of the impact of the cpo on residents. Despite the fact that this was supposed to be examined as one of the criteria for deciding on the legacy value of siting the Athletes\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Village in the Stratford section of the Olympic Park he was unable to provide any information or documentation to show an assessment had been undertaken. It made no difference. The cpo inspector simply ignored this lack of evidence of an assessment.\\\\r\\\\nWilliams completed his article with an assertion about the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98opportunities\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 at Clays Lane. \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cClays Lane Estate, he wrote, \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cwill be transformed into the 17,000-bed Olympic village, slated for development by Chelsfield and Stanhope. In the legacy plan, it will form the basis of a sustainable community.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d It was certainly the case that the LDA made repeated reference to \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98sustaining\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 and \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98supporting\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 local communities. None of those involved in these grand plans made any mention of sustaining the community at Clays Lane which was about to be removed to make way for this \\'sustainable\\' community. It was as though we had already ceased to exist. And, of course, in the minds of Williams, Redshaw and Prior we had.\\\\r\\\\nAttachment\\\\r\\\\n\"b\"Web crawl data from Common Crawl.\\\\r\\\\nTIMESTAMPS\\\\r\\\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\\\r\\\\nHow the 2012 Olympics is selling East London short, and a 10 point plan for a more positive local legacy\\\\r\\\\nBy Martin Slavin\\\\r\\\\nCreated 21 Apr 2008 - 15:20\\\\r\\\\n[0]Waterlogged Allotments [1] at Marsh Lane Fields.  Feb  2008 \\\\xc2\\\\xa9 Martin Slavin\\\\r\\\\nFrom: \\'Fools Gold\\' a report by the New Economics Foundation\\\\r\\\\nThis purpose of this report is to examine how to ensure the 2012 Olympics leaves a positive local legacy for the residents of East London. The remit of the work was to reopen and reframe the debate around the Olympic legacy and suggest new approaches for maximising the public and community benefit \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 social, economic and environmental \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 created by the Games.\\\\r\\\\nThe 2012 London Olympics have been presented by the Government and the Olympic delivery bodies as a \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98once-in-a-lifetime\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 opportunity to help regenerate one of the UK\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s most economically disadvantaged areas, the Lower Lea Valley.\\\\r\\\\nFew would question that the bid\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s greatest strength was the social, economic and environmental legacy that it proposed to create for this area and its positioning of the Games as complementing the broader economic development of the Lower Lea Valley, Europe\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s largest regeneration project. No previous Games has made regeneration so central to its vision. It is intended that this should leave a legacy which has been defined as: new sports facilities, housing, increased employment and a more skilled population, as well as industrial, technical and transport infrastructure that will further help regenerate the area.\\\\r\\\\nSignificant supply-side interventions \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 including huge training and brokerage programmes \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 are taking place to get the local population and businesses ready to take advantage of the opportunities created by the Games. Local expectations are high. There is no doubt that the Olympics will bring about a permanent change to the economy of East London, The question is what kind of change, and who will benefit.\\\\r\\\\nHere lies the challenge. The problem is that previous Olympics have failed to help the most economically disadvantaged groups living in the areas where the Games have taken place. In the UK, flagship regeneration projects in East London and elsewhere have also failed to improve the well-being of local residents. The Docklands development is the most glaring example.\\\\r\\\\nWhat tends to happen instead is that regeneration leads to gentrification. Assets of the local communities get transferred out of the local area, because local people who don\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t own local homes or business are priced out of the area. High land values, fragmented ownership patterns and poor engagement of the community in planning decisions and local stewardship all go together to undermine the development of sustainable communities. Local retail, services, and local enterprises struggle to survive in the face of rising commercial rents and competition from larger companies.\\\\r\\\\nYet it is the general public that pays for the Olympics and arguably the poorest residents of the area supposed to be regenerated who pay the highest costs, certainly in terms of disruption and dislocation. The various delivery bodies involved in the Games have promised new jobs, new businesses, new green areas and new homes. But big questions remain about precisely how local people and local businesses will benefit from the preparation, delivery or legacy of the Games.\\\\r\\\\nIt is already clear that smaller, local firms are struggling to compete for a part of the huge Olympic construction, service and sponsorship contracts, many of the latter already allocated to multinational firms with no obligation to make sure that investment benefits the local community. At the time of writing, of the approximately 500 contracts already awarded, worth \\\\xc2\\\\xa31 billion, only 11 per cent had gone to companies based within the five Olympic boroughs. There is still little clarity about who will own, manage and fund, particularly revenue funding, the Olympic legacy.\\\\r\\\\nThe initial legacy plans for the Olympic physical assets seem to have little connection to the needs of local residents. There have been only tokenistic attempts by the organising Olympic authorities, ODA and LOCOG, to give local people and organisations an active role in the legacy planning process. There was a commitment to \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98sustainable regeneration\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 in the 2007 Olympic and Paralympic planning applications, but it is still not clear what mechanisms and organisational infrastructure are in place to capture and safeguard the benefits of investment in the area for the benefit of the people who live there.\\\\r\\\\nIn the broader scheme of regeneration projects in the Lower Lea Valley, the Olympics pale in comparison in size and value with Stratford City, Crossrail and a number of other large regeneration programmes . Yet because of the intense media attention and the Games ideals \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 peace, common humanity and dignity \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 they have enormous symbolic value. Promises around local regeneration and legacy thus have enormous importance in terms of setting a standard for other developments.\\\\r\\\\nThis report sets out a vision for the creation of real community assets for the Lower Lea Valley that could prevent it being trampled in the Olympic gold rush. It comes at a key time.\\\\r\\\\nThe Olympic Board published its Sustainability Plan in December 2007 and the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 has issued its first report, casting some doubts on the ability of the Olympic authorities to deliver on their sustainability objectives. While much of the planning and procurement for the Games has already been completed, most of the Tier Two supplier decisions will be made in 2008. LOCOG will shortly be publishing its own procurement policy which could still provide an opportunity to harness the potential for community benefit.\\\\r\\\\nOn the legacy front, the Olympic Board is currently in the process of completing the Olympic Legacy Masterplan Framework (OLMF) for the Olympic Park after the end of the Games. The masterplan will form the basis of an outline planning application in 2009 which will provide the context for the development of the Olympic Park after 2012.\\\\r\\\\nOn the Olympic site itself, ODA has developed a preferred consortium of developers to take on the legacy planning for the 15,000 square metre Olympic Village, which will include 4,000 homes, 30 per cent of which are intended to be \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98affordable\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. The consortium is currently developing its plans which will include a Section 106 agreement leading to the creation of a community development trust. The London Thames Gateway Development Corporation is also consulting on a comprehensive Section 106 strategy for the wider Lower Lea Valley development programme.\\\\r\\\\nHow can London 2012 create a meaningful legacy? Around the UK there are many examples of how community benefits can be built into major procurement projects. There are other examples of how the wealth created by major investments can stay circulating in local communities. East London includes some of the most deprived areas of the country, but it is also home to many enterprising small businesses and communities, many of whom have come to the UK to make a better life for their families. If the wealth creation the Games will deliver can leverage this enterprise and energy, rather than displace it, then the regeneration aims that were so integral to the 2012 bid might still be achieved.\\\\r\\\\nFrom: Introduction to \\'Fools Gold\\', New Economics Foundation, April 2008.\\\\r\\\\nAvailable from: NEF [2]\\\\r\\\\n\"b\"Web crawl data from Common Crawl.\\\\r\\\\nTIMESTAMPS\\\\r\\\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\\\r\\\\nThe \\'success\\' of Barcelona\\\\r\\\\nCreated 19 Nov 2006 - 12:56\\\\r\\\\n[0]Barcelona Housing Demo October 2006\\\\r\\\\nFrom:  The role of Mega events in urban competitiveness and its consequences on people,  Carolina del Olmo, Universidad Complutense, Sept 2004\\\\r\\\\nWe are tired of hearing about the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cOlympic legacy\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d and the official discourse is repeated again and again that when the mega-event concludes, the installations will remain in the city. But they never discuss what the use value of these infrastructures is, especially if we compare these \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9csinks\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d of public investments with other installations and services that could have been financed with the same amount of funds (or a lot less). Public funds are a scarce resource, especially today, in this zero-deficit scenario. In this restricted frame, to finance these kind of events and infrastructures involve a budget cut in other, more necessary, sectors.\\\\r\\\\nMoreover, these kinds of infrastructure tend to require a lot of re-investments to avoid the threat of devaluation that comes with the interurban competition and the changes in trends. That\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s why it is so common to see these installations languishing in a state of neglect years after the event.\\\\r\\\\nThe Barcelona case represents these aspects extremely well. The 1992 Olympic Games are recorded as a success, even if they didn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t fulfil the expectations they claimed. The Olympic investments (in the broad sense, including some roads, coastal area renewal, cultural outlets, etc.), reached near 6 million euros (\\\\xc2\\\\xa34.1m) and 53% of that budget were public funds. But the economic activity that this money generated didn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t have a positive impact on the economic indicators of the Barcelona area.\\\\r\\\\nBetween 1987 and 1991 the number of jobs created in the construction sector were only 33.000, a figure much lower than was expected considering that three quarters of the total investment went towards the construction sector. On top of this, all of them were temporary jobs. In the hotel and catering trade sector only 20.000 new jobs appeared and only lasted the duration of the event, again, much less than was expected. In the other sectors, the labour impact was zero (we tend to forget that the Olympic volunteers take on a great amount of tasks that would otherwise generate jobs). During 1992, the number of jobs began to fall.\\\\r\\\\nIf we take a look at trade, we will see that during 1992 the sales rate decreased and the number of tourists that visited the city (a million and a half) was lower than expected and spent less money than it was estimated (exactly the same has happened in Athens this last summer). Also, the Barcelona event resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of people that visited other destinations in the Barcelona region.\\\\r\\\\nBasically, the only economic indicator that experienced an important impact as a result of the Olympic Games were price levels. Since 1988, city price levels increased more than in the rest of the region and more than 1% over the inflation rate in Spain. In the year before the Games, prices rose more than 3% over the prices of the rest of Spain. And if we think that the city gains profit from television broadcasting rights, we should not forget that it is the Olympic Committee who collects this money. In fact, the progressive growth of this source of money has turned the International Olympic Committee into a big (and suspicious) enterprise.\\\\r\\\\nHow can we understand the minute economic impact and the lack of fulfilment of expectations? We could focus on the unbridled optimism that seems to encumber the people who do the impact studies, but, especially, we should focus on the limited frame in which the investments take place. If the demand related with the Olympic Games (or any other mega-event) takes up resources that would otherwise remain unused, it would be reasonable to expect an increase in employment, as well as an improvement of the economic indicators in general. Nonetheless, demand growth related with a mega-event doesn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t produce a net income, because it is a consequence of a mere change in the direction of the resource\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s flow; that is, the resources go to a specific sector or a particular place but only because they are coming from another sector or place.\\\\r\\\\nThe same goes for private capital: it tends to reduce its investments in other sectors or in other spatial areas. If we pay attention to the recommendations that the economic impact studies use to achieve a real net increase in profits, for example, to make the labour market more flexible, it is clear that the aim of obtaining net profits loses part of its appeal.\\\\r\\\\nAstonishingly, even if the mega-events don\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t fulfil their expectations, this is never seen as a failure. Nobody seems to care for or to be surprised by this failure and the event ends with a sense of success. If we want to understand this incoherence, we should put aside the idea of competition as a heuristic tool and focus on the fabulous opportunity for businesses that follow urban transformations related with mega-events.\\\\r\\\\nIndeed, even the need to attract tourism and the desire to improve the competitive position of the city in the urban hierarchy seems a petty and secondary question if we compare this with the local elite\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s focus on an easy profit. Of course, I am not saying that urban governments don\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t want to promote the image of their cities with the purpose of generating employment, attracting enterprise headquarters and so on.\\\\r\\\\nRegrettably, one of our most serious problems is that urban governments seem to be convinced that, in a globalized world, there\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s no point in promoting local enterprise development. They believe that the best they can do is to turn the city into an appealing zone for foreign investments. But the weakness of some of their strategies and the blindness with which they insist that these strategies actually work, make us question their genuine interests in the city.\\\\r\\\\nIn short, we cannot forget that when a mega-event is organized, the money that really flows into a city is, in the first place, public money that falls into the hands of private businessmen. That\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s why it is so difficult to understand where the city expects to obtain incomes by organizing a mega-event, and how little the urban government cares.\\\\r\\\\nWhen asked about the profits the city of Madrid may gain from hosting the Olympic Games, a representative for the Olympic candidature discussed broadcasting copyrights (that, as I have previously stated, benefit Olympic Committee and not the city) and the tourist appeal that the city will gain. He referred to the Barcelona case as a big success and talked about the millions of tourists that have visited Barcelona in the last years as a result of the Olympic Games. What he forgot to mention is that the flow of tourists into Barcelona has not been an easy or inexpensive achievement. The strategy has only worked with the help of a continuous and huge public investment in private business, for example, in the hotel sector, dangerously close to bankruptcy \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93all in all, another typical episode of socialization of losses and privatisation of profits.\\\\r\\\\nHowever, if we consider that the investors that promoted and financed a big part of the Olympic Games budget in Barcelona were real estate and construction companies, property developers, land speculators, finance companies and hotel and catering trade firms, we will understand that, indeed, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics can be considered a success. Of course, as a result of the Olympic candidature, Barcelona witnessed a frantic building activity, an increase in the housing and land prices and a huge urban transformation that entailed the conversion of a big amount of industrial land into service or housing plots.\\\\r\\\\nIn fact, urban renewal related to a mega-event is not as much a secondary effect as it is a fundamental raison d\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99\\\\xc3\\\\xaatre. The recent Forum Universal de las Culturas that has taken place in Barcelona this summer confirms this idea: instead of organizing a mega-event that could reuse the installations built ten years ago as a result of the Olympic Games, the Barcelona government and elite have decided to invent a new kind of event whose major aim, no one can doubt, is urban transformation. This multicultural event has proven to be an effective excuse to finally implement urban renewal in the last coastal area of Barcelona that still has a low income population. A made-to-measure operation for the private capital that has been a real fiasco for the city.\\\\r\\\\nThe Spanish case is especially serious since in Spain the construction sector represents almost 18% of the GDP, and 60% of the investments in fixed capital formation. It also employs two million people. After a huge process to merge enterprises, the building sector is now dominated by six big firms, five of which are numbered among the ten largest construction companies in Europe. The sector has become a safe allocation for investments due to the housing price boom and to the approval of huge public infrastructure plans.\\\\r\\\\nEven if the present economic climate differs from that of Barcelona 92, the results that we may expect from Madrid 2012 may be very similar. In Barcelona, between 1986-1992, the construction boom and the rise in prices were partially caused by the recent entry of Spain into the European Union, consequently causing an influx of foreign capital into the country, especially into the real estate sector.\\\\r\\\\nNowadays, the potential rise in prices and the worsening of the speculative bubble will come from the fact that we are passing through a difficult period for stock exchange investments. And these bad times for the investors have turned the real estate sector into a safe haven that takes up more than 40% of foreign investment in Spain. In fact, in the last years, banks, investment funds and thousands of corporations had entry into the sector in search of a higher profitability.\\\\r\\\\nFrom:  The role of Mega events in urban competitiveness and its consequences on people,  Carolina del Olmo, Universidad Complutense, Sept 2004.\\\\r\\\\nMore at: Carolina del Olmo [1]\\\\r\\\\n[1]25,000 Housing Demonstration in Barcelona 23 Dec 2006:\\\\r\\\\nSee More at: Barcelona housing demo [2]\\\\r\\\\nIn the case of the Barcelona Games \\'the market price of old and new housing rose between 1986 and 1992 by 240 percent and 287 percent respectively\\' (Brunet, 1993 in Wilkinson, 1994:23). A  further 59,000 residents left Barcelona to live elsewhere between the years of 1984 and 1992 (Brunet, 1993 in Cox et al., 1994)\\\\r\\\\nFrom:  Page 108,  Mega Events and Human Rights, Brent Ritchie, University of Canberra, Michael Hall, University of Otago, NZ and Sheffield Hallam University, UK.\\\\r\\\\nIn:  HOW YOU PLAY THE GAME Papers from The First International Conference on Sports and Human Rights, 1-3 September 1999, ISBN 1 86365 566 2, Published 2000,\\\\r\\\\nDownload: \\'How You Play the Game\\'(PDF) at ; Sports & Human Rights [3]\\\\r\\\\nTo watch recent video clips about protests against housing conditions in Barcelona go to: housing protests in Barcelona [4]\\\\r\\\\nSee also: Barcelona housing protest videos [5] You do not have to speak Spanish to understand what the struggle is.\\\\r\\\\n\"b\\'Article | Economics | Legacy | Regeneration\\\\r\\\\nOn 15th January leaders of the five London \\\\\\'Host Boroughs\\\\\\' submitted a written memorandum to the House of Commons Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport. This outlined their concerns about how well the ODA were likely to supply adequate design and financing to a sustainable social legacy for the people of those boroughs.\\\\r\\\\nBelow are some extracts from the (uncorrected) oral evidence those leaders gave to the DCMS Committee.\\\\r\\\\nSir Robin Wales Mayor of Newham:\\\\r\\\\nThe more we look at the Games, the larger it becomes and the more opportunities it generates, and as you look at previous Games I think it is a journey of understanding. It is much bigger than any of us realised.\\\\r\\\\nObviously, there will be pressure. We worked with the ODA to put together a joint local authority team that can give local authority services in the Park, and we have done very well with the ODA and done some work with that, but clearly we are going to have to talk to LOCOG in identifying that. One of the things I would want to particularly stress with this whole thing is the need to have debates early and actually opening up the issues of concern, so that those things are widely debated in public, which we think will, in the end, come to some sort of resolution.\\\\r\\\\nI will say that, at the moment, in the governance structure we have got in order to enable us to get decisions, we have about one of the best governance structures on regeneration and one that involves the boroughs fundamentally, and we think it is a very good structure. It was a bit of a struggle to get there but we have got something that we are able to engage with. So there will be issues. Are they resolved yet? No. Would we expect them to be resolved yet? No. Do we need to have that debate? Yes.\\\\r\\\\nJules Pipe Mayor of London Borough of Hackney:\\\\r\\\\nOn the point of the additional costs to the boroughs, since our submission the ODA has put forward \\\\xc2\\\\xa332 million for the public realm issues in the periphery of the Park, actually within the boroughs. So the principle has been set that they acknowledge the costs, and now the debate has got to move on between the five boroughs, the ODA, LOCOG and everyone about, say, the regulatory issues that will arise not just during the Games but, also, in the lead-up and the construction.\\\\r\\\\nQ316 Philip Davies MP. (Shipley, Conservative):\\\\r\\\\nIn a nutshell, what you are saying is you want all the benefits of having the Games but none of the costs?\\\\r\\\\nSir Robin Wales:\\\\r\\\\nNo, I do not think we are saying that. If we are going to not develop on Greenfield sites - we are going to have to develop on brown-field sites - there is a cost to that. We develop across the country; we invest money in projects across the country. I would not dream of opposing some of the developments going on.\\\\r\\\\nWhat we are saying is that given the level of deprivation we have got - I will give you an interesting fact: we know that the people moving into Newham are poorer than the people moving out. So, effectively, what we do is take in poorer people, we work with them, we have over 100 languages at school, we work with these people, we get them in a position where they are more aspirational and they move out, and so we import more poverty.\\\\r\\\\nWe have, in my borough, 18,000 people who have never, ever worked - never, ever worked - in their lives. The non-employment level in Tower Hamlets is the lowest in the country, Hackney is the second-lowest and we are the third-lowest, in Newham. So what I think we are saying is that the investment that is coming to East London - it is high time that investment went in.\\\\r\\\\nIt is going into the poorest area in this country. So what we are looking to do is maximise that benefit in two ways. One is the development issue. It is interesting, one could make an argument that the Olympics is only the third-largest regeneration scheme in Newham, because we have Stratford City and we have the Docks, but we are also trying to inspire people to get them to move into work.\\\\r\\\\nSo what we have tried to do is take a substantial investment of public money and try to transform our population, their expectancy and their aspirations. At every stop on the District Line between Westminster and Newham, there is one year less life expectancy. We have to do something about this. This is a proper investment in an area. It is a massive task, it is a big investment and we need to try to use it so that in the future the East End of London will not be the poor place it is.\\\\r\\\\nQ317 Philip Davies:\\\\r\\\\nFinally, after the Games, in your submission you said that you had a fear that the desire to generate as much revenue as possible to repay the Treasury and the Lottery might lead to unacceptable pressures on the development of the area in an unsustainable way. I am sure you have just heard the Mayor\\\\\\'s Office and the LDA assure us all that it would all be done in a sustainable way and your fears are unfounded. Will you be reassured by what they said, or do you still maintain those same fears?\\\\r\\\\nSir Robin Wales:\\\\r\\\\nI think it is fair to say that the establishment of the steering group that we have set up,......,is a major step forward involving the boroughs in the legacy. Yes, we have concerns. We must have concerns at this point, because if we do not have them we cannot address them.\\\\r\\\\nIn Canning Town we are currently in the middle of a \\\\xc2\\\\xa33.4 billion project to knock down and replace a load of housing that was built after the War. We cannot allow that to happen again, where we build a load of housing and then knock it down in 50 years. We need to develop communities. Our job in the boroughs is to fight to develop those communities so that they are sustainable in the long term. I think there is a recognition from all the parties (the ODA, the LDA, particularly the Mayor of London); they are very keen to make sure that there is a legacy and that the communities are there.\\\\r\\\\n....if there is pressure put on to pay money back before we develop those communities, that would be a mistake. I would urge the Select Committee to be taking a view that said: \"Make this work so we eradicate poverty in the East End, as far as we can\", because in the long term that will pay more money back in taxes and we will actually pay back the money that is being invested.\\\\r\\\\nI am confident that we will find ways forward. However, we have not got solutions at the moment. One of the things, I think, that is frustrating in this debate is that we are trying (Athens did their legacy after the Olympics) to work this through early, and if we do not have answers it is because we are actually trying to raise the question so we can find answers.\\\\r\\\\nAt the moment, it seems to me that some of those answers are coming forward in a timely manner. Rightly, we will be raising questions about the costs during the Games, but we have raised questions about the costs building up to the Games, and some of that has been answered. Not fully, as Jules [Pipe] said, but they have established the principle and we move on and discuss it.\\\\r\\\\nJules Pipe:\\\\r\\\\nThere is a similar tension around the Inernational Broadcasting Centre. It arises from the same thing that we have already touched on before: initially there is the drive to get it right for the Games and get on because they have got to let contracts. At the moment there are still two consortia involved who are vying to build the IBC, and hopefully that will be sorted by February and they will know which consortia is going forward.\\\\r\\\\nIt is absolutely vital then that that consortia and the ODA talk to the array of broadcasters and recording industry people and others that we have put together that we want to see as the end-users, because they are saying to us they are not going to be interested in taking on that venue afterwards if they have not had some input into the spec, and it is something that they will be interested in.\\\\r\\\\nWhilst, yes, okay, we will end up with a shed that someone is going to want to pay a lot of money for afterwards, it does not do that trick that I spoke about before about changing the reputation of the area. Soho cannot give the power supplies to the creative and film and broadcasting industry, Hoxton is bursting at the seams with digital and creative media industries; they want somewhere new where the location is right, it is accessible and all the power supplies are there, and all the support that they need.\\\\r\\\\nThis location, the IBC, the Media Press Centre and the surrounding areas is absolutely ideal for that, but we will lose the opportunity for that to happen if the ODA do not do as they have committed they will do. They have committed to do this, but they must do this. Come February/March, when we know who the contractor and the consortium is, they must start talking to those people that we and Hackney borough have actually put in front of them.\\\\r\\\\n[Ends]\\\\r\\\\nAttached below is the Memorandum which was submitted to the Select Committee by the five London \\\\\\'Host Boroughs\\\\\\'.\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\\'Pipe Dream: Olympics Media Centre moved from Hackney\\\\r\\\\nFriday, 07 November 2008\\\\r\\\\nHackney Mayor Jules Pipe\\\\\\'s much hyped Hackney 2012 Olympic legacy could be no more than a \"Pipe Dream\" as the Media Centre the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) planned for Hackney Wick (rubbishing Arena Fields in the process) may be moved to Stratford to cut costs.\\\\xc2\\\\xa0 What now the legacy for Hackney (\"2012\\\\xc2\\\\xa0Olympic Borough\"), Jules ...?\\\\xc2\\\\xa0\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"Opinion | London 2012\\\\r\\\\nAfter the grisly experience of the Millennium Dome, you might have thought that this government would have been once burnt, twice shy of the construction and mass entertainment business.\\\\r\\\\nAfter the money-guzzling, credibility-munching monster that was the dome, Tony Blair half-apologised for that fiasco and sighed that there would be \\'lessons to be learnt\\' about the running of large infrastructure projects. Well, if remedial classes in event management and construction ever happened, no one involved with the Olympics seems to have attended them. The disaster that was the dome is now being replicated on an even more gargantuan scale on the other side of the Thames.\\\\r\\\\nIt was both predictable and predicted that the Olympics would be a black hole sucking money out of taxpayers and lottery funds and away from good causes. Try justifying these Games to disabled groups whose lottery funding is being cut. Cost overruns are as integral to the tradition of the modern Olympiad as are cheating and corruption. The Games are a serial financial killer.\\\\r\\\\nThe taxpayers of Montreal are still paying for the 1976 Olympics 30 years after they were staged in the city. The cost of the last Olympics in Athens went so out of control that the Greeks had to go begging for a bail-out from the European Commission. The Olympic legacy to Sydney was another huge budget-buster and a splendid stadium which sat empty and unused afterwards. Beijing is believed to be flushing away going on for \\\\xc2\\\\xa320bn to host the 2008 Games.\\\\r\\\\nI have to say that even a hard-core Olympic sceptic like myself has been staggered by just how rapidly and wildly the bill for the London Olympics is escalating. The chief spinmeister of the bid effort has written a revelatory book in which he plausibly argues that the figures in the original budget under-stated the true cost because no one in charge actually expected London to get the games.\\\\r\\\\nFrom:  The ruinously expensive folly of this mad five-ring circus, Andrew Rawnsley, 26 11 06, The Observer\\\\r\\\\n\"b\\'.\\\\r\\\\nPART 1 The Hype\\\\r\\\\nAs part of Chicago 2016\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s ongoing effort to make legacy and sustainable benefits an integral part of its plan for the Olympic Games, the bid announced today the establishment of a multimillion dollar fund to support this goal. The intention of the grants is to support programs that aim to revitalize neighborhoods through affordable as well as market rate housing, and increase levels of education, job training and employment.\\\\r\\\\nMayor Richard Daley noted, \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cAs we\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99ve said in the past, one of the great strengths of our city ( is that we work together with government, business and our communities to keep our city moving forward. Chicago is home to some of the most prominent and civic-minded foundations in the world, and this latest commitment underscores their generosity and continued investment in the future of our city and the development of our neighborhoods.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d\\\\r\\\\nFrom: Chicago 2016 Announces Community Initiative to Ensure Lasting Benefit of Olympic Games\\\\r\\\\nBelow; Extracts from the Applicant City Document\\\\r\\\\nThe Games provide an extraordinary opportunity to accelerate the sustainable redevelopment of Chicago\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s South and West sides - two of the city\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s key long-term urban-renewal priorities - leaving a lasting Olympic legacy. The Olympic Village (the area will be developed regardless of whether Chicago hosts the 2016 Games), Olympic Stadium and Olympic Aquatics Center will serve as catalysts for urban redevelopment and transformation, a process that is already under way.\\\\r\\\\nIn creating its plan, Chicago made the post-Games use of venues a priority, utilized existing and temporary facilities where possible and planned on building new facilities only where justified by long-term community needs and financial viability.\\\\r\\\\nThe Village\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s lakefront location will feature a stunning array of amenities, including a 5,000-seat central dining hall, a running track and world-class fitness facility, a private beach and a promenade including shops, Internet cafes, service centers, clubs, a cinema and a concert stage. After the Games, the residential units will be converted to affordable, moderate and market rate housing. Mixed-use retail and residential amenities will form the core of a new, vibrant and sustainable neighborhood, served by mass-transit systems, on the city\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s near South Side.\\\\r\\\\nChicago\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s candidature will serve as a powerful catalyst for the city to expedite its long-term civic plans. Chicago is a leader in reforming public schools, enhancing public-safety and security initiatives, providing affordable housing in attractive and economically sound communities, ensuring accessibility for all and fostering social, economic and environmental sustainability.\\\\r\\\\nChicago\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s Olympic Stadium represents a unique opportunity for the Olympic Movement. At the time of the Games, it will be a dramatic purpose-built athletics stadium that meets or exceeds the ideal standards of the IAAF and key Olympic and Paralympic constituencies. Post-Games, the scaled-down reconfigured stadium will be the centerpiece for the revitalization of Washington Park and Chicago\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s South Side. The accessible, community-based venue will be used for sports, concerts and other civic events and can be expanded to host major international athletics events. The sustainable, cost-saving approach of the stadium design could be a blueprint for future host cities.\\\\r\\\\nThere is no organized opposition to the bid. Chicago 2016 is engaged in ongoing dialogue with individuals or groups that have expressed concerns about the impact of specific areas of the bid. While none of these individuals or groups has voiced opposition to bringing the Games to Chicago, the bid committee continues to work with each of them to find solutions to the issues they have raised.\\\\r\\\\nDownload the PDF from; Applicant File\\\\r\\\\nPART 2. The Nitty Gritty\\\\r\\\\nWille \"J R\" Fleming addressing the housing displacement potential of the Olympics in Chicago.\\\\r\\\\nWillie \"J.R.\" Fleming is a Cabrini Green resident/organizer/documentarian/ website designer and researcher with the Coalition to Protect Public Housing, and presented testimony before the U.N. Office of the High Commission on Human Rights this year. He also led the March for the Right to Return with public housing residents and leaders in New Orleans during the Hurricane Katrina one-year memorial. He filmed and edited a gospelmentary titled \"Voice of the Voiceless\" along with several other short videos on housing that can be found at housingisahumanright.com. Before joining the Coalition to Protect Public Housing, Fleming was the director of a gang intervention music program for young men in Cabrini Green, and is currently the Chairman for the Hip Hop Congress Community Chapter in Chicago which deals with issues of social and economic injustice using music as a platform to unite the people. This year Fleming protested the U.S. Olympic Committee in Chicago by noting that the Olympics can cause poor people to be evicted from their communities and homes. He also took part in training housing and homelessness advoates on how to utilize housing as a human rights mechanism in the United States and educating their communities in fighting for housing as a human right.\\\\r\\\\nBelow ; Extracts from: A Report to the \\\\\\'Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination\\\\\\' on Racial Discrimination in Homelessness and Affordable Housing in the United States, Dec 2007\\\\r\\\\n...the Chicago housing market is becoming more inaccessible each day. Public housing is being eradicated, project-based Section 8 contracts in buildings housing thousands of people are set to expire, homelessness is on the rise, condo [Freehold] conversions have saturated the market, and private low income and affordable housing options have virtually disappeared\\\\r\\\\nAccording to a recent study, only 20 percent of current and potential Chicago homeowners can afford the city\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s median home price of about $250,000. ...the city is short by nearly 100,000 units of affordable to poor households. Additionally, there is an active effort within public housing developments in Chicago to displace the current residents in favor of gentrification.\\\\r\\\\nUnder its Plan for Transformation, the Chicago Housing Authority has sought to demolish the existing stock of affordable housing in favor of mixed-income development. 19,000 units of public housing have already been demolished without replacement. The dislocation of residents of Chicago public housing is an issue of racial justice given that approximately 84% of residents are African-American and 5.4% Latino.\\\\r\\\\nAt any given time, over half of the public housing authorities in Illinois have closed waiting lists for Housing Choice Vouchers \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 meaning families cannot even sign up to wait for assistance. 81.1% of Illinoisans eligible for Housing Choice Vouchers are not receiving them.\\\\r\\\\nEven for those fortunate enough to receive a housing unit or a housing voucher, significant problems can persist, such as racial and economic segregation, placement in high crime areas with little or no economic development opportunities, overcrowded and infested buildings, and unresponsive landlords. The state of housing in Illinois only serves to perpetuate poverty and racial discrimination.\\\\r\\\\nThe Plan for Transformation guaranteed the CHA $1.6 billion in federal funds to demolish 51 high-rise buildings over a 10-year period and to replace them with lower-density, mixed income housing. However, when completed, the plan will have a total of 25,000 units \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 13,000 fewer than Chicago had when the plan was approved in 2000.  Based on the number of occupied units at the time and not the number of families in need, the CHA plan falls well short of the estimated need for 153,000 affordable housing units for people earning less than $20,000 a year, a figure determined by a city-supported study completed before the plan was approved.\\\\r\\\\nWithout new prevention and permanent housing resources, the city\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s meager measures will have a devastating effect on homeless Chicagoans of color, and stand in the way of any significant steps toward eradicating homelessness.\\\\r\\\\nChicago\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s 10-year Plan to End Homelessness, launched in 2003, severely underestimates the number of new permanent housing units needed because it only counts people currently in the shelter system, ignoring increasing numbers of people living in precarious housing situations. Since 2003, the City of Chicago has added only $3 million to the 10-year plan. This is only enough funding to create 18 new units of affordable housing for a city of nearly three million residents.   Additionally, the city plans to eliminate more than 1,200 shelter beds by 2012, representing a 32 percent reduction.\\\\r\\\\nCHA qualifying policies, moreover, have a disproportionate impact on people of color. Anyone considered in default of a CHA lease, owing money to a utility company, and ex-offenders with drug offenses are prohibited from occupying new public housing developments or Section 8 homes. Upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in March 2002, this last exemption reflects the national \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cone strike\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d policy that can result in eviction of entire families if one member or a visitor is convicted of a drug-related offense on CHA property\\\\r\\\\nAt the request of the Chicago Housing Authority, the Chicago Police Department is stopping African American men, women and children in the Cabrini Green and Harold Ickes housing developments, checking their identification, and if they do not posses a local address, charging them with trespassing, even if they have a valid reason to be in the area. Police data show that that there are over 220 arrests per month for trespassing.  Sadly these numbers only represent two of the many public housing communities throughout America where similar systematic human right abuses take place.\\\\r\\\\nSee: Full Report attached below\\\\r\\\\nAttachment\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"Web crawl data from Common Crawl.\\\\r\\\\nTIMESTAMPS\\\\r\\\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\\\r\\\\n\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98A prime opportunity for the property industry.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99\\\\r\\\\nBy Julian Cheyne\\\\r\\\\nCreated 12 Jun 2008 - 23:43\\\\r\\\\nRecent reports in the Press (see attachment) reveal that businesses evicted to make way for the Olympics are still having to battle with the LDA over compensation. Looking back in time to reports published by the media can provide an interesting insight into the attitudes of the Olympic team (and how the media approached the project) and the difference between the rhetoric and the reality of the programme. One such report was contained in the Property Week Newsletter of 05.12.03 (see attachment) which included some particularly chilling assertions for the residents at Clays Lane.\\\\r\\\\nTaking the present experience of the businesses as a starting point, Jason Prior\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s comments in the article show the casual \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98we can do as we please\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 attitude which pervaded their approach to the various evictees: \\'We are trying to do this by open negotiation and discussion, but if we have to use compulsory purchase orders (CPO), we will. But this isn\\'t necessarily about acquisition, it\\'s about partnership building. Why acquire it if you can find another way of doing it?\\' The careless use of terms like \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98partnership\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 runs through all the LDA and ODA documents. Far from seeing themselves as partners in the LDA\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s grand acquisition of their sites the businesses are still protesting at the way they were treated and at the undervaluing of their assets.\\\\r\\\\nThe author of this fascinating if sickening piece, Charles Williams, wrote \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98Deal structures and joint venture proposals have yet to be developed, but will follow the precedent of the LDA\\'s Royal Docks development, where it is working in partnership with Development Securities and Standard Life. The LDA will buy the sites and take the schemes through the planning phases and then turn them over to private partners for development and construction.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99  Williams turned to the LDA\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s Gareth Blacker to elaborate, \\'We don\\'t think it will be difficult to get partners,\\' says LDA head of property and development Gareth Blacker. \\'If we do the site assembly we\\'re proposing to do, we\\'re creating a prime opportunity for the property industry.\\' Well, that\\'s clear enough!\\\\r\\\\nProperty journalists are not necessarily the keenest investigative reporters. Williams went on to declare, \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cThe Olympic plan has naturally been prioritised; details of the non-Olympic and Olympic legacy plans are sketchy\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d but failed to probe more deeply. Instead he relied on Jason Prior, \\'We\\'re still working on the non-Olympic plan,\\' Prior says. \\'Ultimately it should be largely the same as the legacy plan, but with differences based around the types of uses you\\'d want to cluster around a stadium.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Actually this was all complete rubbish. There was no non-Olympic plan when this interview took place. Prior revealed in his evidence to the Compulsory Purchase Inquiry that it wasn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t even commissioned until the summer of 2004. That didn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t stop the LDA turning up with a drawing purporting to be a non-Olympic scenario when they came to talk to Clays Lane residents at the end of 2003. The difference between journalists and residents was that we did do some research and found out very quickly in early 2004 that there was no non-Olympic plan.\\\\r\\\\nFailing to comment on, or perhaps to spot, the contradiction Williams reported that \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cPrior believes the long-term regeneration elements and development opportunities will happen with or without the Olympics. What may differ is the pace of change. In the event of a successful bid, developers in partnerships might have to play a longer-term game \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 the land would not be freed for its end use until after the 2012 event.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d So not only was Prior saying regeneration would happen without the Olympics but that the Games might actually hold up development! At the cpo inquiry Prior and the LDA insisted regeneration would not happen without the Olympics. They also claimed Stratford City would not have gone ahead without the Olympics. They still do. We tried to point out to the cpo inspector that the regeneration of the area was not dependent on the Olympics but he paid no attention.\\\\r\\\\nWilliams moved on to Stratford City and developers Chelsfield, whose project director Keith Redshaw was delighted to be able to get his hands on Clays Lane, courtesy of the Olympics, \\'There\\'s a precedent for this,\\' Redshaw says. \\'It\\'s what happened in Sydney. If there are no Olympics, Clays Lane is not included in the Stratford City plans, so this is a very positive and constructive approach with a big regeneration legacy.\\' It is plain that without the Olympics Clays Lane would not have been demolished.\\\\r\\\\nRedshaw\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s assertions about the legacy value of the site were untrue. We pointed out to the cpo inquiry that there was no housing legacy as the Athletes\\' Village was being built on the site of Stratford City where housing was going to be built anyway. Arup had already pointed out that the Stratford site for the Athletes\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Village had less legacy potential than their preferred location at Mill Meads, but the cpo inspector ignored their report and our evidence when concluding the Stratford site had the greatest legacy value.\\\\r\\\\nNeither Redshaw nor Prior showed any concern about the impact on Clays Lane residents. For Redshaw this was just a property killing. Prior was asked at the cpo inquiry what assessment had been made of the impact of the cpo on residents. Despite the fact that this was supposed to be examined as one of the criteria for deciding on the legacy value of siting the Athletes\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Village in the Stratford section of the Olympic Park he was unable to provide any information or documentation to show an assessment had been undertaken. It made no difference. The cpo inspector simply ignored this lack of evidence of an assessment.\\\\r\\\\nWilliams completed his article with an assertion about the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98opportunities\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 at Clays Lane. \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cClays Lane Estate, he wrote, \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cwill be transformed into the 17,000-bed Olympic village, slated for development by Chelsfield and Stanhope. In the legacy plan, it will form the basis of a sustainable community.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d It was certainly the case that the LDA made repeated reference to \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98sustaining\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 and \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98supporting\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 local communities. None of those involved in these grand plans made any mention of sustaining the community at Clays Lane which was about to be removed to make way for this \\'sustainable\\' community. It was as though we had already ceased to exist. And, of course, in the minds of Williams, Redshaw and Prior we had.\\\\r\\\\nAttachment\\\\r\\\\nProperty week newsletter article.doc [1]\\\\r\\\\n36.5 KB\\\\r\\\\nOlympic businesses fight for compensation.doc [2]\\\\r\\\\n24 KB\\\\r\\\\n\"b\\'Extracts from the debate\\\\r\\\\nLord Mawson (Crossbench) introducing the debate\\\\r\\\\nWe worry about what we see taking place under what one very experienced developer calls the smoke and mirrors of the Olympic Legacy.\\\\r\\\\nWhen you stay in one place for a very long time you watch successive government programmes. Their effect on people\\\\\\'s lives is often quite different from the intention of the rhetoric that launched them.\\\\r\\\\n...creating sustainable communities is not about the macro but about the micro. It is about the devil in the detail of local relationships between people and organisations on the ground. It is not ultimately about structures, systems and processes but about individuals, relationships and friendships. It is about people before structures.\\\\r\\\\nMany of us in east London are increasingly concerned that these crucial local details are still not understood by the more than 40 public sector agencies involved in the regeneration of the area. I am sure that many noble Lords are all too aware of the Public Accounts Committee\\\\\\'s recent critical report on the Thames Gateway, which describes in great detail the waste of money and human potential in this area. Real opportunities for deep and sustainable legacy in the Lower Lea Valley are being sliced away and lost.\\\\r\\\\nIt is not clear today ........ importantly, which of the alphabet soup of organisations has the authority to lead the process. The Olympic Delivery Authority seems to have given up on legacy. It has too much on its plate\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x94I am sympathetic to that\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x94and has passed the baton to the London Development Agency, but the LDA has no track record of creating excellent places for people to live and work. If it does not now engage seriously with colleagues on the ground then yet further opportunities for real legacy will be lost.\\\\r\\\\nWhen you live and work in east London, you know that the Olympics are not the biggest show in town. They are, as one Newham councillor recently put it, only the third biggest regeneration scheme in Newham alone.\\\\r\\\\nIf we grasp this opportunity then we as a nation may have something valuable to share with the International Olympic Committee\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x94some practical clues about how you do legacy in a way that does not leave us, as I have seen at Homebush in Sydney, with a large empty site; or in the position of West Heidelberg in Melbourne where the 1956 Olympics were held and where you can see the effect of getting these decisions wrong on a local community as long as 50 years later.\\\\r\\\\nThe problem is that the regeneration structures in east London are a mess. Those of us who try to make them work in practical ways know how serious that mess is and how much energy and time are being wasted. The present structures are confusing potential private sector investors precisely at a time when we want them to commit to the area. There needs to be simplification and some agencies need to go.\\\\r\\\\n\"..government understands the shape of the forest but has no idea what is actually going on under the trees\".   Lord Peyton of Yeovil  (quoted by Lord Mawson)\\\\r\\\\nBaroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (Liberal Democrat)\\\\r\\\\nAs the costs of the Olympics have escalated, so have the raids on the lottery good causes fund, with knock-on effects for the cultural sector in general, but also for the cultural Olympiad in particular.\\\\r\\\\nThere are three tiers to the Cultural Olympiad. Tier 1 is the mandatory ceremonies, for which there is a budget, although we do not have a figure. Tier 2 is 10 major cultural events involving key partners such as the BBC, the British Museum and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Tier 3 is a UK-wide cultural festival. The last tier is unique to the London bid and is designed to encompass thousands of local and regional events as part of our nationwide celebration.\\\\r\\\\nHowever, there is no allocated funding for tier 3. This money has to be found locally and by the voluntary arts and heritage groups rooted in our communities. The last diversion of lottery funds hit them particularly hard.  At the end of last year, the Minister replied to a Question for Written Answer on lack of funding, saying: \"The Legacy Trust, which has \\\\xc2\\\\xa340 million of funding, will be launched in November 2007. It will provide an additional source of funding for Cultural Olympiad projects\".\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x94[Official Report, 21/11/07; WA 76.]\\\\r\\\\nThis trust seems very keen on being launched, but less keen on actually leaving port. It has been launched no fewer than three times, most recently in May. This is not clear or structured behaviour and the consequence is that it is only now that the process of tendering for the money involved has begun. Of that money, \\\\xc2\\\\xa36 million has already been ring-fenced for the UK School Games; \\\\xc2\\\\xa324 million is going to the nations and regions; and a paltry \\\\xc2\\\\xa310 million for everything else. Compare that with the \\\\xc2\\\\xa3750 million being diverted from the arts via special Olympic lottery games.\\\\r\\\\n\"..major events have a long sunrise but short sunset.\"   Lord Addington\\\\r\\\\nBaroness Whitaker (Labour)\\\\r\\\\nThe Travellers at Clays Lane had lived peacefully with the settled community for 36 years. They were offered and accepted a new site, which then, for complex, oddly unforeseen planning reasons, was withdrawn. The substitute site was a recreation area. It is felt that, in their urgency to vacate the land for Olympic development, the LDA and Newham Council have disregarded the needs and wishes of both the Travellers and other local residents, causing, I am told, much resentment in the local community. Far from gaining any benefits from the Olympics, they believe they have lost some of their scarce green space and community facilities. The good relationships between the Traveller community and the other local residents which had been built up over such a long time have been undermined. Rather than an increased sense of community cohesion, Travellers now feel more segregated and vulnerable.\\\\r\\\\nAfter this, as I have said earlier in your Lordships\\\\\\' House, the Travellers were given 12 different dates for being moved, and they spent many weeks, with their children, with demolition, noise, heavy traffic and dust all around them, post stopped, phones cut off, and street lights gone. An allegation was made by the ODA that the Travellers had themselves caused health problems by burning toxic waste in a furnace, which turned out not to exist.\\\\r\\\\nThe All-Party Group on Gypsy and Traveller Law Reform, of which I am a vice-chair, discussed these matters with representatives from the ODA and the LDA who were kind enough to come in. They agreed that a senior official would deliver an apology about the wrongful allegation in person. Yet again, that is not what happened.\\\\r\\\\nExtracts from: House of Lords debate, Olympic Games 2012: Legacy, Thursday, 17 January 2008\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\\'Web crawl data from Common Crawl.\\\\r\\\\nTIMESTAMPS\\\\r\\\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\\\r\\\\nEastway Cyclists struggle with the ODA planners\\\\r\\\\nBy Martin Slavin\\\\r\\\\nCreated 4 Jul 2007 - 11:33\\\\r\\\\nBelow is the press release from the official governing body of our sport... Reading between the long, wordy, lines, it seems that British Cycling are now realising what the Eastway Users\\\\\\' Group has been telling them all along; that the plans for the new velodrome didn\\\\\\'t show good enough facilities for a road or a mountain bike circuit. And without the bulldozing of these circuits, there wouldn\\\\\\'t be any Olympic Park at all...\\\\r\\\\nThe Board of British Cycling met on Saturday 9 June to continue its ongoing consideration of the \\\\\\'legacy facilities\\\\\\' which are currently proposed for the sport following the London Olympic Games. Disappointment was expressed that, despite the advice and support offered over the last several months to the Olympic Delivery Authority, and the assurances received from that body in return, there was still insufficient evidence of appropriate changes being made to the outline Legacy proposals, to allow the Board to consider those proposals to be acceptable.\\\\r\\\\nThe Board is happy with the siting, layout and basic specifications of the proposed velodrome and BMX track, both of which are to be used for Olympic competition. The Board also considers the proposals for a legacy Cycle Speedway facility to be acceptable. However from the Board\\\\\\'s point of view the basic problem remains that there is insufficient space allocated in the current plans within the proposed Olympic Park to permit adequate provision for the road and off-road competition and training.\\\\r\\\\nThe Board has to consider both the adequacy of the Olympic competition facilities (which are progressing satisfactorily) and also the planned provision of cycling facilities after the Games (which currently are not satisfactory). The Board has always been very concerned to ensure that the promises that have been made in relation to the provision of adequate road racing and off road facilities after the Games will be honoured. Over months now we have been constantly reminding the ODA of its responsibilities.\\\\r\\\\nCycle sport has a unique relationship to the Games of 2012, one that cannot be claimed by any other sport. First we are one of the most successful Olympic sports in terms of medals won. Cycling stands, with a small number of other Sports, head and shoulders above the rest in terms of recent Olympic success. The real difference however, and what sets cycling apart, is that cycling also has an historic association with the venue that is to be transformed for Olympic and post Olympic use. Quite simply the 2012 Games would not be possible without the acquisition of the former Eastway site with the consequence that London cyclists are currently without a facility that has served them well for over 30 years.\\\\r\\\\nNor is the issue just a London problem, the Board recognise that Eastway had wider national significance and formed an important part of the nation\\\\\\'s cycling facilities network. The Board need to guard against a situation in which cyclists who want to practice road racing and MTB Cross-Country in London are left worse off after the Games than they were before them. The two disciplines of Road Racing and MTB Cross-Country in particular represent a large and thriving element of the sport and until they are adequately catered for in the Legacy plan, British Cycling cannot endorse the Legacy proposals.\\\\r\\\\nHaving considered the views of members and officials of the three Regions of British Cycling with responsibility for managing and developing the sport in London and the South East, and having taken further advice from the Chief Executive and his staff, as well as from our legal advisers, the Board has agreed what it believes to be the most appropriate and effective way for it to register its concerns.\\\\r\\\\nThe Board has resolved firstly to register its objections in respect of the Legacy provisions directly at the highest level with the Olympic Delivery Authority with whom we have been working to achieve the right outcome. These \\\\\\'cycling project sponsors\\\\\\' need to understand that the Board, the Regions and the user groups all share the same concern with what is being proposed as the Legacy \\\\\\'Velo Park\\\\\\' and in the Board\\\\\\'s view they will need to address fundamental changes to the Legacy Masterplan in order to achieve an acceptable outcome.\\\\r\\\\nSecondly, in respect of the current planning applications, that British Cycling will make a formal objection to the ODA Planning Decisions Team including a \"Request for Conditions to be Imposed\" on the relevant application. This will state the case for the Legacy cycling facilities to include a proper Road circuit that can be fairly described as a replacement for what has been lost, and for an off-road competition facility that genuinely provides for racing at the level previously carried out at Eastway.\\\\r\\\\nAs part of the objection that will be made to the Planning Decisions Team, we will request that any permissions that are granted in respect of the applications that have currently been made will include conditions designed to secure replacement facilities for what has been given up at Eastway.\\\\r\\\\nThese requested conditions will cover the adequacy of the Road and Mountain Bike facilities in the light of previous promises and commitments made by the ODA and others and specifically in light of the conditions that had previously been attached to the Olympic Planning consents that were granted in 2004 during the Olympic bidding phase. The detailed wording will be agreed with our legal and technical advisers in time to make a formal submission by the 15 June deadline.\\\\r\\\\nBritish Cycling President Brian Cookson said:\\\\r\\\\n\"British Cycling is very pleased to be playing a key role in the design of the Olympic Park and we are committed to helping the ODA deliver outstanding Olympic facilities for our sport. However we are very disappointed at the failure by the ODA to make sufficient clear movement towards meeting our legitimate concerns regarding the legacy provision, concerns which we have been expressing to them for some time now. We will also be raising our concerns at the highest level with other relevant bodies and agencies involved in the delivery and legacy provision of the London 2012 Olympics.\"\\\\r\\\\nFrom: From Olympic Legacy - British Cycling Board confirms stance against Legacy Masterplan, Singletrack Magazine, Mon 11 june\\\\r\\\\nOne of the Singletrack comments says:\\\\r\\\\nby: plurien on: Thursday 14 June 2007 , The consultation for the applications being made closes on 15th June. The plans show NO MOUNTAINBIKE COMPETITION FACILITY AT ALL.\\\\r\\\\nPoints you may wish to raise in objection:\\\\r\\\\nThere has been no consultation, no attempt made to identify the needs of the cycling community based at Eastway.\\\\r\\\\nThe plans are not suitable for cycle sport outdoors\\\\r\\\\nThere is no off-road competition permitted within the constraints of the scheme applied for, so there can be no guarantee or planning condition made for it unless the scheme is rejected\\\\r\\\\nThe road circuit is unsafe and does not allow for large fields to circulate\\\\r\\\\nIts layout is uninspiring, being pushed right against the A12 in the shadow of a large building\\\\r\\\\nThe facility is cut in two by the A12 which brings noise and air pollution\\\\r\\\\nThere is no possibility of safe concurrent running of road and off-road sessions of any kind\\\\r\\\\nThe area made available for a legacy replacement is unsuitably small and in a marginal position\\\\r\\\\nNo amount of \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98design\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 prior to a subsequent detailed application for legacy can alleviate the absence of land area being made available in the outline application for the cycling facility in legacy phase\\\\r\\\\nUsers were made promises and given numerous assurances about the vailidity of a legacy before they willingly gave up their facility to make way for the Games.\\\\r\\\\nThe scheme now applied for in no way matches those schemes that were outlined and does not even come close to replacing the road and off-road cycling which made Eastway so successful as the base of a thriving community of people doing Olympic sports in Inner East London.\\\\r\\\\nFrom Olympic Legacy - British Cycling Board confirms stance against Legacy Masterplan, Singletrack Magazine, Mon 11 june\\\\r\\\\nMore at: Singletrackworld [1]\\\\r\\\\nFor more recent information go to: ODA and Eastway Users Group Correspondence [2]\\\\r\\\\nSee also: Cycling nowhere [3]\\\\r\\\\nSource URL:\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"Article | Cycling | Local groups\\\\r\\\\nUsers of the former Eastway Cycling facility in East London are currently protesting against plans for the 2012 Olympic Velo-park which they say will leave them without a facility for mountain bike racing in London. Pull up a chair, this is a long ol\\' story...\\\\r\\\\nWe\\'ve been following the to-and-fro argument between the Eastway Users\\' Group and British Cycling (and the Olympic organisers) closely. To be honest, much of it is political shuffling and angry name calling. But one thing we\\'ve been able to glean from the many, many emails between the two is that due to expanded housing plans for the Olympic village, the planned provision for mountain biking at the former Eastway is currently a token 900m track - a far cry from the 2-3 mile loops that were raced on weekly by many mountain bikers from London and afar. Current plans for a replacement circuit centre centre on Hog Hill, near Hainalt, seven miles from Eastway\\'s East London site. Funding for this has currently only been guaranteed until 2012.\\\\r\\\\nThis isn\\'t good enough in our biased opinion, most of us having raced there in the past. But with the aim of token fairness, we\\'re reprinting press releases from both sides below...\\\\r\\\\nSome Eastway riders went to hand in letters objecting to the Olympic legacy plans on Saturday 17th March 2007.\\\\r\\\\nStarting from near to The Royals, the temporary replacement for Eastway which is never going to open, riders made it their first stop to look at the undeveloped site which has left them with no road-racing season so far.\\\\r\\\\nThen it was on up to the offices of the ODA (Olympic Delivery Authority) to hand in letters of objection to the planning decisions team. Staff at the building refused to accept the letters and started to get heavy, so the group moved off to City Hall.\\\\r\\\\nA photo call provided evidence of what a happy community is now without any facility for its sport and the social interaction which comes with doing a sport. Many reflected on what has been lost, before it was time for riders who would have been training, racing and having fun at Eastway to go their separate ways once more. Some left for races at Hillingdon, others for Milton Keynes some went out to ride at Epping Forest and the rest? \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 well they just went home and wondered what it takes to keep Olympic sport going in London these days.\\\\r\\\\nPlacards calling for \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cMore Olympic Sport \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 mountainbike, road race and time-trial\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d summed up what people feel. They haven\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t been asked for their views and they have lost out yet they are the ones who were doing Olympic sports so successfully in East London. There will be no replacement for mountain bike competition, while the road circuit for racing and time-trialling will do more harm than good to those sports and the people doing them.\\\\r\\\\nComing so close after London\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s Olympic budget more than tripled, conversations wondered on;-\\\\r\\\\n- Where has all the land and all the money gone?\\\\r\\\\n- Where is the Olympic legacy for the three Olympic sports which started out on the site of the Olympic Park?\\\\r\\\\n- Where is the continuity our athletes need? \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 This is a season which has never started since Eastway closed and there is nowhere else to ride\\\\r\\\\n- What has happened to the promises that were made before London won the bid and took the land?\\\\r\\\\n- What does it take for cycle sport to be represented by people who can speak up for it?\\\\r\\\\nFrom: Eastway Users At Odds With Olympic Plans, Singletrack, 21 3 07\\\\r\\\\nMore (including a long press statement from British Cycling which is a masterpiece of vacuous blah) at: Singletrack\\\\r\\\\n\"b\\'Article | 2012 Legacy | Funding | Politics | Sustainability\\\\r\\\\nNEW council tax rises may be needed to fund the 2012 Olympics and its aftermath, it has emerged. A leaked report and parliamentary answers suggest that not only will households in London be affected, but also taxpayers in the surrounding counties, including Essex and Hertfordshire.\\\\r\\\\nKen Livingstone, the London mayor, has promised that the financial burden of the Olympics will be limited to a maximum of \\\\xc2\\\\xa320 a year per household in London. However, the documents reveal that ministers could take advantage of obscure powers to help to fund the Games and any extra debts they run up, potentially for decades to come.\\\\r\\\\nThe Tories warn that an obscure regional quango could be used to bear some of the long-term liabilities from the Games. The Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA) already owns some of the Olympic park land and, as it is funded from the council tax base of Essex, Hertfordshire and London boroughs through an annual levy, there could be knock-on effects for taxpayers, they claim.\\\\r\\\\nA private and confidential report from Deloitte, the auditor, on the possible implications of the Olympic \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9clegacy\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d for the LVRPA says \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9csubstantial increases would probably be needed in capacity and the necessary resources to fund it\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d. Answers to parliamentary questions reveal that ministers have instructed officials to begin talks with the LVRPA, including about \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cliabilities arising from London 2012\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d.\\\\r\\\\nLondon boroughs have already expressed concern that managing the Olympic venues after the Games could have an effect on council finances. Eric Pickles, shadow local government minister, said: \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cI fear that the Trojan horse of the Lee Valley authority could be used as cover for yet another stealth rise in council tax by Labour.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d\\\\r\\\\nThe Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cThere is no way in which any 2012-related cost overruns could be the responsibility of the park authority. We have a robust budget for 2012 that will guard against cost overruns.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d\\\\r\\\\nFrom: Home counties tax hike needed to fund Olympics, David Cracknell, Political Editor, The Sunday Times, January 6, 2008\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"Article | 2012 Legacy | Housing | Legacy | Planning & Development | Regeneration\\\\r\\\\nDespite admitting that there is no housing legacy from the Athletes\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Village, as the housing would have been built anyway, the ODA is still claiming the Athletes\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Village is an Olympic Legacy, a kind of Time Lapse Legacy, because they assert that the involvement of the Olympics means the project will be delivered earlier than it would otherwise have been, see article \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x982012 Legacy Housing Double Counting\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 . So I decided to ask another FoI question to establish when the ODA thought the housing would have been delivered if the ODA had not taken over the site and to ask them to further explain their reasoning.\\\\r\\\\nHere is my question.\\\\r\\\\nDear Mr Cheyne\\\\r\\\\nREQUEST FOR INFORMATION\\\\r\\\\nWe refer to your further request for information under the Freedom of Information Act(FOIA) received by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) on 11 August 2008 requesting the following information:\\\\r\\\\n1. In your recent response you say the housing on Stratford City (now called Stratford 2011), now part of the Athletes\\' Village, would not have been delivered by 2012. However, because of the Olympics this housing will not be delivered until 2013 at the earliest as the housing will have to be modified, so I do not think 2012 should be the date for comparison. The rest of Stratford City including, as I understand it, some housing is expected to be delivered by 2011. On what basis can you say the housing at the Village would not have been delivered by 2013 and what was the date for delivery as set out in the original plans?\\\\r\\\\nTheir response was as follows:\\\\r\\\\nItem 1\\\\r\\\\nBefore the inclusion of the Stratford City housing into the Athlete\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s Village, there was no planned delivery date of this housing.\\\\r\\\\nHardly a comprehensive answer! So, according to the ODA they had no idea when the housing would be delivered, which makes it hard to see how they can say it would not have been delivered by 2013. They make no response to the fact that the rest of Stratford City is to be built by 2011.\\\\r\\\\nHowever, it\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s actually the case that a project must be started within a certain period after planning permission is granted or the permission lapses and a new application has to be lodged. In this case outline permission was granted in 2004 which, as I understand it, would require final permission to be granted within another three years and the project would normally have to start within a further five years, meaning the expected completion date would have been 2012/2013! Their response fails to mention any of these conditions, which would represent a \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98planned delivery date of this housing\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99.\\\\r\\\\nThe ODA is forever looking for new ways to incorporate all local projects into the Legacy. The Legacy credit crunch avoidance argument, that even if the project has no inherent legacy value it has nevertheless gained one because of the credit crunch, which would have delayed the project if the ODA had not stepped in, has also been deployed by David Higgins in the case of the rest of the Stratford City development, see article \\'2012 Blog**ng Lies and Censorship\\' . Of course, the credit crunch is also causing difficulties for the 2012 Games, particularly in terms of raising funds for the Athletes\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Village and in addition the Village is also getting smaller. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Shoring up the Legacy is no different. Maybe it should be called the \\'Legacy Crunch\\'!\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Tue, 30/09/2008 - 15:12.\\\\r\\\\n\"b\\'Article | 2012 Arts & Culture | Hackney | Legacy | Regeneration\\\\r\\\\nThe poison of Olympic lies and delusions is steadily spreading through the Olympic Boroughs. Earlier in the year Hackney Mayor Jules Pipe denounced Michael Rosen, the Children\\\\\\'s Laureate, for criticising the development in Dalston as \\\\\\'degeneration\\\\\\' saying Rosen wanted to \\\\\\'keep Hackney crap\\\\\\'. Now this argument between Hackney\\\\\\'s authors and its Council has plumbed new depths with the banning of Iain Sinclair, author of \\\\\\'The Olympic Scam\\\\\\' (see attachment), from launching his new book, \\\\\\'Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire\\\\\\', on Council premises.\\\\r\\\\nThe Council justified its ban with the following absurd reasoning: \"Ian Sinclair is well known as an author who has expressed controversial opinions on local issues, such as regeneration and the 2012 Olympic legacy. A decision was taken that it would be inappropriate to launch this book about Hackney in a Council owned facility, as we do not wish it to appear that the Council condones or shares opinions expressed within the book. The same decision would be taken about launching any book expressing controversial or political opinions from a Council owned facility. The Council is happy to advise Mr Sinclair\\\\\\'s publishers on more suitable venues in the borough, such as independent bookstores.\"\\\\r\\\\nWhy anyone would think that because Iain Sinclair was using Council premises this might suggest Council approval of his opinions is a mystery. Even stranger is the implication that it is necessary for the Council to distance itself from the opinions expressed in his book when it has no idea of what he has written.  Sinclair is not renowned for inciting hatred or violence, which would seem to be the only legitimate and legal grounds for barring someone from using Council premises. In their ban Hackney highlight the fact that his controversial opinions relate to \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98local issues\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. It is an indication of the Council\\\\\\'s intellectual bankruptcy that it seems to regard this as further justification for banning him from local facilities.\\\\r\\\\nFor some reason Hackney is particularly concerned about \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98book launches\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 saying this decision would apply to \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98any book\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. So what about books already launched and possibly berthed on its library shelves, assuming they haven\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t already been removed to make way for stored ideas, \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98expressing controversial or political opinions\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99? The idea that \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98expressing controversial or political opinions\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 is an adequate reason for banning Mr Sinclair would suggest all debate, including political argument, should be banished from Hackney\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s hallowed halls. Mr Pipe, himself, should be prevented from making assertions about \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98crap\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 on Council-owned premises.\\\\r\\\\nIt is disturbing when visions of farce start to become reality. The fact that Hackney highlights Mr Sinclair\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s views on the Olympic Legacy and regeneration reveals the real reason for the ban. For Iain Sinclair to question the holy grail of East End Olympic regeneration requires Hackney\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s knights to ride to its rescue! The tools of media manipulation and misinformation are close at hand when it comes to the Olympics. London 2012 tries to keep a tight rein on what can be said on its blog, see Higgins bl*gs again , and the infection spreads to other organisations like Art on the Underground, see Inclusive Censorship: Art on the Underground TriFLes with our lives .\\\\r\\\\nThe hallowed Olympic park itself is protected with the drawn sword of Anti-Terrorism legislation. The obsession with control and security descends into dangerous farce. Recently an artist taking a photograph of a child pictured on the blue fence was told by a security guard he had to hand over the film or have it taken off him! Because of the alignment of the fence the artist wasn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t even facing the park when taking the photograph, deemed on other occasions to be an offence. He had thought it quaint that the child was also taking a photo.\\\\r\\\\nHackney Council\\\\\\'s equally farcical venture into literary criticism plainly rests on its belief that its premises \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98belong\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 to the Council, that is its staff and politicians, rather than to the people, like Iain Sinclair, who live in the Borough and pay for their upkeep along with the salaries of these same staff and politicians. These guardians of propriety present themselves as being above the din of ill-informed popular controversy, determined to prevent the pollution of Council-owned facilities by vulgar opinion.\\\\r\\\\nThe language of the ban is impersonal. We aren\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t told who took the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98decision\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99, only that \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98a decision was taken\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. What arcane mystery does this conceal? How did this come about? It\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s as if the ban is a kind of collective spiritual response from deep within the bowels of Hackney\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s Council-owned facilities transmitted through the medium of a Council spokesperson!  The Council has a vague unease. It is not entirely sure of what it is objecting to. It does not clearly assert wrongdoing.  Only that something \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98inappropriate\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 is about to happen! It seems to fear something \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98Sinclair\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 is threatening the noble, Olympian ideals of Hackney - trying to keep it \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98crap\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99.\\\\r\\\\nBut, of course, being a Council it is \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98happy\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 to advise on \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98more suitable\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 venues. So they really are the good guys.\\\\r\\\\nAttachment\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"Article | Legacy | Newham | Planning & Development | Regeneration\\\\r\\\\nIt\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s not only the Chinese who censor comment! The following \\'terminological inexactitudes\\' appeared on the London 2012 Blog from David Higgins , Chief Executive of the ODA, as the London Olympics tries to purloin every development in the vicinity of the Olympic park for the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98Legacy\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. Not only do we have a post-Games legacy but now a pre-Games legacy! Stratford City, Stratford 2011, Newham Council Major Opportunity Zone 1 (as in Newham\\'s Unitary Development Plan) or whatever it\\'s called is now just another example of the catalytic effect of the Games, even though it was approved before the Bid was won, was designed to stand alone if the Olympics did not come to London and had been Newham\\'s pet project for the previous decade. The Mayor of Newham was so protective of this scheme that at one point he put out a press release accusing London 2012 of endangering its survival.\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Thu, 04/09/2008 - 22:45.\\\\r\\\\n\"b\"Article | 2012 Finance | Cycling | Sport\\\\r\\\\nThe Lea Valley Regional Park Authority seems to be a trifle confused. In its 2007/8 accounts it identifies the 2012 Olympics as \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98a major risk that could affect all our key business objectives into the future.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 It goes on to say \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98The award of the Olympics to London will affect our land, business, financial and human resources. At this stage it is too early to fully assess the precise impact.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Later on it goes on restate the problem \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98It is important that the Authority remains focused on the issues and related risk of the Olympics, and that the new Strategic Business Plan reflects the effect of the Olympics risk on our business objectives.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99\\\\r\\\\nThe LVRPA is not renowned for being a controversial or outspoken organisation. For example, when the access bridge for the International Station was built over the River Lea it failed to insist on replacement land to make up for the land it lost. So it is a little surprising to find it expressing this kind of concern about the 2012 Olympics.\\\\r\\\\nHowever, elsewhere it is more on message. On its website it declares that \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is an exciting and challenging project for the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA). By virtue of geography, statutory remit and landholding we are at the heart of the project and fully involved in the legacy master planning work for the Olympic Park.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99\\\\r\\\\nThe LVRPA also reveals in its accounts that it is making a financial contribution to the Olympics. In 2006/7 net expenditure was \\\\xc2\\\\xa3215,000 and in 2007/8 \\\\xc2\\\\xa3233,000. This will, of course, also apply to a whole range of other organisations like local councils, sports, educational and arts organisations showing that the present budget of around \\\\xc2\\\\xa310 billion does not reveal the whole picture.\\\\r\\\\nOn its website it goes on to say \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98We are playing a key role in the planning of London 2012 venues which lie on LVRPA land and for which we will have long term responsibility such as the VeloPark, the White Water Canoe Slalom Course and the legacy facilities at Eton Manor. In terms of our contribution to the wider design of the Olympic Parklands we are greatly involved in specific work streams including parkland design, utilities and city form and type.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Its accounts state that it has \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98an officer-led Olympic Project Team that is working on Olympic-related issues.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99\\\\r\\\\nHowever, one piece of LVRPA expenditure on the Olympic Park is rather strange. Its accounts reveal net expenditure of \\\\xc2\\\\xa3337,000 in 2007/8 and \\\\xc2\\\\xa3754,000 in 2006/7 on the \\'Lea Valley Cycle Circuit\\'. Unless the LVRPA has another cycle circuit somewhere else in the Lea Valley this cycle circuit at Eastway closed in the latter part of 2006!\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Sat, 06/12/2008 - 19:47.\\\\r\\\\nlvrpa accounts\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by paul (not verified) on Sun, 07/12/2008 - 17:31.\\\\r\\\\nSuspect these Cycle Circuit sums are LVRPA contributions towards the Olympic velodrome that LVRPA hope to take over post 2012 (in order presumably to make losses that then have to be paid for by the London boroughs. Either that or it was the cost of moving the newts from the Bully Fen nature reserve before it was destroyed.\\\\r\\\\nFascinating accounts. I always knew that the riding centre and the ice rink had never made any money but to see that they lost \\\\xc2\\\\xa3303,000 and \\\\xc2\\\\xa3801,000 respectively in 2007/08 came as a bit of a shock. You can see why LVRPA might be keen to take over a lot of the Olympic legacy park after 2012. Whatever the losses the London taxpayer will pay!\\\\r\\\\n\"b\"this data is currently not publicly accessible.\\\\r\\\\nTIMESTAMPS\\\\r\\\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\\\r\\\\nThe Olympic Park: the seven and a half hectares legacy\\\\r\\\\nBy Julian Cheyne\\\\r\\\\nCreated 3 Dec 2008 - 23:41\\\\r\\\\nIn his evidence on the Olympic Legacy to the 2006 Compulsory Purchase Inquiry, Lord Sir Sebastian Coe stated that it was impossible to know what the economic situation would be in 2012. Objectors did point out that this suggested some uncertainty as to what would happen at the end of the Olympics. Despite this he and others were sure in their prediction of Legacy benefits. Now that Coe\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s worst case scenario has crunched, Tessa Jowell has said if they\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99d known this was going to happen the Government wouldn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t have put in a bid. But then she thought better of it and decided that, after all, the Olympics is a key part of their anti-crunch strategy.\\\\r\\\\nHowever, one thing about the Legacy was always predictable, and was predicted by objectors, credit crunch or no credit crunch, \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98the largest new park in Europe for 150 years\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 was unlikely to materialise as planned. Even before the crunch it had shrunk from 129 hectares to 110 hectares in the 2004 and 2007 planning permissions respectively. Now it is down to 100 hectares.\\\\r\\\\nActually this shrinking was inherent to the plan. Livingstone, in his conversion to property speculator and believer in the miracle of ever rising property prices, had convinced himself that the costs of the Olympics could be recouped from the sale of land. As the non-profit making element in this land speculation the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98largest new park in Europe\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 was always going to be the meat in the sandwich, available to be cut up to increase the profits and reduce costs. Those more practised in the buying and selling of land had already pointed out land values would not be adequate to pull off this trick and so it proved even before the latest crash.\\\\r\\\\nThe problem with the sale of Olympic land for development is that the value of the land depends on the size and quality of the open space it surrounds. So the ODA is caught in a trap. The more land it sells to recoup the cost of the Games the less parkland remains. But the smaller the park the lower the value of the land being sold to developers, as they want to build expensive private housing next to a large area of green open space.\\\\r\\\\nThe \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98largest new park in Europe for 150 years\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 is now around three-quarters its original size and is no longer described as the largest new park in Europe for 150 years. But no matter, ODA chief executive David Higgins has a new slogan, \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98it will be a park for the 21st century\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. That\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s handy, seeing as we are in the 21st century. According to Higgins, this \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98park for the 21st century\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 will set \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98high standards which combine the best of British park heritage with sustainable living.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Does he mean people are going to be living in eco-cottages and farming organically in the park?\\\\r\\\\nIn July 2008 I asked the ODA what the starting point was for the new park. I received the answer that before the Olympic programme there were 92.8 hectares of accessible and inaccessible open space in the area of the new park, see attached Freedom of Information requests. Just as cpo objectors tried to point out that the Lea Valley could have been developed on a piecemeal basis, so existing open space could have been made accessible, extended and linked to provide a new park of similar or greater size than proposed by the ODA, at limited cost, without the destruction of existing facilities. I also asked the ODA what the projected cost of creating this new park would be. The ODA declined to answer on the grounds of commercial sensitivity.\\\\r\\\\nGiven that the existing space was not in the same configuration as the planned new park, it is nevertheless the case that the new park is only going to add 7.2 hectares to what was already available. Interestingly in one FoI response the ODA stated that it was bound by a planning condition to provide 102 hectares of open space. It now seems to have fallen below that requirement. Moreover, open space in this park, according to the ODA\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s definition, includes hockey pitches, tennis venues, BMX and cycle tracks and a cricket pitch, gardens and areas around stadiums, as well as towpaths and walkways.\\\\r\\\\nThe new and reduced ODA park does not take account of the loss of parkland suffered by local communities such as those at Hackney Wick, which are now unlikely to receive even the limited promised replacement for Arena Fields. Even if the ODA does produce its Legacy plan in 2009, albeit two years late, it is likely to be subject to further revision, just as the stadiums and facilities agreed in the planning permission of 2007 are now being shuffled around. Circumstances, as Lord Sir Seb uncertainly anticipated, are likely to require further alterations and cutbacks by 2012. By then perhaps the Olympics will have made London the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98world city\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Livingstone thinks it isn\\'t and the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98park for the 21st century\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 will have become an \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98exciting experiment in modular park design for sustainable living in a 21st century world city\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99, surrounded by 21st century world city gated estates.\\\\r\\\\nAttachment\\\\r\\\\n\"b\"Article | 2012 Construction | Environment | Hackney | Legacy | Local groups | Planning & Development\\\\r\\\\nOn 15th October Shona Abantu-Choudhury posted the statement below on the noise and dust at Leabank Square on the Leabank Square Blogspot along with pictures of the machinery at work. You can see what other residents have to say by following the \\'comments\\' link below his statement on the blogspot. Shona and his wife Nadira were also interviewed by BBC News . This follows earlier reports contained in More \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98Anecdotal\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Complaints of Noise and Dust from Leabank Square Residents about the situation at Leabank Square. Residents are increasingly concerned at the steadily diminishing legacy they and others in Hackney Wick will inherit once the Games are over. Having lost a vital green space at Arena Fields they are now worried the promised replacement parkland will not materialise.\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Tue, 21/10/2008 - 00:53.\\\\r\\\\n\"b\\'Leabank Square residents have panned the design for the Media Centre. So has CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. Only they won\\\\\\'t have to live opposite what one resident has called a \\\\\\'tower block on its side\\\\\\'.\\\\r\\\\nLeabank Square blogspot carries the following article:\\\\r\\\\nTake a look at the picture above - you are going to be so sick of looking at it for the next couple of decades!!!\\\\r\\\\nThis is the best the Olympics could come up with as part of OUR legacy!!!!!\\\\r\\\\nThis is the reward we have been given for giving them OUR beloved green lung - Arena Fields!!!!\\\\r\\\\nThanks to everyone who has sent me comments, emails, letters, had chats in the gardens, etc! There is not a single resident of Arena Fields (nor Wick Village next door!!) who likes the design for the International Broadcast Centre & Main Press Centre!\\\\r\\\\nAgain - Hackney Wick has been dumped on by the Olympic Delivery Authority! We have always been seen as the poorest neighbour of the whole Olympic Park - and their attitude is that we should be grateful for anything we get.\\\\r\\\\nWell - we had a perfectly beautiful green park in Arena Fields directly opposite us - and now we have two massive blocks of steel & glass instead. My children\\\\\\'s lego creations have more imagination, beauty & practical use - than what Hackney Wick is going to get as a legacy!\\\\r\\\\nI was at a meeting last week where a suit from the Olympics was telling us that the buildings \\\\\\'will come alive\\\\\\' when the cladding is put on. Putting all your suggestions about living walls to him - he nearly passed out! Leabank Square - he\\\\\\'s \\\\\\'not sure\\\\\\' about living walls - but how about a nice greeny/greyee dappled metal finish?!\\\\r\\\\nSo - they took away Arena Fields - with our orchard & trees - and gave given us two massive glass & steel blocks - and won\\\\\\'t even consider cladding them in beautiful green, living, growing plants?!\\\\r\\\\nSome legacy!!!\\\\r\\\\nEven CABE The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment - who advise on well-designed buildings, places and spaces) said that:\\\\r\\\\n\"The architecture as shown is extremely weak, lacking real conviction as to how it could work in Transition and Legacy, and in the case of the IBC revealing a paucity of imagination and analysis which we find deeply disappointing.\\\\r\\\\nIn relation to specific buildings on the site, our greatest concern is the extraordinary banality of the IBC \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98mega structure\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. In our view, it is simply not good enough as currently proposed. We would go so far as to say that its continued presence would blight rather than enhance the Olympic Legacy. We believe that a fundamental rethink needs to be undertaken in respect of the external appearance of this building. Otherwise the public might well ask why this sort of building, which has been removed from the Lower Lee Valley in order to create a vibrant new future, is being reinstated at a larger scale.\"\\\\r\\\\nAnd guess who the Olympic Delivery Authority need to submit the plans to in order to get permission to carry this architectural monstrosity forward? Themselves!\\\\r\\\\nThat\\\\\\'s right Leabank Square! The Olympics give themselves permission to build anything they want on our Arena Fields!\\\\r\\\\nHackney Council has no say. Boris Johnson has no say. Meg Hillier has no say (not that she ever does!). Gordon Brown has no say.\\\\r\\\\nThe Olympics decide what is best for us oiks across the canal to stare at for the next 50 years. And the picture above is the best they\\\\\\'ve come up with!\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Wed, 06/05/2009 - 01:17.\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"Gareth Blacker, Director of Olympic Development for the LDA to visit Manor Garden Allotments\\\\r\\\\nStart:\\\\r\\\\n25 Sep 2006 - 14:00\\\\r\\\\nFollowing a year long campaign by Manor Gardening Society, Gareth Blacker, Director of Development of the Olympics for the LDA will finally meet face to face with Albert and 83 yr old Tom on their plots. He will also try to explain to 10yr old Boris, who is so passionate about his parents plot that he wants to inherit it so he can leave it to his son. He celebrated his coming of age in traditional Turkish style at the allotments on Sunday.\\\\r\\\\nMr Blacker plans to tell the gardeners at the 100 year old allotments, bequeathed by Major Villiers to be allotments in perpetuity, that they have to move to make way for a footpath needed for the four week \\'green\\' Olympics.\\\\r\\\\nHe will also meet with the steering group of plot holders, locallers and Senior Lecturer in Architecture at UEL, Tak Hoshimo. They have put together an alternative plan for retaining the plots. Mr Hoshimo is clear that the allotments can and should be retained, in line with modern sustainable architecture, to become the healthy heart and true legacy of the post Olympic \\'Legacy\\' Park. \\'The plans I\\'ve seen would not pass an architecture exam these days. Pieces of interesting and highly effective land use such as this should form the basis for the design, not be deleted to make way for iconic 19th century type civil engineering.\\'\\\\r\\\\nAddress: Manor Garden Allotments, Waterden Rd. borders of Newham and Hackney. E15.\\\\r\\\\nDirections: Silverlink train to Hackney Wick Station then 10 min walk via Carpenters Rd and Waterden Rd. Entrance next to Waterden Rd bus garage on East side of Waterden Rd., over single track bridge across River Lea. (not marked on A-Z)\\\\r\\\\nMore details tel:Julie Sumner:- 0208 525 0025\\\\r\\\\nor  07956 890 825\\\\r\\\\n\"b\"GLA Budget and Performance Committee\\\\r\\\\nThe Finances of the Olympic Legacy\\\\r\\\\nPart1: Olympic Park transfer and continuing liabilities\\\\r\\\\nOctober 2010\\\\r\\\\nA futile attempt to cut through the murk of the 2012 legacy financing and accountability. As one might expect, it\\'s going to cost an awful lot of money on top of what\\'s already been spent, no-one knows how much, when any benefits might be delivered, what they will be exactly or who will be accountable. Plus ca change.\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Charles Batsworth on Fri, 31/12/2010 - 11:36.\\\\r\\\\n\"b\"GLA Budgetary and Performance Committee report -  Olympic Park transfer and continuing liabilities Oct 2010\\\\r\\\\nGLA Budget and Performance Committee\\\\r\\\\nThe Finances of the Olympic Legacy\\\\r\\\\nPart1: Olympic Park transfer and continuing liabilities\\\\r\\\\nOctober 2010\\\\r\\\\nA futile attempt to cut through the murk of the 2012 legacy financing and accountability. As one might expect, it\\'s going to cost an awful lot of money on top of what\\'s already been spent, no-one knows how much, when any benefits might be delivered, what they will be exactly or who will be accountable. Plus ca change.\\\\r\\\\nIt\\'s safe to say that local people who will be suffering the \\'Olympic legacy\\' gave up any attempt to understand any of this years ago.\\\\r\\\\nAttachment\\\\r\\\\n\"b\"GLA Budget and Performance Committee\\\\r\\\\nThe Finances of the Olympic Legacy\\\\r\\\\nPart1: Olympic Park transfer and continuing liabilities\\\\r\\\\nOctober 2010\\\\r\\\\nA futile attempt to cut through the murk of the 2012 legacy financing and accountability. As one might expect, it\\'s going to cost an awful lot of money on top of what\\'s already been spent, no-one knows how much, when any benefits might be delivered, what they will be exactly or who will be accountable. Plus ca change.\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Charles Batsworth on Fri, 31/12/2010 - 11:36.\\\\r\\\\n\"b\\'Tessa Farmer, Laura Oldfield Ford, Karen Russo\\\\r\\\\nJune 6th \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 June 26th 2009\\\\r\\\\nAs the consequences of the global recession take effect, the regeneration of the traditional home of London\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s largest artist community in East London has slowed  and the promised Olympic legacy looks in doubt. It is within this context that SPACE presents \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98Slump City\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99, an exhibition presenting the work of three emerging artists whose visionary and haunting work combines gothic fantasy, poetic social realism and psycho-geography to imagine the urban periphery.\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"Home\\\\r\\\\nProperty companies eye Olympic profits\\\\r\\\\nThe Property world is getting excited by the interest supposedly being showed in the Athletes\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Village and the Media Centre . Of course, expressions of interest are not the same as money on the table. But even if the money does materialise what does this signify? That property tycoons see an opportunity to make a profit? And that profit will be made at a loss to the public purse of at least \\\\xc2\\\\xa3150million on the Village and an unknown sum on the Media Centre.\\\\r\\\\nOf course none of the property journalists remember the residents of Clays Lane who were removed, and left worse off, to make way for this Village property fest. As Games Monitor has made plain their estate was included in the Stratford City project because of the Olympics, something which would not otherwise have occurred. And it was done on the basis of the continuing lie that this represents a housing legacy . The ODA had to admit that there was no legacy from the Village as the housing was going to be built anyway but that doesn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t prevent them continuing to claim it. One undeclared legacy is that private housing replaces the social housing demolished to make way for it.\\\\r\\\\nNeither does the property press remember that the Press and Broadcasting Media Centre stands on the former Arena Field, a play space for local people. Now it is just another investment opportunity. Earlier there were reports of the need to spend further money to make up the deficiencies of the Centre and upgrade it after the Olympics, a spend that may yet have to be met out of public funds. No wonder there are so many enthusiastic private sector bidders! Where were they when the property market collapsed and funding was needed and will they still be interested if they, rather than the public sector, have to fork out for this upgrade?\\\\r\\\\nPaul Norman also gets enthusiastic about an article in the Telegraph . Both place great reliance on a report from glorified estate agents CBRE, \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98advisors\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 to the OPLC. That certainly makes CBRE unbiased observers! CBRE recycles a number of old LDA/ODA chestnuts, the first of which is that Westfield kept going in Stratford because of London 2012. Really? Westfield Stratford is not a one-off shopping centre but is designed as one of two shopping centres, the other at White City, to cover both ends of London. When Stratford City launched its planning application, granted before the Olympics, it was described as a \\'Metropolitan Centre\\' to serve the whole of London. Matthew Black of CBRE declares that because of the Olympics Stratford will become an extension of Central London. He omits to mention that this was exactly what Stratford City was designed to achieve as a metropolitan centre. This posed a bit of problem for the LDA which had to explain why Stratford needed a second regeneration programme with the Olympics so it spent a lot of time rubbishing the Stratford City project during the CPO process. Once all that was over the ODA built it up again claiming it as a pre-Games legacy.\\\\r\\\\nThe report also refers to the \\'problem\\' of \\'fragmented land ownership\\' which we heard so much about during the CPO Inquiry - those of us who were there! Why is \\'fragmented\\' landownership a problem? Or why is \\'concentrated\\' land ownership, which is what we have now on the Olympic Park, a good thing? CBRE get excited about IKEA\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s purchase of Sugar House Lane, which Matthew Black calls a \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98magic site\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. How this supports the point about fragmented land ownership is unclear. Sugar House Lane is not in the Olympic Park and was not owned by the ODA, LDA or any other part of the new concentrated land management in the area. It was purchased from Cleveland, a \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98fragmented\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 owner. CBRE is just rehashing, rather clumsily, the justification advanced by the Olympic bidders that the area needed the wholesale expropriation of land from one set of owners and its sale at a profit to another set, displacing existing users and owners as part of the deal, in order for it to be \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98developed\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99.\\\\r\\\\nCBRE also make the usual casual references to past dereliction and present refurbishment, so beloved of the LDA and ODA, to justify the programme. CBRE\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s Mr Black refers to the obstacle of \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98contaminated, polluted land\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. Games Monitor has pointed out the limitations and failings of the 2012 clean-up programme , which even the ODA acknowledges mean developers may well have to do further remediation before development can proceed. But the fact of the matter is that sites are regularly cleaned up by developers if sufficient profit can be made so contamination is not in itself a bar to development. This is the case with Sugar House Lane as it is outside the clean-up area and any decontamination will have to be carried out by IKEA.\\\\r\\\\nCBRE also claims the Olympics has resulted in the clean-up of the canal but once again this has nothing to do with Sugar House Lane as it is outside the Park and it is unclear there has been any clean up of these sections of the canal or river. Of course, the lock at Three Mills , constructed ostensibly to allow barges to take materials in and out of the Park (although almost no barges use the lock), has meant an end to the tidal flow on the river Lea, a public sector development which will make the river more attractive to property developers.\\\\r\\\\nAs for redundant buildings which CBRE says would have littered the area if the Olympics had not intervened, Sugar House Lane being outside the Park is, of course, full of redundant buildings, which is why it was available for purchase. The Olympic site, on the other hand was full of buildings, now demolished, which were in use and where 5000 people worked. Those people worked in \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98dirty\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 industrial jobs which have been moved out of the area and will be replaced by \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98clean\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 high-tech creative type work, which is unlikely meet the employment needs of locals.\\\\r\\\\nThen, of course, the report makes the usual nod towards the claims of investment in infrastructure brought about by the Olympics. Exactly what infrastructure is not stated. Most of the Olympic investment relates to specific buildings and roads within the Olympic Park. Much has been made of transport improvements but these are largely mythological. All the road, rail and tube infrastructure was in place before the Olympics turned up. Stratford was already one of the best connected places in the capital. In terms of housing, the Olympics, by taking land out of circulation, have actually held up development as Jason Prior, Olympics Master Planner, has stated. New housing is being built all over the area outside the Park and these developments have nothing to do with the Olympics. Nearby development zones like Three Mills have their own development plans which are entirely separate from the Olympics.\\\\r\\\\nThe Telegraph acknowledges the importance of the Westfield/Stratford City project for development in the area. Of course, Stratford City would have attracted further investment and prompted further development on its own account if the Olympics hadn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t come. Now it is tangled up with \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98legacy\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 so we will never know how this would have occurred without the Olympics. However, it is certainly true that the investment of public funds has provided a considerable incentive for the private sector. Hardly surprising as this was what was intended all along. Private sector companies will \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98invest\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 when the price is right and the profit is clear. The irony is that the prospects for Stratford were always much better than the Olympic bidders claimed and the public investment in the Olympic Park has simply added to the costs which need to be recovered.\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Sun, 19/12/2010 - 23:03.\\\\r\\\\n\"b\\'Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive.  Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.\\\\r\\\\nTIMESTAMPS\\\\r\\\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\\\r\\\\nOur biggest local swimming pool is closing\\\\r\\\\nBy Martin Slavin\\\\r\\\\nCreated 2 Jul 2007 - 08:21\\\\r\\\\n\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cThe Olympics will promote sport and healthy living in the capital,\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d it says the website of Waltham Forest borough council. \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cWe can now look forward to seeing the area regenerate with the best sporting, leisure and cultural facilities the world has ever seen.\"\\\\r\\\\nWaltham Forest has also unveiled its slogan for the Games. \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cIt\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s happening here,\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d it boasts. And guess what is happening there? The biggest and best swimming pool, the one used by club swimmers and triathletes and talented teenagers with dreams of competing for Great Britain in 2012, is to close next month. It is closing because Waltham Forest College, where it is housed, cannot afford the \\\\xc2\\\\xa374,833 it loses every year, or the \\\\xc2\\\\xa3159,000 one-off maintenance payment that will be required in 2007-08.\\\\r\\\\nNow raise the ante to the Olympic mountain biking venue that will be constructed at South Weald in Essex. The cost is \\\\xc2\\\\xa35 million, the event will last six hours (including two medal ceremonies) and the facility will be torn down the moment it is over. We could keep the pool at Waltham Forest College going until 2074 with that cash.\\\\r\\\\nWaltham Forest College pool is significant because it is 33 metres long: still 17 metres short of Olympic standard but superior to most council-owned leisure pools, which is why it is home to 11 local schools in winter and numerous swimming and triathlon clubs throughout the year, including Leyton SC, Walthamstow Tritons SC, Swim4Tri and the Gators, more properly known as Borough of Waltham Forest SC. The Gators is a Swim21 Performance club, meaning it is serious about the sport, competition and coaching and adheres to the demanding development model of the Amateur Swimming Association.\\\\r\\\\nTo maintain this status it needs ten hours\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 swim time each week and that is not possible at a council-run pool, which must serve a large community. Any swimmers with international ambitions will now leave the Borough of Waltham Forest team, or may be lost to the sport entirely. The nearest club of equivalent stature is in Ealing, West London, so it might as well be in Sheffield, where the only Olympic standard swimming pool in England resides.\\\\r\\\\nTo make the Olympic budget work, \\\\xc2\\\\xa32.2 billion has been taken from lottery funding. That is the reality of the London games. Big-ticket items constructed at the expense of grassroots sport. So, after the circus has left town, London will have one fantastic swimming pool based in Stratford, with a seating capacity of 2,500 \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 but not much else. The London Pools campaign identified nine facilities in the capital that closed last year and sixteen more that were under threat. In addition, 10 per cent of school pools had shut.\\\\r\\\\nWaltham Forest College was also the only local educational establishment where people could gain water-based qualifications, such as life-guarding or swimming instruction That shortfall figure again: \\\\xc2\\\\xa374,833.\\\\r\\\\nLast year, the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, and assorted officials spent \\\\xc2\\\\xa336,000 on one Olympics-related visit to Cuba. In 2001, the London Development Agency, instrumental in the Olympic building project, settled a bill for \\\\xc2\\\\xa3140,000 on a lunch to announce plans to tackle (get this) urban poverty. The last Olympic budget, as discussed by Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, was \\\\xc2\\\\xa310.4 billion. And yet, between them, the mayor, the council, the Government, the lottery and all the other bureaucrats, politicians and self-promoters that are attached to our Olympic bid will stand idle as sport at its most beneficial level is bulldozed to make way for a three-week extravaganza.\\\\r\\\\nFrom:  Your brilliant Olympic legacy: the local pool\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s closed, Martin Samuel The Times, June 12, 2007\\\\r\\\\nMore at: Draining the Pool [1]\\\\r\\\\nSource URL:\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\\'Getting a leg(acy) up\\\\r\\\\nby Stuart Fuller\\\\r\\\\nHere is a little secret for West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur awaiting the decision on who will get the Olympic Stadium next week.  Whisper it quietly, but football fans rarely want to watch football in an Olympic Stadium.  Why do I say that? Well a simple look at similar structures around the world, built for non-football events reveals quite a bit.  The prospect of an Olympic Games being awarded to a city sends them into construction meltdown, over promising and in most cases under delivering on the legacy of the games.  The whole story of whether a stadium will have an athletics track or not is not a new thing.  We all know that at the end of the day politics will win the day, and we have seen all sorts of stories in the past few weeks about who will do what when/if they win the bid.\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Steve Dowding on Tue, 25/01/2011 - 22:18.\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"Home\\\\r\\\\nStratford City Construction Fatality Follows Safety Warnings\\\\r\\\\nIn mid 2009 IWW members produced a report on health and safety at Stratford City. Regrettably, it seems their concerns about the nature of working practices on the site have proved well-founded. On 16th December 2009, Shaun Scurry, an employee of Firesafe Installations, died after suffering serious injuries in a lift accident on 9th December 2009 at the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre site. Shaun from Kirkby, Liverpool, was 39, the father of two sons and engaged to be married. He was reportedly trapped between a steel beam and an industrial lift when he was installing lagging to ductwork. The accident is being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive. In January 2010, the IWW members updated their report, which is attached.\\\\r\\\\nThe authors say that they have compiled their report using statements by both IWW and non-IWW members working on site. They allege \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98systematic breaches of basic health and safety standards\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 which place workers \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98at risk of injury and death\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. They also accuse the police of \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98intimidation of workers and harassment of union activists\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 and point to the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98exclusive sweetheart deal\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 with UCATT as a cause of the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98proliferation of pyramid sub-contracting\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 on the various sites. Firesafe Installations was one such contractor employed by Westfield to install fire safety systems.\\\\r\\\\nAccording to the IWW report, Mr Scurry was not being assisted by a second ground operator, as required, when the scissor lift was activated and rose crushing him against a beam. It goes on to allege that PC Harrington, another contracted company responsible for the management of this sector, then put up safety signs and fences, cleaned up walkways and secured ladders, which should have been done beforehand but had not, to give the impression to safety officers who arrived later that the site was well managed. As evidence of UCATT\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s failure to properly represent the workers on site the report says that no UCATT stewards or officials visited the site of the accident to talk to workers or to investigate the accident. No information was supplied to workers by either UCATT or management about the condition of Mr Scurry. The report says workers have been angered by the behaviour of management and have collected over \\\\xc2\\\\xa313,000 for his family.\\\\r\\\\nThe Olympic Delivery Authority has long claimed Stratford City as part of the Olympic legacy and praised its partnership with Westfield. The IWW report claims that, contrary to the impression created by the ODA, accident rates are much higher than reported because site managers do not report accidents such as cuts and muscular injuries. They cite two reports, one by a worker on the Olympic Athletes\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Village site who was told to stay in the canteen after injuring a tendon so that \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98the absence would not be reported\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 and another by a worker who aggravated a back injury after it wasn\\'t treated.\\\\r\\\\nAmong other failings the report states that there are too many obstructed walkways, fall-through points, unprotected trenches and unsecured ladders and platforms, particularly in the sector managed by PC Harrington, all of which represent serious hazards for workers and have resulted in \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98multiple accidents\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. This is an indication of poor site planning. Workers are not being provided with personal protective equipment, like dust masks and goggles, and are having to work long shifts with pneumatic drills, which may result in vibration injuries. The report contends that the proliferation of sub-contractors has exacerbated these problems. It also claims there is a lack of clean toilets, hot water and washing and drying facilities and that workers face harassment for taking toilet breaks and have had to work in wet clothes in the recent cold weather.\\\\r\\\\nThat workers may not be provided with personal protective equipment comes as no surprise to those who used to live at Clays Lane, the estate demolished to make way for the Olympics. In an email sent to Lawrence Waterman , the Director of Health and Safety for the ODA on 25th February 2008, (see attachment in link) I pointed out that residents and allotment holders had asked workers at Eastway and Clays Lane at different times \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98whether they knew what was on the site and they have said no. They were shocked when we told them about the industrial contamination and radioactive material and one group went and got themselves face masks. If, as the ODA says, this is a \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98heavily contaminated\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 area then I would have thought some protective clothing was necessary. At one time workers were drilling on a site which was thought to be in the line of a possible migration of radioactive material but even then they were not using Geiger counters or wearing any particular clothing.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99\\\\r\\\\nResidents had also experienced contractors working out of hours and in areas close to Clays Lane, which they were meant to avoid under planning controls. They also demolished housing while denying they were doing so and failed to control dust causing severe problems to the Travellers living next door. The ODA failed to act to control any of the breaches of planning regulations or to prevent the dust pollution. Residents at Leabank Square have highlighted similar problems with ODA operations and also faced intimidatory responses from the ODA. There is nothing particularly surprising, therefore, to find these kinds of statements being made in this report.\\\\r\\\\nAgainst a background of recession, companies\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 cost cutting, blacklisting of workers and a refusal to allow access to officials of unrecognised unions, the authors are critical of the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98practices of partnership\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99, represented by the domination of management and the lack of rank and file control over unions, in ensuring workers\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 safety. A union like UCATT sees itself as a \\'go-between\\', maintaining co-operation between workers and bosses. The report says that UCATT deploys non-elected stewards, who are appointed by officials, on the Stratford City site, which represents a serious conflict of interest. The steward who was responsible for the sector in which Mr Scully died was unelected. The report claims that these stewards are hand-picked, lack training and are moved from site to site \\'with the clear understanding that they do not rock the boat when it comes to health and safety issues and industrial discontent.\\' The authors suggest the arrival on the site of mechanical and electrical trade workers has broken UCATT\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s monopoly and there has since been an improvement in union activity, particularly in the case of Unite.\\\\r\\\\nOver six months ago the IWW members warned that workers on the Stratford City site were facing serious risk of injury or death. Workers had also demonstrated in May 2009 outside the Pudding Mill Lane entrance to the Olympic Park. A local Respect Councillor, Abjol Miah, said then \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98I\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99m very concerned about the gagging contracts being imposed by the ODA on contractors and employees which potentially prevent workers from whistle-blowing when health and safety issues arise.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 He expressed his concern that \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98as deadlines on contracts approach the pressure will inevitably grow for corners to be cut. We have to have strong union organisation and whistle-blowing protection to ensure health and safety is not jeopardised.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99\\\\r\\\\nIt is worse than tragic that these warnings have been followed by the death of Mr Scurry.\\\\r\\\\nAttachment\\\\r\\\\n\"b\\'Home\\\\r\\\\n2012 promoters\\\\\\' new discovery - no health benefits\\\\r\\\\nThe watchdog which never barks the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 has suddenly realised that it is unlikely London 2012 will deliver any health benefits just as the Guardian reports the government is about to abandon its Olympic legacy pledge of inspiring one million more people to play sport. \"We\\\\\\'ve looked for evidence of previous Olympic Games or other major sporting events having an impact on health and sport participation and there isn\\\\\\'t any tangible evidence,\" said the Commission\\\\\\'s Shaun McCarthy.\\\\r\\\\nEven so the dozy doggie didn\\\\\\'t rule out the possibility. \"I think London can do it if attention is paid to the legacy,\" he said. \"That\\\\\\'s a big \\\\\\'if\\\\\\' because at the moment we\\\\\\'re seeing lots of really good initiatives that will effectively stop when the Games finish.\\\\r\\\\n\"They will only deliver long-term results if there is some proper focus on legacy.\"\\\\r\\\\nWell, woof! woof! to that.\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Wed, 30/03/2011 - 15:58.\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\\'The role of Mega events in urban competitiveness and its consequences on people\\\\r\\\\nCarolina del Olmo Universidad Complutense Sept 2004\\\\r\\\\nSome years before filming Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore directed and starred in the film Roger and Me. In this film, Moore captures the consequences of the closure of a General Motors plant in his home town, Flint, Michigan. The plant closed down and moved in search of lower labour costs, leaving behind a landscape of unemployment and despair. However, Moore portrays this event in a comedic light. In fact, the most hilarious part of the film is seen when the city council of Flint decides to implement some measures to solve the population\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s problems, with hopes that these measures convert Flint into a tourist destination. The urban government built an automotive theme park, a colossal hotel and a gigantic shopping mall, but obviously the plan failed in a few months and the new installations closed down. Strangely, by the implementation of these measures, the city council aimed to boost the spirit of the people, to give them back their self-confidence. Unfortunately, these plans are not as unique as they may seem. If we read about the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, we discover that one of its majorly recognized achievements was the increase of its citizen\\\\xc2\\\\xb4s pride in themselves and their city and the improvement of the image that the inhabitants had on their home town. In fact, this idea is a basic ingredient of the dominant ideology around mega-events.\\\\r\\\\nAnyway, if we were to study the strategy that consists in organizing large scale events of any kind in order to revitalize a city that before was destroyed by a mix of deindustrialization, unemployment and social service cuts, Spain would be a great example. In Barcelona, the Forum de las Culturas is about to conclude as I write this essay. Valencia is working to host the 32nd edition of the America\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s Cup yacht race. And Madrid is striving to be the host city for the 2012 Olympic Games (along with Paris). Even if they last only a few weeks, these events require years of preparation, take up a huge amount of public funds and permanently change the physical landscape of the city.\\\\r\\\\nBut Spain is not alone in supporting this ideology. If we take a look at the figures, we will notice that the competition for hosting an Olympic event becomes more difficult every year since the economic success of the 1984 Los Angeles games (a success largely due to the growth of worldwide communications). The same rivalry prevails in the fight for hosting a World Fair or any other large scale event.\\\\r\\\\nHow can we explain this mega-event obsession? First of all, we must realize that this kind of competition is nothing more than the most conspicuous form of global competitiveness.\\\\xc2\\\\xa0 This competition between cities and regions is a consequence of the political and economical changes that have occurred in approximately the last thirty years. To summarize these changes, we can make use of a common term and discuss a transition from a Fordist regime of accumulation [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fordist] to a post-Fordist regime of increased flexibility. The growing geographical dispersion of production and a financial capital boom have played an essential role in allowing this transition to take place, a transition that, in turn, has had important consequences on capitalistic cities. Towns are experiencing a prolonged crisis related to the loss of traditional industries, the growing importance of tertiary sectors, and the increase of unemployment and poverty. They have begun to compete against each other in a fierce fight for attracting investments from the private sector or from different levels of government. They also strive to obtain money by promoting a culture of consumption, in search of some kind of compensation for the loss of steady jobs. The urban governments have taken the initiative in what has been called the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9crise of an entrepreneurial city\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d, encouraging a good business climate and taking measures to attract economic growth. Measures that, in turn, intensify flexibility and insecurity.\\\\r\\\\nAs was to be expected, the investments aimed to convert a city into a dynamic and competitive enterprise presume the use of scarce public resources in favour of firms and high level consumers at the expense of disadvantaged classes, specially in a fiscal austerity frame like the one we have had in the last years. As well as the deregulation of the labour market and the gifts (fiscal exemptions and all kind of incentives) that urban governments offer to firms to lure them to their cities, other efforts aimed to construct a competitive position for the city have primarily been concentrated in the field of urban environment transformation. The city, with the help of post-modern architecture, on the one hand becomes a spectacle in order to make it an attractive space for tourism and consumer spending. On the other hand, the city devotes itself to the construction of infrastructures of whatever kind that are highly valuable for corporations and quality customers, as convention centres, business areas, highways, airports and so on. In this frame of competitiveness and in this process of converting a city into a spectacle is where we must set the recent obsession with mega-events. This obsession is perfectly illustrated with Barcelona since they have hosted the 1992 Olympic Games. Since then, it has hosted the Forum this summer and, in between, has organised a myriad of minor tourism-based events.\\\\r\\\\nNow, let\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s focus on the so-called advantages of these kind of events. Besides being able to heal the citizen\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s psychological discomfort, as we previously noted, politicians constantly brag about two other virtues of mega-events: 1- they are believed to be the perfect occasion for the city to fulfil its longstanding general need for infrastructure and installations. 2- they can stimulate the economy and generate employment. This last claim reads as follows: the mega-event turns the city into a global focus of attention, providing a top-quality kind of marketing and advertising that contributes to sell the city\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s image all over the world; as a result, the city will capture a huge amount of tourists and will also attract a lot of corporate headquarters and new events, with the resulting growth of economic activity in the long run and the creation of new jobs.\\\\r\\\\nAt first sight, these kind of aspirations and expectations may seem reasonable if we think about the economic significance of tourism in the last years for advanced capitalist societies. But even before evaluating if it is reasonable to expect the fulfilment of these expectations, a big problem arises, a problem that has to do with the urban pattern that this kind of economic development promotes. Public and private interventions in the touristic city usually focus on the surface and only renovates the central zones in a city, leaving the rest of the neighbourhoods in a sorry state of neglect. These kind of manoeuvres tend to generate gentrification and speculation, resulting in the rise of real estate prices and the eviction of the neighbours with lower purchasing power. The city becomes uncomfortable for the inhabitant, whose needs are subordinated to the pleasure of the visitor, and also becomes depersonalized with the arrival of big trade chains and the closure of small, traditional trade stores (a process of substitution that usually results in a net loss of jobs).\\\\r\\\\nBut there are also more serious disadvantages. The kind of jobs created by the tourist industry tend to be low wage, precarious, unqualified, non unionised and without benefits. Moreover, it seems reasonable to suppose that the growing number of tourist destinations will solidify the competition between cities, resulting in the need to reduce expenses and, of course, labour wages. This growing competitiveness is, in fact, one of the factors that makes the tourism-based economic pattern so risky, as well as the fact that the flow of visitors is very sensitive to trends and taste changes, or to questions of security or currency fluctuations.\\\\r\\\\nNonetheless, if the huge investment of public funds and the inconveniences caused to the people who inhabit the touristic city result in any kind of profits for the population, then we could find a justification for this pattern of development. But no social welfare exists in this pattern. Let\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s think about the installations that a city \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cgains\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d when it hosts a mega-event. We are tired of hearing about the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cOlympic legacy\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d and the official discourse is repeated again and again that when the mega-event concludes, the installations will remain in the city. But they never discuss what the use value of these infrastructures is, especially if we compare these \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9csinks\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d of public investments with other installations and services that could have been financed with the same amount of funds (or a lot less). Public funds are a scarce resource, especially today, in this zero-deficit scenario. In this restricted frame, to finance these kind of events and infrastructures involve a budget cut in other, more necessary, sectors. Besides, there are cases, as in the Valencia Americas Cup, where it is simply impossible to imagine the usefulness of the installations that the event will leave behind: public funds are going to finance, among other things, an extension of the harbour that includes a big ship proprietor\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s yacht club with its own heliport and a dock for ships more than 40 meters long. Moreover, these kinds of infrastructure tend to require a lot of re-investments to avoid the threat of devaluation that comes with the interurban competition and the changes in trends. That\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s why it is so common to see these installations languishing in a state of neglect years after the event.\\\\r\\\\nThe Barcelona case represents these aspects extremely well. The 1992 Olympic Games are recorded as a success, even if they didn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t fulfil the expectations they claimed. The Olympic investments (in the broad sense, including some roads, coastal area renewal, cultural outlets, etc.), reached near 6 million euros and 53% of that budget were public funds. But the economic activity that this money generated didn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t have a positive impact on the economic indicators of the Barcelona area. Between 1987 and 1991 the number of jobs created in the construction sector were only 33.000, a figure much lower than was expected considering that three quarters of the total investment went towards the construction sector. On top of this, all of them were temporary jobs. In the hotel and catering trade sector only 20.000 new jobs appeared and only lasted the duration of the event, again, much less than was expected. In the other sectors, the labour impact was zero (we tend to forget that the Olympic volunteers take on a great amount of tasks that would otherwise generate jobs). During 1992, the number of jobs began to fall. If we take a look at trade, we will see that during 1992 the sales rate decreased and the number of tourists that visited the city (a million and a half) was lower than expected and spent less money than it was estimated (exactly the same has happened in Athens this last summer). Also, the Barcelona event resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of people that visited other destinations in the Barcelona region. Basically, the only economic indicator that experienced an important impact as a result of the Olympic Games were price levels. Since 1988, city price levels increased more than in the rest of the region and more than 1% over the inflation rate in Spain. In the year before the Games, prices rose more than 3% over the prices of the rest of Spain. And if we think that the city gains profit from television broadcasting rights, we should not forget that it is the Olympic Committee who collects this money. In fact, the progressive growth of this source of money has turned the International Olympic Committee into a big (and suspicious) enterprise.\\\\r\\\\nHow can we understand the minute economic impact and the lack of fulfilment of expectations? We could focus on the unbridled optimism that seems to encumber the people who do the impact studies, but, especially, we should focus on the limited frame in which the investments take place. If the demand related with the Olympic Games (or any other mega-event) takes up resources that would otherwise remain unused, it would be reasonable to expect an increase in employment, as well as an improvement of the economic indicators in general. Nonetheless, demand growth related with a mega-event doesn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t produce a net income, because it is a consequence of a mere change in the direction of the resource\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s flow; that is, the resources go to a specific sector or a particular place but only because they are coming from another sector or place. The same goes for private capital: it tends to reduce its investments in other sectors or in other spatial areas. If we pay attention to the recommendations that the economic impact studies use to achieve a real net increase in profits, for example, to make the labour market more flexible, it is clear that the aim of obtaining net profits loses part of its appeal.\\\\r\\\\nAstonishingly, even if the mega-events don\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t fulfil their expectations, this is never seen as a failure. Nobody seems to care for or to be surprised by this failure and the event ends with a sense of success. If we want to understand this incoherence, we should put aside the idea of competition as a heuristic tool and focus on the fabulous opportunity for businesses that follow urban transformations related with mega-events. Indeed, even the need to attract tourism and the desire to improve the competitive position of the city in the urban hierarchy seems a petty and secondary question if we compare this with the local elite\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s focus on an easy profit. Of course, I am not saying that urban governments don\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t want to promote the image of their cities with the purpose of generating employment, attracting enterprise headquarters and so on. Regrettably, one of our most serious problems is that urban governments seem to be convinced that, in a globalized world, there\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s no point in promoting local enterprise development. They believe that the best they can do is to turn the city into an appealing zone for foreign investments. But the weakness of some of their strategies and the blindness with which they insist that these strategies actually work, make us question their genuine interests in the city.\\\\r\\\\nIn short, we cannot forget that when a mega-event is organized, the money that really flows into a city is, in the first place, public money that falls into the hands of private businessmen. That\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s why it is so difficult to understand where the city expects to obtain incomes by organizing a mega-event, and how little the urban government cares. When asked about the profits the city of Madrid may gain from hosting the Olympic Games, a representative for the Olympic candidature discussed broadcasting copyrights (that, as I have previously stated, benefit Olympic Committee and not the city) and the tourist appeal that the city will gain. He referred to the Barcelona case as a big success and talked about the millions of tourists that have visited Barcelona in the last years as a result of the Olympic Games. What he forgot to mention is that the flow of tourists into Barcelona has not been an easy or inexpensive achievement. The strategy has only worked with the help of a continuous and huge public investment in private business, for example, in the hotel sector, dangerously close to bankruptcy \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93all in all, another typical episode of socialization of losses and privatisation of profits.\\\\r\\\\nHowever, if we consider that the investors that promoted and financed a big part of the Olympic Games budget in Barcelona were real estate and construction companies, property developers, land speculators, finance companies and hotel and catering trade firms, we will understand that, indeed, the 1992 Barcelona Olympics can be considered a success. Of course, as a result of the Olympic candidature, Barcelona witnessed a frantic building activity, an increase in the housing and land prices and a huge urban transformation that entailed the conversion of a big amount of industrial land into service or housing plots.\\\\r\\\\nIn fact, urban renewal related to a mega-event is not as much a secondary effect as it is a fundamental raison d\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99\\\\xc3\\\\xaatre. The recent Forum Universal de las Culturas that has taken place in Barcelona this summer confirms this idea: instead of organizing a mega-event that could reuse the installations built ten years ago as a result of the Olympic Games, the Barcelona government and elite have decided to invent a new kind of event whose major aim, no one can doubt, is urban transformation. This multicultural event has proven to be an effective excuse to finally implement urban renewal in the last coastal area of Barcelona that still has a low income population. A made-to-measure operation for the private capital that has been a real fiasco for the city.\\\\r\\\\nThe Spanish case is especially serious since in Spain the construction sector represents almost 18% of the GDP, and 60% of the investments in fixed capital formation. It also employs two million people. After a huge process to merge enterprises, the building sector is now dominated by six big firms, five of which are numbered among the ten largest construction companies in Europe. The sector has become a safe allocation for investments due to the housing price boom and to the approval of huge public infrastructure plans. Even if the present economic climate differs from that of Barcelona 92, the results that we may expect from Madrid 2012 may be very similar. In Barcelona, between 1986-1992, the construction boom and the rise in prices were partially caused by the recent entry of Spain into the European Union, consequently causing an influx of foreign capital into the country, especially into the real estate sector. Nowadays, the potential rise in prices and the worsening of the speculative bubble will come from the fact that we are passing through a difficult period for stock exchange investments. And these bad times for the investors have turned the real estate sector into a safe haven that takes up more than 40% of foreign investment in Spain. In fact, in the last years, banks, investment funds and thousands of corporations had entry into the sector in search of a higher profitability.\\\\r\\\\nSo, we had a scenario of uncontrolled growth of the construction and real estate sectors, that has made Madrid one of the cities with the lowest rate of inhabitants per dwelling in Europe and, at the same time, one of the cities with the highest rates of vacant dwellings (and a significant unsatisfied demand). And in this scenario it is difficult to see what is the public interest of the new dwellings that the Olympic Village will leave to the city, or what profit could result from the new centrality zone that is planned for an old industrial area in the East of Madrid. The nearness of this new centrality to a proletarian neighbourhood as is San Blas raise also the fear of housing evictions, a phenomenon that always accompanies mega-events of this kind, as the inhabitants of the urban core in Barcelona know very well. Even the hotel trade sector, that could expect profits, suspiciously look at events such as the Madrid Olympics or Valencia\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s Americas Cup, as they are afraid of a possible saturation of the sector with a consequent threat of devaluation.\\\\r\\\\nBy now it should be evident that the organization of a mega-event does not in fact generate benefits for the general public and, instead, causes several nuisances. But an advantage from these kind of events has not yet been mentioned, an advantage gained not for the people, but for the urban governments. I\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99m referring to the consensus that these events encourage. A consensus that functions as a distraction in order to carry out all kinds of business and urban operations that would, otherwise, generate opposition. Also, this consensus decreases the legitimacy of the groups that fight against urban renewal, turning the conflicts into a police matter. The significance of this consensus advantage seems very clear in the Forum de las Culturas case. In fact, it is very difficult to create a new event capable of generating a consensus that a traditional event such as the Olympic Games has by nature. That\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s why the Forum\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s organizers select as their motto \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cPeace, cultural diversity and environmental sustainability\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d, in an effort to win the people\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s trust and approval. And, of course, the need for a consensus combined with the desire to offer a bright image of the city, always leads to a higher level of repression.\\\\r\\\\nI would like to finish by asking what can be expected or what can be done. One of the possible advantages of such events for the urban social movements is based on the government\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s need to portray a peaceful and pleasant image of the city. These movements can exploit this need in order to catapult their stance up to an empowered position for negotiating with the local government. But if we focus on the Madrid Olympic candidacy, the future doesn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t look that clear: the Olympic candidacy has been approved almost unanimously. Regardless of the possible involvement of all political parties in the urban business, I believe that the seamless and enthusiastic support of the Olympic candidacy shown by leftwing politicians, is motivated by their traditional acceptance of orthodox development policies. The leftwing political parties usually carry the burden of an uncritical belief in the idea that good macro-economic figures entail benefits for the people. From a leftwing position, it is usual to accept that businessmen create jobs and raise wages when they obtain more profits, so it is worth it to make concessions and to offer incentives to firms in order to generate employment, even if the flexible laws that are required to please the businessmen allow the enterprises to move or to fire workers whenever they want. By now it should be evident that a city that strives to create a good business climate is not beneficial for its citizens or, at least, it is incompatible with the strong and well organized proletarian class, a class able to exert influence on its working conditions. I\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99m not trying to defend some kind of cancellation or reversal of development towards some sort of lost paradise. I only suggest that leftwing opposition parties should try to elaborate an alternate development strategy of those implemented by the activists of the city as a growth machine, an alternative that should pay attention to the old division between use value and exchange value, a division that only the local elites can afford to neglect. In fact, local elites must neglect this division, since they are deeply interested in claiming that economic growth and social welfare are one and the same. The mega-events strategy only highlights the trap in which the left always naively fall into (or, at least, that\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s what I want to believe). As John Logan and Harvey Molotch said, \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9ca skilled politician delivers growth while giving a good circus\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d.\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Martin Slavin on Thu, 07/07/2011 - 09:51.\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"The Aftermath 2012\\\\r\\\\nAn article \\'What Olympic Legacy?\\' published in the July 2011 issue of the Chartist\\\\r\\\\nThe Olympics is a sports jamboree lasting a few weeks which requires host cities to create a new Park every two years. To make this extravagance more palatable the host city contract requires a legacy after the Games. So London 2012 is supposed to make Britain fit and healthy and undo decades of neglect in East London. Nevertheless a full legacy plan, promised in 2006, is still awaited.\\\\r\\\\nRegardless of the quasi-legal language of inheritance the beneficiaries of this legacy have to pay for it themselves. The already inflated \\\\xc2\\\\xa39.3billion budget does not include the cost of acquiring and remediating the land or the Olympics spending of councils, quangos and government departments. In 2009, based on FoI requests, the Taxpayers\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Alliance calculated the cost at \\\\xc2\\\\xa312billion. Most of the \\\\xc2\\\\xa31.3billion national security budget for 2012 will go on the Olympics, taking it closer to \\\\xc2\\\\xa313billion. Hundreds of millions of pounds were diverted from Lottery funding for children\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s sport and community and arts programmes.\\\\r\\\\nAnother cost is the forgotten legacies. London 2012 is a land grab designed to create \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98opportunities for property developers\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. A working industrial area was dismissed as a \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98scar\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. Business owners were denied the true price of their land, two Traveller communities had to move while the Clays Lane community was demolished, leaving residents on average \\\\xc2\\\\xa350 a week worse off. Open space was lost at Hackney Marshes, Arena Field, the Eastway Cycle Track and Major Road while a set of allotments was relocated to a waterlogged site.\\\\r\\\\nThen there are the legacies which never were, like the Athletes\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Village, which the ODA admits would have been built anyway, or the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98largest new park in Europe for 150 years\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 which can only claim to be the largest new urban open space in London since 1996. The European Tourism Operators Association has long warned there wouldn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t be a tourism legacy. VisitBritain finally acknowledged this in 2010.\\\\r\\\\nNext are the doubtful legacies. In 2006 the Commons DCMS Select Committee warned an increase in sport participation was unlikely. Five years later the Sustainability Commission, which feebly monitors London 2012, reached the same conclusion. The original plan for a dedicated athletics stadium has been abandoned while there is a lack of community sports facilities. The swimming centre will be difficult to adapt for public use and the BMX and cycle circuits simply replace the demolished Eastway facilities.\\\\r\\\\nLondon 2012 has claimed to be a \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98green\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Olympics, but the wind turbines have been abandoned, almost no material has been moved by canal and its record on not using roads rests on the fortunate coincidence that there is a railhead on site. Over 7,000 tonnes of radioactively contaminated soil, including some non-exempt material, is stored on the Park, radioactive material was lost and permissions for work were given retrospectively. Land which did not need to be remediated was dug up creating a radioactive dust hazard for neighbouring communities and most of the Park is covered with a plastic sheet to warn developers that further remediation may be needed.\\\\r\\\\nThe Olympics also allows for experimental legacies, like the creation of a special development authority, the alteration of planning rules and powers to take over parkland like Wanstead Flats and Greenwich Park. Extraordinary security measures can be tested, drones overflying the Olympic Park, anti-terrorism exercises on inner city housing estates, armed transport police on the Tube, a top security Park surrounded by an electrified fence and an exclusion zone in which no protest will be allowed. Likewise, British Waterways is using the Olympics to introduce new rules governing boat owners\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 use of the canals.\\\\r\\\\nThen there\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s the legacy de resistance, the regeneration of East London. Except Stratford already had a regeneration programme, Stratford City, expected to create 35,000 jobs and over 5,000 homes. It also had fantastic transport connections. In fact the authorities agreed development would have happened anyway and the Olympics, by taking land out of circulation would actually slow that process. Another development programme will further boost property prices making it harder for existing communities to live in Stratford.\\\\r\\\\nOn the jobs legacy, the LDA warns that its own projections should be treated \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98with caution\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 and are spread over a \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98thirty year economic cycle\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. 5,000 \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98dirty\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 industrial jobs were removed, to be replaced by new \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98clean\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 jobs. In Docklands local unemployment rose even as new jobs were created at Canary Wharf. However, no creative industries have shown any interest in the Media and Broadcasting Centre where these \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98clean\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 jobs are supposed to be located.\\\\r\\\\nFinally, there\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s the anticipated legacy. In 2002, long before the credit crunch, Game Plan, a Government report signed by Tony Blair, said \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98We conclude that the quantifiable evidence to support each of the perceived benefits for mega events is weak, The explicit costs of hosting a mega event should be weighed very carefully against the perceived benefits\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\xa6(which) appear to be more about celebration than economic returns\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. The party legacy!\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Mon, 11/07/2011 - 22:01.\\\\r\\\\n\"b\\'What\\\\\\'s WickED?\\\\r\\\\nThis story has been updated as it has developed.\\\\r\\\\nWhat\\\\\\'s wicked? What exactly is going on with Hackney WickED? Or with London2012? The HackneyWickED Art Festival has succumbed to the blandishments of the London Olympics. It now includes the OPLC as one of its \\\\\\'sponsors and partners\\\\\\'.\\\\r\\\\nHowever, what may be a case of ambush marketing concerns the event being run by Exchange Project Space which London 2012 claims is part of London 2012\\\\\\'s BP supported Open Weekend art event Dysarticulate , which is something to do with putting up flags! London 2012 has included the Hackney WickED logo on its site, suggesting a link between them.\\\\r\\\\nOn its webpage Exchange Project Space describes its event as \\\\\\'Education programme. Hackney Wicked Art Festival 2011\\\\\\'. However, a quick search of the Hackney WickED site does not produce any result for this event.\\\\r\\\\nSo who is being wicked?\\\\r\\\\nBrand ambushing?: The outstanding question is whether the organisers of Hackney Wicked actually knew London2012 had used their logo?\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Fri, 22/07/2011 - 23:55.\\\\r\\\\nFollowing comment on Twitter\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Sat, 23/07/2011 - 07:41.\\\\r\\\\nFollowing comment on Twitter by RooftopJaxx \\\\\\'did @juliancheyne perhaps miss the nuance of @Hackney_WickED\\\\\\'s https://twitter.com/Hackney_Wicked/status/94024857200766976 re #HackneyWickED\\\\\\' this story was updated.\\\\r\\\\nWere @Hackney_WickED aware?\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Charles Batsworth on Sat, 23/07/2011 - 23:02.\\\\r\\\\nOPLC sponsorship no doubt buys the right to claim HackneyWicked as an Olympic \\\\\\'legacy\\\\\\'.\\\\r\\\\nInteresting that they only appeared as a Sponsor a week before the event - a few days ago it didn\\\\\\'t appear on the website. And the Cultural Olympiad \\\\\\'Create\\\\\\' brand appears as a Friend.\\\\r\\\\nRegarding Dysarticulate, this appeared in the 2/6/2011 Artists Opportunities bulletin with no apparent connection to HW (and the statutory use of \\\\\\'engage\\\\\\' and \\\\\\'celebrate\\\\\\'):\\\\r\\\\n\"Call for artists to deliver London 2012 Open Weekend project across the UK, July 22 \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 24 2011\\\\r\\\\nAs part of London 2012 Open Weekend, the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98Dysarticulate\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 project, led by artist Jon Adams, aims to engage artists and audiences from across the UK and \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98celebrate\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 by creating and planting one million flags recycled from book pages. There are paid opportunities for artists to help deliver the project over London 2012 Open Weekend (22-24 July.\"\\\\r\\\\nour \\\\\\'legacy\\\\\\' sponsors\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Steve Dowding on Mon, 25/07/2011 - 21:04.\\\\r\\\\nYep, and the independently inaugurated festival formerly known as Hackney Wick Community Festival (which of course went with that recuperative process of becoming an \\\\\\'Inspired by\\\\\\' event) also now lists OPLC as a \"Sponsor\" . Its not in any way symbolic that the \\\\\\'Community\\\\\\' word has been dropped as part of same process, is it?\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive.  Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.\\\\r\\\\nTIMESTAMPS\\\\r\\\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\\\r\\\\nStratford City Construction Fatality Follows Safety Warnings\\\\r\\\\nBy Julian Cheyne\\\\r\\\\nCreated 1 Feb 2010 - 03:11\\\\r\\\\nIn mid 2009 IWW members produced a report on health and safety at Stratford City. Regrettably, it seems their concerns about the nature of working practices on the site have proved well-founded. On 16th December 2009, Shaun Scurry, an employee of Firesafe Installations, died after suffering serious injuries in a lift accident on 9th December 2009 at the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre site. Shaun from Kirkby, Liverpool, was 39, the father of two sons and engaged to be married. He was reportedly [1] trapped between a steel beam and an industrial lift when he was installing lagging to ductwork. The accident is being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive. In January 2010, the IWW members updated their report, which is attached.\\\\r\\\\nThe authors say that they have compiled their report using statements by both IWW and non-IWW members working on site. They allege \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98systematic breaches of basic health and safety standards\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 which place workers \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98at risk of injury and death\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. They also accuse the police of \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98intimidation of workers and harassment of union activists\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 and point to the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98exclusive sweetheart deal\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 with UCATT as a cause of the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98proliferation of pyramid sub-contracting\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 on the various sites. Firesafe Installations was one such contractor employed by Westfield to install fire safety systems.\\\\r\\\\nAccording to the IWW report, Mr Scurry was not being assisted by a second ground operator, as required, when the scissor lift was activated and rose crushing him against a beam. It goes on to allege that PC Harrington, another contracted company responsible for the management of this sector, then put up safety signs and fences, cleaned up walkways and secured ladders, which should have been done beforehand but had not, to give the impression to safety officers who arrived later that the site was well managed. As evidence of UCATT\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s failure to properly represent the workers on site the report says that no UCATT stewards or officials visited the site of the accident to talk to workers or to investigate the accident. No information was supplied to workers by either UCATT or management about the condition of Mr Scurry. The report says workers have been angered by the behaviour of management and have collected over \\\\xc2\\\\xa313,000 for his family.\\\\r\\\\nThe Olympic Delivery Authority has long claimed Stratford City as part of the Olympic legacy and praised its partnership with Westfield. The IWW report claims that, contrary to the impression created by the ODA, accident rates are much higher than reported because site managers do not report accidents such as cuts and muscular injuries. They cite two reports, one by a worker on the Olympic Athletes\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Village site who was told to stay in the canteen after injuring a tendon so that \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98the absence would not be reported\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 and another by a worker who aggravated a back injury after it wasn\\'t treated.\\\\r\\\\nAmong other failings the report states that there are too many obstructed walkways, fall-through points, unprotected trenches and unsecured ladders and platforms, particularly in the sector managed by PC Harrington, all of which represent serious hazards for workers and have resulted in \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98multiple accidents\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. This is an indication of poor site planning. Workers are not being provided with personal protective equipment, like dust masks and goggles, and are having to work long shifts with pneumatic drills, which may result in vibration injuries. The report contends that the proliferation of sub-contractors has exacerbated these problems. It also claims there is a lack of clean toilets, hot water and washing and drying facilities and that workers face harassment for taking toilet breaks and have had to work in wet clothes in the recent cold weather.\\\\r\\\\nThat workers may not be provided with personal protective equipment comes as no surprise to those who used to live at Clays Lane, the estate demolished to make way for the Olympics. In an email sent to Lawrence Waterman [2], the Director of Health and Safety for the ODA on 25th February 2008, (see attachment in link) I pointed out that residents and allotment holders had asked workers at Eastway and Clays Lane at different times \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98whether they knew what was on the site and they have said no. They were shocked when we told them about the industrial contamination and radioactive material and one group went and got themselves face masks. If, as the ODA says, this is a \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98heavily contaminated\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 area then I would have thought some protective clothing was necessary. At one time workers were drilling on a site which was thought to be in the line of a possible migration of radioactive material but even then they were not using Geiger counters or wearing any particular clothing.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99\\\\r\\\\nResidents had also experienced contractors working out of hours and in areas close to Clays Lane, which they were meant to avoid under planning controls. They also demolished housing while denying they were doing so and failed to control dust causing severe problems to the Travellers living next door. The ODA failed to act to control any of the breaches of planning regulations or to prevent the dust pollution. Residents at Leabank Square [3] have highlighted similar problems with ODA operations and also faced intimidatory [4] responses from the ODA. There is nothing particularly surprising, therefore, to find these kinds of statements being made in this report.\\\\r\\\\nAgainst a background of recession, companies\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 cost cutting, blacklisting of workers [5] and a refusal to allow access to officials of unrecognised unions, the authors are critical of the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98practices of partnership\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99, represented by the domination of management and the lack of rank and file control over unions, in ensuring workers\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 safety. A union like UCATT sees itself as a \\'go-between\\', maintaining co-operation between workers and bosses. The report says that UCATT deploys non-elected stewards, who are appointed by officials, on the Stratford City site, which represents a serious conflict of interest. The steward who was responsible for the sector in which Mr Scully died was unelected. The report claims that these stewards are hand-picked, lack training and are moved from site to site \\'with the clear understanding that they do not rock the boat when it comes to health and safety issues and industrial discontent.\\' The authors suggest the arrival on the site of mechanical and electrical trade workers has broken UCATT\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s monopoly and there has since been an improvement in union activity, particularly in the case of Unite.\\\\r\\\\nOver six months ago the IWW members warned that workers on the Stratford City site were facing serious risk of injury or death. Workers had also demonstrated in May 2009 [6] outside the Pudding Mill Lane entrance to the Olympic Park. A local Respect Councillor, Abjol Miah, said then \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98I\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99m very concerned about the gagging contracts being imposed by the ODA on contractors and employees which potentially prevent workers from whistle-blowing when health and safety issues arise.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 He expressed his concern that \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98as deadlines on contracts approach the pressure will inevitably grow for corners to be cut. We have to have strong union organisation and whistle-blowing protection to ensure health and safety is not jeopardised.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99\\\\r\\\\nIt is worse than tragic that these warnings have been followed by the death of Mr Scurry.\\\\r\\\\nAttachment\\\\r\\\\n\"b\"Home\\\\r\\\\n\\'After\\' (OED) the Games, the Park\\\\r\\\\nIt\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s difficult to keep track of the changing size and definition of the much vaunted \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98largest new park, or new urban park, in Europe, or in London, for 200, 150, 100, 20 or even 12 years \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. First it was 129 hectares, then it was 110, 102 and now perhaps just 100 hectares. And is a car park parkland? At one time, according to the ODA, it wasn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t but now apparently it is when it is in an Olympic legacy park and so is the field of play of the Main Stadium, even though it is in the middle of a large building.\\\\r\\\\nThe new park includes 45 hectares of \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98habitat\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 but then that was the amount of habitat in this part of the Lea Valley before the Olympics. And 92.8 hectares of open space was already available, including the former Eastway Cycle Track, most of which has been incorporated into the new park. Plans for Stratford City, drawn up before the Olympic Bid, showed parkland on the west side of the River Lea where most of the new open space is to be located showing that this idea was already in the public arena.\\\\r\\\\nBack in January 2009 I asked the ODA how they had arrived at the conclusion that the open space in the Olympic Park was the largest new urban park in Europe for 150 years. The ODA replied \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98CABE Space and the London Parks and Green Spaces Forum have assisted the ODA in preparing benchmark studies on parks around the world and in London including previous Olympic Parks. Our understanding is that the Olympic Park will be the largest urban park of its type in Europe.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99  That \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98understanding\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 hardly seemed conclusive when there were much larger parks in places like Katowice and Duisburg . But the ODA dismissed these as different \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98types\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 of park.\\\\r\\\\nA few weeks ago I decided to ask them again whether they had made any further checks on other European parks.: \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98As you have now had several years to make comparisons with other European parks I would be grateful if you could provide me with the comparisons you have now made in order to establish that this is the largest urban park in Europe for 150 years.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 However, the ODA had not seized the opportunity. \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98We can confirm that no new comparisons between the Olympic Park and other European parks have been carried out. The statement made in the sustainability document you refer to in your request is based on the comparative studies we have already provided you with information about in response to your request reference EN00285 dated 22nd April 2009.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99\\\\r\\\\nBizarrely, in that reply the ODA had referred me to the Oxford English Dictionary to explain how everything depended on the definition of the word \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98after\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98The focus of the London 2012 Games will be the Olympic Park in east London, which will house the new sports venues. After the Games the area will be transformed into the largest urban park created in Europe for more than 150 years.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99\\\\r\\\\n\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98It is implicit in these sentences that there could be no \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cOlympic Park\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d (our emphasis) without the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (the Games). The comparisons between the urban park created post the Games with other parks created post an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games is stated in the following sentence \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cAfter the Games the area will be transformed into the largest urban park created in Europe for more than 150 years.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d The word \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cafter\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d being used in terms of the Oxford English Dictionary definition \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cthe time following and (sic) event\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d, in this case the event is an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games.\\'\\\\r\\\\nIt is unclear how this makes it the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98largest new park in Europe for 150 years\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 as opposed to the largest urban park created in Europe for more than 150 years \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98after\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 (OED definition) an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games.\\\\r\\\\nBut that\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s not all. The ODA went on to say they had \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98studied the most recent modern Olympic Parks which would be relevant comparators\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99, which included \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98Munich, Los Angeles through to Beijing.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Of course, Los Angeles and Beijing are not in Europe as they went on to point out, so actually the comparison was with Munich, Barcelona and Athens. In fact they restricted their comparison to Barcelona and Athens, but I will be generous as they did also refer to Munich.\\\\r\\\\nSo that\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s the largest new park by comparison with three European Olympic Games!\\\\r\\\\nRather confusingly they then said \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98while we have compared the London 2012 Olympic Park against other parks which were created post an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games, we have also considered other parks which were not created post a Games.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 But \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98The ODA does not have a list of parks which specifically compares their size against that of the Olympic Park as well as reasons why they do not \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cmeet the criteria of the 2012 park\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d, nor are we required to create new information in order to answer your request\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99.\\\\r\\\\nSo they do not have specific comparisons with other parks and nor do they know the specific reasons why they don\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t meet the criteria of the 2012 park. One such failure might be considered a misfortune, two looks like carelessness.\\\\r\\\\nAnd what did they have to say about Katowice and Duisburg? Katowice is dissed because its development was \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98prompted by a voluntary membership of several cities\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 while Duisburg is dismissed because it is \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98a regional scale park\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. And, of course, they were not created after an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games. Yet the Olympic park also arises from the (possibly) voluntary membership of \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98several boroughs\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 and the area of the park is run by an organisation called the Lea Valley \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98Regional\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Park Authority, which still owns most of the land and describes itself as governing a region. Indeed it closed the Eastway Sports Centre because it considered it a local not a regional facility. But it is true they weren\\'t created after an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games.\\\\r\\\\nReassuringly with the ODA there is old fashioned bureaucratic obstruction. Defiantly they declare they are not \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98required to create new information\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 to answer my request.\\\\r\\\\nThey do themselves an injustice. They have been very creative with their information,\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Wed, 17/08/2011 - 23:29.\\\\r\\\\n\"b\\'University College London propose redevelopment of the Carpenters Estate Stratford\\\\r\\\\nOne block on the Carpenters Estate\\\\r\\\\nUCL and the London Borough of Newham have today announced plans to explore the establishment of a new campus for UCL in the Olympic borough of Newham, in addition to the University\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s Bloomsbury location.\\\\r\\\\nUnder the terms of the agreement signed by UCL and Newham Council, both parties now have six months to progress proposals for the development, which could include teaching and research space as well as additional community, residential and commercial space. The proposed site is within the Greater Carpenters Neighbourhood, east of the Olympic Park, which has been earmarked for redevelopment since 2010. The development proposed would be consistent with Newham Council\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s Stratford Metropolitan Masterplan as well as UCL\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s Bloomsbury Masterplan published last week, which sets out UCL\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s vision for developing its estate. It is anticipated that the Mayor of Newham and Cabinet will consider the proposals developed in mid-2012. There is no obligation from either Newham Council or UCL to proceed with the plans after this date.\\\\r\\\\nAll proposals will take into account existing commitments made by the Council to those people affected by the re-housing programme. Residents and stakeholders in the area will be consulted on the plans, and UCL has established an academic representative committee to lead engagement on the proposals across the University. UCL has appointed Drivers Jonas Deloitte as its lead adviser in determining the feasibility of the project\\\\r\\\\nSir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham said: \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cThis is an exciting and ambitious proposition which offers great opportunities for Newham and we look forward to working with UCL. This development of world-class academic facilities in Stratford would create a wealth of benefits for the local area, the borough and East London as a whole. With leading educational institutions already firmly established in the area, another university would inspire Newham youngsters to look at the wider opportunities available to them. As well as presenting employment opportunities, a new campus will provide a significant boost to the local economy and provide a lasting legacy for the community.\\\\r\\\\n\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cNewham Council is committed to redeveloping the Carpenters Neighbourhood to ensure the delivery of a high quality, educational community for the benefit of existing residents and the wider community. In any negotiations going forward, local residents will not lose out.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d\\\\r\\\\nRelated links\\\\r\\\\nProfessor Malcolm Grant, UCL President and Provost, said: \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cThe Carpenters Neighbourhood proposal represents a great opportunity for UCL, creating an additional campus at the heart of the Olympic Legacy with excellent transport links to our existing facilities. \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cAs a world-leading university, UCL has ambitious growth plans for the coming years, but we are constrained in our central London location in meeting the demand for suitable space to support the development of world-class teaching and research. UCL has a strong record of engaging with our local community in Bloomsbury, and working effectively with local councils, schools, community groups and businesses. The challenges of delivering this exciting vision will be substantial, but the regeneration potential is of great significance for the local community, the Olympic Legacy and the economy of London as a whole.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"Home\\\\r\\\\nA little \\'hyperlocal\\' legacy\\\\r\\\\nLast weekend an \\'unconference\\' took place both on- and offline - London Neighbourhoods Online . By Monday two new hyperlocal blogs had sprung up in Olympic boroughs, both started by famous figures within the London Blogosphere.\\\\r\\\\nBow local hero Diamond Geezer kicked off ee three and is inviting others to get involved:\\\\r\\\\nOnly news and comment from the E3 postcode  will be permitted. That includes Mile End, Bow and Bromley-by-Bow, even Three Mills and Fish Island, but not Victoria Park or the Olympic Park. Please let\\'s have nothing extreme, nor rampantly advertorial, nor anything applicable to Tower Hamlets as a whole\\\\r\\\\nAdam Bienkov aka Tory Troll is now flying his Kidbrooke Kite .\\\\r\\\\nBy way of Olympic-themed tasters:\\\\r\\\\nuphill sruggle?\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Steve Dowding on Mon, 11/10/2010 - 11:04.\\\\r\\\\nAnother ripple from the force that is the Sarf London blogosphere: e-ShootersHill with more scrutiny of the Olympics.\\\\r\\\\nIn Green Legacy Gym it raises concerns about provision for future maintenance costs for the rash of outdoor gyms springing up as legacy gains:\\\\r\\\\nI had absolutely no idea that oxleas wood was going to get an olympic legacy, until today that is, when I stumbled across the gym  in the picture, just near the caf\\\\xc3\\\\xa9, by the conker trees. Currently it\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s fenced off, but it looks like it could unveiled at any time soon.\\\\r\\\\nSince seeing the gym, I\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99ve found out that whilst the olympic legacy fund has donated the money to install these new facilities, their upkeep has not yet been provided for. This may mean that once the facilities have been damaged by the elements, the joggers or the vandals, they will not be repaired!\\\\r\\\\nOn a related topic, following some chat on Twitter Adam Bienkov came up with a document from the not-so-transparent Greenwich website - a report relating  to the Charlton Adizone (we think).\\\\r\\\\n\"b\\'Home\\\\r\\\\nHigh Street 2012 & the London Festival of Architecture\\\\r\\\\nHigh Street 2012 is an initiative that will use the 2012 Games as a catalyst for improvements to the A11/A118 corridor through the centre of Tower Hamlets (taking in Whitechapel High Street, Whitechapel Road, Mile End Road and Bow Road) and on into Stratford in Newham. See also: Stratford High Street public realm improvements\\\\r\\\\nThe London Festival of Architecture is mounting a PR spectacle on Sat 26th - Sun 27th June East Weekend  High Street 2012\\\\r\\\\n\"The East of London between Whitechapel and Stratford will host High Street 2012, representing the last 6km of the London Olympic Marathon in 2012, as well as a wider streetscape and regeneration strategy. It will also host a series of Festival activities including a new commission from critically-acclaimed Austrian architects Feld72 reviving a vacant town centre building, guided tours of the dynamic area in historic Routemaster buses, and interactive installations designed and built by international architecture students\"\\\\r\\\\nFor an online wander through the history of this stretch of road, which they wanted to call Olympic Boulevard until drowned out by a chorus of disapproval, see Diamond Geezer\\\\\\'s London blog .\\\\r\\\\nGamesMonitor recommends the Savage Messiah\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s Guide to East London bus tour\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Martin Slavin on Fri, 25/06/2010 - 21:56.\\\\r\\\\nAnother Olympic legacy - a lick of paint\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Mon, 28/06/2010 - 20:14.\\\\r\\\\nPolishing up the vicinity is a well established routine for mega events in the grand tradition of not frightening the visitors. Spend a few million on tarting up frontages, planting some shrubbery and putting up hoardings to hide embarrassing views, along with evicting unsightly occupants. In Beijing they used a blue fence to hide the housing they didn\\\\\\'t want visitors to see, the same kind of traditional housing they had been demolishing so they could build the brand new shiny concrete and glass edifices to make the place look modern.\\\\r\\\\nHS2012\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Ben (not verified) on Wed, 21/07/2010 - 11:31.\\\\r\\\\nI feel that with the London Games, the idea - with High Street 2012 anyway- is to show off the areas and historic buildings we\\\\\\'ve already got, rather than hide any away or knock any down (see Beijing, Delhi, etc). The Olympics is the excuse to fund it - not the reason to do it\\\\r\\\\nHigh Street\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Steve Dowding on Tue, 27/07/2010 - 10:01.\\\\r\\\\nBen, Agreed it\\\\\\'s much better than what\\\\\\'s happened in Beijing, Delhi and so on. But as to the Olympics being \"the excuse to fund it\" - don\\\\\\'t you think it could have been done anyway? Done at much better value than as part of a public-subsidised party for the rich which when it comes down to it is really what the Olympics are?\\\\r\\\\nHigh Street\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Ben (not verified) on Fri, 30/07/2010 - 10:40.\\\\r\\\\nI know what you mean Steve - but in my experience it couldnt have been done anyway - esp in a time of cuts.  Things like High Street 2012 and the other Olympic projects stop all of the money and the benefits of the Games being confined to the Olympic park site.  The public purse will get its money back too - albeit you\\\\\\'re right it has to shell out in the short term..\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"Home\\\\r\\\\nA cornerstone of lies\\\\r\\\\nSports Minister Hugh Robbertson has called the \\\\xc2\\\\xa3135million lottery funding to be spent under the the Places People Play strategy \\'the cornerstone of a grassroots legacy from hosting the Olympic Games.\\' As others have pointed out this comes after the coalition took away \\\\xc2\\\\xa3300million sports funding, cuts which will have a particular impact on children\\'s sport.\\\\r\\\\nBack in 2006 the previous government said spending money on the 2012 Games would provide \\'a long-term legacy use for the public after 2012\\' even as it took \\\\xc2\\\\xa3340million away from children\\'s sport to spend on the elite event instead.\\\\r\\\\n2012 Budget masseuse Tessa Jowell, responsible for that 2006 raid on children\\'s sport funding, felt able to accuse the coalition\\'s Mr Rubberstamp of breaking the legacy promise she had so faithfully kept. \\'The legacy promise that we made in Singapore was to transform a generation of young people through sport. However they dress it up, the Olympic Legacy promise that we made to this country\\'s young people is yet another promise that has been broken by the Coalition Government.\\'\\\\r\\\\nThe only thing about this 2010 fiasco that is Olympic is the constant and unremitting lying.\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Wed, 17/11/2010 - 03:15.\\\\r\\\\n\"b\"This collection includes all collaborative Olympic crawls performed by IA for the IIPC.\\\\r\\\\nTIMESTAMPS\\\\r\\\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\\\r\\\\nMore 2012 Bl**ging Censorship\\\\r\\\\nBy Julian Cheyne\\\\r\\\\nCreated 11 Jan 2010 - 02:58\\\\r\\\\nThe 2012 blog continues to churn out the same misleading information. A recent posting by a local resident [1]reminded me of the experience of going through the compulsory purchase inquiry and having our estate and community dismissed by the LDA. I tried to post a comment but, not for the first time [2], that was disallowed. Like a true colonialist operation the ODA claims to listen to ordinary people and to practise inclusion, but its own publicly funded website refuses to allow a proper debate.\\\\r\\\\nThe local resident was unrestrained in his praise of the Olympic project and combined this with the usual dismissal of what had been on the site before the Olympic project. He declared: \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cThree years ago the site in Stratford was a redundant, disused and neglected area. Today as I have seen for myself - this is no more.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d Sickening and ignorant.\\\\r\\\\nSo I tried to send in a response:-\\\\r\\\\n\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cThe 2012 blog seeks to perpetuate its stereotypical portrayal of the Lower Lea Valley. This is becoming an almost colonial description of a piece of land on which apparently no-one lived or did anything worthwhile, which justified its takeover by those who would put it to good use. Your correspondent even considers it to be his \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98backyard\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99, also reminiscent of colonial ownership where inferior neighbours are expected to be quiet and grateful.\\\\r\\\\nYour local explorer has seen for himself \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98this is no more\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 and can report back to civilization that the visionaries have moved in to make something of the wasteland.\\\\r\\\\nSo just to correct some impressions left by your correspondent:\\\\r\\\\nDisused? People lived there. Our community at Clays Lane [3] was demolished despite promises to sustain and support local communities. We lived next to the constantly used Eastway Cycle Track which included a lovely wild open space to walk over.\\\\r\\\\nNeglected? What of the amazing Manor Gardens allotments [4], wrecked by the relocation which created a waterlogged bog [5] at Marsh Lane Fields and decimated the allotments community? Or Arena Field, the playground of the children from Hackney Wick now concreted over for the Media Centre?\\\\r\\\\nRedundant? The Lea Valley is an area famous for industrial innovation [6], most notably in recent times for the diode valve, essential to the development of television and computers, as well as being important for, among other things, plastics, chemicals and transport industries and even nuclear research. Stratford was at the centre of the construction of the Channel Tunnel rail link.\\\\r\\\\nYour correspondent repeats the familiar \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98vision\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 for the future as though there was no hope without the Olympics. Actually, jobs and businesses were and are being created regardless of the Olympics. Stratford City, not an Olympic project [7], was designed to create 35,000 jobs and over 5,000 homes. It is well known that development [8] in the area would have happened whether or not the Olympic bid was won. Even Lord Coe was prepared to admit this in evidence to the compulsory purchase inquiry.\\\\r\\\\n5,000 jobs [9] were moved out of the Park for the Olympics, although some remained in the locality, meaning a net loss of permanent local jobs to date. One businessman [10] commented about the relocation of his business \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cwe worked so hard on relocating. It\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s no thanks to the LDA or the government. The LDA were useless.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d Industrial areas are often not pretty but that doesn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t mean they are unproductive or derelict. Far from providing employment the planned new jobs may well not fit local skills and, as occurred in Docklands [11], it is likely local unemployment will rise.\\\\r\\\\nSmall local companies [12] operate below the ODA\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s radar and cannot get contracts. Even large ones like Spitalfields Market [13], the largest vegetable market in the country literally across the road from the Park, is not included in LOCOG\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98sustainable\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 food vision. The LDA warns that its own post-Games job predictions [14] should be treated \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98with caution\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99.\\\\r\\\\nYour explorer can easily see that homes were and are being built all over the Stratford area. The canals and rivers are a developer\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s dream. Jason Prior, the Olympic Masterplanner, said the Olympics would actually slow up these developments by taking land out of circulation till after 2012. Gareth Blacker of the LDA said \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98we\\'re creating a prime opportunity for the property industry\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 [15]. The Olympics is certainly a prime opportunity for sponsoring multinational corporations and large construction companies.\\\\r\\\\nThe percentage of affordable homes will depend on future financial constraints. In fact, because land will have to be sold to recover costs the amount of affordable housing may well be lower than it would otherwise have been. The reality is that land values [16] and rents rise following these events meaning local people find it harder to stay in the area and gentrification leads to the arrival of a new population. The statistics will change but so will the people.\\\\r\\\\nThere were already 92.8 hectares of open space available in the Olympic Park which will only be increased to 110 hectares in the new park, and it is not the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98largest new park in Europe for 150 years\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 [17] contrary to what has been claimed.  All the planning guidance for the area required an extension of the existing green space. The area boasted great bio-diversity precisely because it was not micro-managed.\\\\r\\\\nTourism operators [18] disagree that there will be a tourism legacy and even the ODA agrees there is no housing legacy [19] from the Athletes\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Village as the housing was going to be built anyway. Despite the remediation thousands of tons of low level radioactive material remain buried on the site while local residents have been badly affected by noise and dust from the site.\\\\r\\\\nAs for sports facilities, it remains entirely unclear whether they will be available for local people as they are designed for elite events. There is, as yet, no end use for the main stadium, plans for local sports facilities have been abandoned, the velodrome is of little use for most cyclists and other facilities will be demolished precisely because they do not have a post-Games use. There will be a cycle track but then there already was one before the Olympics came and demolished [20] it!\\\\r\\\\nContrary to your explorer\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s assertions, actors like Judi Dench [21] disagree that the Olympics is contributing to the Arts in Britain as their funding has been cut to pay for the Games. Likewise, over \\\\xc2\\\\xa3500million of Lottery funding has been taken away from children\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s and community sports projects [22] to back this elite event. There is no evidence to show that elite sports events promote sport participation or improve health.\\\\r\\\\nAnd, of course, the project is not, as is often claimed, within budget. It is more than three times over, despite the repeated assurances of the former Mayor and the Minister in 2006 that it was on budget, and all kinds of expenditure [23], like the acquisition of the land or the building of the Three Mills Lock, are not even included. So whatever benefits may accrue will come at a high financial cost.\\\\r\\\\nWhen the LDA was seeking to buy up the land it sought to justify this by describing the area as a wasteland of no interest or merit. Those of us living at Clays Lane were told our surroundings were so bad that the beautiful green space at the Eastway \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98isolated\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 us.\\\\r\\\\nMr Higgins later called the Lower Lea Valley a \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98scar\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 [24]. Now, in Fish Island, which was originally part of the land the LDA wished to acquire, the ODA has \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98discovered\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 areas which it considers merit designation as conservation zones!\\\\r\\\\nOn occasion the whole project descends into farce as when, for example, on one day the LDA awards its buddies at LOCOG \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98Gold for Diversity\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 [25] only for the Equalities Commission [26] to then criticise LOCOG for its failure to promote equality and diversity, supposedly at the heart of the Bid!\\\\r\\\\nThis website is publicly funded but does not allow a proper debate. Instead the ODA pursues its \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98manifest destiny\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 of bringing civilization and its benefits to the benighted land east of the River Lea, backed up by the visionary experiences of its explorers as recounted on this website. At a recent meeting at UCL, Jason Prior said it wasn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t possible to carry out an Olympics style development in West London, because of resistance from better off communities. As a local resident, first of Newham and now, as a result of being forcibly removed, of Tower Hamlets, I am depressed by this relentless Olympics aggrandisement. This is truly a colonial experience for East London.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d\\\\r\\\\nSource URL:\\\\r\\\\n\"b\\'2012 Board given Lib Dem massage\\\\r\\\\nFollowing the appointment of Olympic budget masseuse Tessa Jowell to the 2012 Games Board two Liberal Democrats have joined her. It had been suggested there was a competition between Don Foster and Ming Campbell for just one place but it looks like another seat has been added to the table.\\\\r\\\\nDon decided to have a pop at Labour when he announced the appointments at the Lib Dem conference: \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cWhile Labour\\\\\\'s support for the games can\\\\\\'t be questioned, their record in planning for its legacy certainly can.\"\\\\r\\\\nSebCo may have something to say about that. He said Jowell, Labour\\\\\\'s Olympics Minister, had made an \"enormous contribution\". Maybe he and the masseuse will put Don right at the next meeting of the Board.\\\\r\\\\nDon also felt it was necessary to make some complimentary remarks about Ming: \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cIt is particularly pleasing that Ming, a former Olympic athlete, will be able to bring his knowledge, experience and wisdom to help ensure success in 2012.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d\\\\r\\\\nMaybe this was because not so long ago the Lib Dems thought he was past it and dumped him as leader on account of his age. So presumably they think the 2012 Board is a pretty easy number.\\\\r\\\\nSubmitted by Julian Cheyne on Thu, 23/09/2010 - 00:05.\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\\'This collection includes all collaborative Olympic crawls performed by IA for the IIPC.\\\\r\\\\nTIMESTAMPS\\\\r\\\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\\\r\\\\n2012 promoters\\\\\\' new discovery - no health benefits\\\\r\\\\nBy Julian Cheyne\\\\r\\\\nCreated 30 Mar 2011 - 15:58\\\\r\\\\nThe watchdog which never barks the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 [1] has suddenly realised that it is unlikely London 2012 will deliver any health benefits just as the Guardian reports the government is about to abandon its Olympic legacy pledge [2] of inspiring one million more people to play sport. \"We\\\\\\'ve looked for evidence of previous Olympic Games or other major sporting events having an impact on health and sport participation and there isn\\\\\\'t any tangible evidence,\" said the Commission\\\\\\'s Shaun McCarthy.\\\\r\\\\nEven so the dozy doggie didn\\\\\\'t rule out the possibility. \"I think London can do it if attention is paid to the legacy,\" he said. \"That\\\\\\'s a big \\\\\\'if\\\\\\' because at the moment we\\\\\\'re seeing lots of really good initiatives that will effectively stop when the Games finish.\\\\r\\\\n\"They will only deliver long-term results if there is some proper focus on legacy.\"\\\\r\\\\nWell, woof! woof! to that.\\\\r\\\\nSource URL:\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"This collection includes all collaborative Olympic crawls performed by IA for the IIPC.\\\\r\\\\nTIMESTAMPS\\\\r\\\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\\\r\\\\nLeabank Square Residents speak out about Noise, Dust and Legacy\\\\r\\\\nBy Julian Cheyne\\\\r\\\\nCreated 21 Oct 2008 - 00:53\\\\r\\\\nOn 15th October Shona Abantu-Choudhury posted the statement below on the noise and dust at Leabank Square on the Leabank Square Blogspot [1] along with pictures of the machinery at work. You can see what other residents have to say by following the \\'comments\\' link below his statement on the blogspot. Shona and his wife Nadira were also interviewed by BBC News [2]. This follows earlier reports contained in More \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98Anecdotal\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Complaints of Noise and Dust from Leabank Square Residents [3] about the situation at Leabank Square. Residents are increasingly concerned at the steadily diminishing legacy they and others in Hackney Wick will inherit once the Games are over. Having lost a vital green space at Arena Fields they are now worried the promised replacement parkland will not materialise.\\\\r\\\\n\\'Work on the Olympic site has now been brought right up to the neighbouring fence - and we can see all sorts of activity going on only metres from us.\\\\r\\\\nOf course this has brought fresh concerns from most of the Square - especially from the front 3 blocks. The noise at 7.00am hits you like the rudest alarm clock - and does not stop until 8.00pm.\\\\r\\\\nThe new floodlights set up around the soil washing plant bring daylight into our flats at night - and encourage the builders to make as much noise as they do during the height of the day.\\\\r\\\\nWe are back to debating the old question: Is having the Olympics on our doorstep - worth living next to the largest construction site in Europe?\\\\r\\\\nThe answer used to be yes.\\\\r\\\\nBut now we know a lot more about the Olympic Legacy.\\\\r\\\\n* We know that the leisure pool that was going to be attached to the racing pool has been scrapped. Those of us that had lobbied for just such a pool to introduce the East End kids to swimming - while seeing the older swimmers training & racing right next door - are very disappointed.\\\\r\\\\n* We know that no serious plans have been made for the Media Centre/International Press Centre to be bought by a national media company. There are now major discussions about turning this into a temporary building. The legacy promised a major centre of local employment - we\\'ll probably get a dodgy money-making faith centre or massive tesco.\\\\r\\\\n* The Handball Court has now been scaled down. This was going to be a fantastic local Community Centre - what are the current plans now?\\\\r\\\\n* There is talk by Boris Johnson of siting a University Campus \\'just south of the Media Centre\\'. Well - this is where we are supposed to be getting part of Arena Fields returned to a lush green breathing space.\\\\r\\\\nI could go on & on about legacy plans been leaked out to the media without the official Legacy Document been issued. Is this meant to soften all our expectations until it comes out in Spring 2009.\\\\r\\\\nSo - Leabank Square - what is the answer to the question now?\\\\r\\\\nIs the end result - an Olympic Park with no relevant legacy to us - its closest existing residential neighbours - worth all the noise & dust?\\\\r\\\\nDiscuss............\\\\r\\\\nPlease feel free to add any comment about this blog entry! Simply click \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98comments\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 below & you can tell us all what you think. You can use your own name, a pseudonym, be anonymous, or even join blogger yourself. The more we all discuss Leabank Square \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 the more we all feel part of it!!\\'\\\\r\\\\nPosted by Leabank Square at 10:42\\\\r\\\\nSource URL:\\\\r\\\\n\"b\"This collection includes all collaborative Olympic crawls performed by IA for the IIPC.\\\\r\\\\nTIMESTAMPS\\\\r\\\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\\\r\\\\n\\'After\\' (OED) the Games, the Park\\\\r\\\\nBy Julian Cheyne\\\\r\\\\nCreated 17 Aug 2011 - 23:29\\\\r\\\\nIt\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s difficult to keep track of the changing size and definition [1] of the much vaunted \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98largest new park, or new urban park, in Europe, or in London, for 200, 150, 100, 20 or even 12 years [2]\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. First it was 129 hectares, then it was 110, 102 and now perhaps just 100 hectares. And is a car park parkland? At one time, according to the ODA, it wasn\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t but now apparently it is when it is in an Olympic legacy park and so is the field of play of the Main Stadium, even though it is in the middle of a large building.\\\\r\\\\nThe new park includes 45 hectares of \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98habitat\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 but then that was the amount of habitat in this part of the Lea Valley before the Olympics. And 92.8 hectares of open space was already available, including the former Eastway Cycle Track, most of which has been incorporated into the new park. Plans for Stratford City, drawn up before the Olympic Bid, showed parkland on the west side of the River Lea where most of the new open space is to be located showing that this idea was already in the public arena.\\\\r\\\\nBack in January 2009 I asked the ODA how they had arrived at the conclusion that the open space in the Olympic Park was the largest new urban park in Europe for 150 years. The ODA replied \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98CABE Space and the London Parks and Green Spaces Forum have assisted the ODA in preparing benchmark studies on parks around the world and in London including previous Olympic Parks. Our understanding is that the Olympic Park will be the largest urban park of its type in Europe.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99  That \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98understanding\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 hardly seemed conclusive when there were much larger parks in places like Katowice [3] and Duisburg [4]. But the ODA dismissed these as different \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98types\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 of park.\\\\r\\\\nA few weeks ago I decided to ask them again whether they had made any further checks on other European parks: \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98As you have now had several years to make comparisons with other European parks I would be grateful if you could provide me with the comparisons you have now made in order to establish that this is the largest urban park in Europe for 150 years.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 However, the ODA had not seized the opportunity. \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98We can confirm that no new comparisons between the Olympic Park and other European parks have been carried out. The statement made in the sustainability document you refer to in your request is based on the comparative studies we have already provided you with information about in response to your request reference EN00285 dated 22nd April 2009.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99\\\\r\\\\nBizarrely, in that reply the ODA had referred me to the Oxford English Dictionary to explain how everything depended on the definition of the word \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98after\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98The focus of the London 2012 Games will be the Olympic Park in east London, which will house the new sports venues. After the Games the area will be transformed into the largest urban park created in Europe for more than 150 years.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99\\\\r\\\\n\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98It is implicit in these sentences that there could be no \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cOlympic Park\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d (our emphasis) without the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (the Games). The comparisons between the urban park created post the Games with other parks created post an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games is stated in the following sentence \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cAfter the Games the area will be transformed into the largest urban park created in Europe for more than 150 years.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d The word \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cafter\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d being used in terms of the Oxford English Dictionary definition \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cthe time following and (sic) event\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d, in this case the event is an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games.\\'\\\\r\\\\nIt is unclear how this makes it the \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98largest new park in Europe for 150 years\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 as opposed to the largest urban park created in Europe for more than 150 years \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98after\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 (OED definition) an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games.\\\\r\\\\nBut that\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s not all. The ODA went on to say they had \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98studied the most recent modern Olympic Parks which would be relevant comparators\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99, which included \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98Munich, Los Angeles through to Beijing.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Of course, Los Angeles and Beijing are not in Europe as they went on to point out, so actually the comparison was with Munich, Barcelona and Athens. In fact they restricted their comparison to Barcelona and Athens, but I will be generous as they did also refer to Munich.\\\\r\\\\nSo that\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s the largest new park by comparison with three European Olympic Games!\\\\r\\\\nRather confusingly they then said \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98while we have compared the London 2012 Olympic Park against other parks which were created post an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games, we have also considered other parks which were not created post a Games.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 But \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98The ODA does not have a list of parks which specifically compares their size against that of the Olympic Park as well as reasons why they do not \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cmeet the criteria of the 2012 park\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d, nor are we required to create new information in order to answer your request\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99.\\\\r\\\\nSo they do not have specific comparisons with other parks and nor do they know the specific reasons why they don\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t meet the criteria of the 2012 park. One such failure might be considered a misfortune, two looks like carelessness.\\\\r\\\\nAnd what did they have to say about Katowice and Duisburg? Katowice is dissed because its development was \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98prompted by a voluntary membership of several cities\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 while Duisburg is dismissed because it is \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98a regional scale park\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. And, of course, they were not created after an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games. Yet the Olympic park also arises from the (possibly) voluntary membership of \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98several boroughs\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 and the area of the park is run by an organisation called the Lea Valley \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98Regional\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 Park Authority, which still owns most of the land and describes itself as governing a region. Indeed it closed the Eastway Sports Centre because it considered it a local not a regional facility. But it is true they weren\\'t created after an Olympic and/or Paralympic Games.\\\\r\\\\nReassuringly with the ODA there is old fashioned bureaucratic obstruction. Defiantly they declare they are not \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98required to create new information\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99 to answer my request.\\\\r\\\\nThey do themselves an injustice. They have been very creative with their information,\\\\r\\\\nSource URL:\\\\r\\\\n\"b\\'This collection includes all collaborative Olympic crawls performed by IA for the IIPC.\\\\r\\\\nTIMESTAMPS\\\\r\\\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\\\r\\\\nLeabank Square Residents pan Media Centre design\\\\r\\\\nBy Julian Cheyne\\\\r\\\\nCreated 6 May 2009 - 01:17\\\\r\\\\n[0]\\\\r\\\\nLeabank Square residents have panned the design for the Media Centre. So has CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. Only they won\\\\\\'t have to live opposite what one resident has called a \\\\\\'tower block on its side\\\\\\'.\\\\r\\\\nLeabank Square blogspot carries the following article:\\\\r\\\\nLeabank Square Extremely Disappointed with Olympic Architects!! [1]\\\\r\\\\nTake a look at the picture above - you are going to be so sick of looking at it for the next couple of decades!!!\\\\r\\\\nThis is the best the Olympics could come up with as part of OUR legacy!!!!!\\\\r\\\\nThis is the reward we have been given for giving them OUR beloved green lung - Arena Fields!!!!\\\\r\\\\nThanks to everyone who has sent me comments, emails, letters, had chats in the gardens, etc! There is not a single resident of Arena Fields (nor Wick Village next door!!) who likes the design for the International Broadcast Centre & Main Press Centre!\\\\r\\\\nAgain - Hackney Wick has been dumped on by the Olympic Delivery Authority! We have always been seen as the poorest neighbour of the whole Olympic Park - and their attitude is that we should be grateful for anything we get.\\\\r\\\\nWell - we had a perfectly beautiful green park in Arena Fields directly opposite us - and now we have two massive blocks of steel & glass instead. My children\\\\\\'s lego creations have more imagination, beauty & practical use - than what Hackney Wick is going to get as a legacy!\\\\r\\\\nI was at a meeting last week where a suit from the Olympics was telling us that the buildings \\\\\\'will come alive\\\\\\' when the cladding is put on. Putting all your suggestions about living walls to him - he nearly passed out! Leabank Square - he\\\\\\'s \\\\\\'not sure\\\\\\' about living walls - but how about a nice greeny/greyee dappled metal finish?!\\\\r\\\\nSo - they took away Arena Fields - with our orchard & trees - and gave given us two massive glass & steel blocks - and won\\\\\\'t even consider cladding them in beautiful green, living, growing plants?!\\\\r\\\\nSome legacy!!!\\\\r\\\\nEven CABE [2] The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment - who advise on well-designed buildings, places and spaces) said that:\\\\r\\\\n\"The architecture as shown is extremely weak, lacking real conviction as to how it could work in Transition and Legacy, and in the case of the IBC revealing a paucity of imagination and analysis which we find deeply disappointing.\\\\r\\\\nIn relation to specific buildings on the site, our greatest concern is the extraordinary banality of the IBC \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x98mega structure\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99. In our view, it is simply not good enough as currently proposed. We would go so far as to say that its continued presence would blight rather than enhance the Olympic Legacy. We believe that a fundamental rethink needs to be undertaken in respect of the external appearance of this building. Otherwise the public might well ask why this sort of building, which has been removed from the Lower Lee Valley in order to create a vibrant new future, is being reinstated at a larger scale.\"\\\\r\\\\nAnd guess who the Olympic Delivery Authority need to submit the plans to in order to get permission to carry this architectural monstrosity forward? Themselves!\\\\r\\\\nThat\\\\\\'s right Leabank Square! The Olympics give themselves permission to build anything they want on our Arena Fields!\\\\r\\\\nHackney Council has no say. Boris Johnson has no say. Meg Hillier has no say (not that she ever does!). Gordon Brown has no say.\\\\r\\\\nThe Olympics decide what is best for us oiks across the canal to stare at for the next 50 years. And the picture above is the best they\\\\\\'ve come up with!\\\\r\\\\nSource URL:\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\\'This collection includes all collaborative Olympic crawls performed by IA for the IIPC.\\\\r\\\\nTIMESTAMPS\\\\r\\\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\\\r\\\\nChicago\\\\\\'s 2016 Olympic Bid. The Hype and the Nitty Gritty\\\\r\\\\nBy Martin Slavin\\\\r\\\\nCreated 26 Feb 2008 - 16:14\\\\r\\\\n[0].\\\\r\\\\nPART 1 The Hype\\\\r\\\\nAs part of Chicago 2016\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s ongoing effort to make legacy and sustainable benefits an integral part of its plan for the Olympic Games, the bid announced today the establishment of a multimillion dollar fund to support this goal. The intention of the grants is to support programs that aim to revitalize neighborhoods through affordable as well as market rate housing, and increase levels of education, job training and employment.\\\\r\\\\nMayor Richard Daley noted, \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cAs we\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99ve said in the past, one of the great strengths of our city ( is that we work together with government, business and our communities to keep our city moving forward. Chicago is home to some of the most prominent and civic-minded foundations in the world, and this latest commitment underscores their generosity and continued investment in the future of our city and the development of our neighborhoods.\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d\\\\r\\\\nFrom: Chicago 2016 Announces Community Initiative to Ensure Lasting Benefit of Olympic Games\\\\r\\\\nBelow; Extracts from the Applicant City Document\\\\r\\\\nThe Games provide an extraordinary opportunity to accelerate the sustainable redevelopment of Chicago\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s South and West sides - two of the city\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s key long-term urban-renewal priorities - leaving a lasting Olympic legacy. The Olympic Village (the area will be developed regardless of whether Chicago hosts the 2016 Games), Olympic Stadium and Olympic Aquatics Center will serve as catalysts for urban redevelopment and transformation, a process that is already under way.\\\\r\\\\nIn creating its plan, Chicago made the post-Games use of venues a priority, utilized existing and temporary facilities where possible and planned on building new facilities only where justified by long-term community needs and financial viability.\\\\r\\\\nThe Village\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s lakefront location will feature a stunning array of amenities, including a 5,000-seat central dining hall, a running track and world-class fitness facility, a private beach and a promenade including shops, Internet cafes, service centers, clubs, a cinema and a concert stage. After the Games, the residential units will be converted to affordable, moderate and market rate housing. Mixed-use retail and residential amenities will form the core of a new, vibrant and sustainable neighborhood, served by mass-transit systems, on the city\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s near South Side.\\\\r\\\\nChicago\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s candidature will serve as a powerful catalyst for the city to expedite its long-term civic plans. Chicago is a leader in reforming public schools, enhancing public-safety and security initiatives, providing affordable housing in attractive and economically sound communities, ensuring accessibility for all and fostering social, economic and environmental sustainability.\\\\r\\\\nChicago\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s Olympic Stadium represents a unique opportunity for the Olympic Movement. At the time of the Games, it will be a dramatic purpose-built athletics stadium that meets or exceeds the ideal standards of the IAAF and key Olympic and Paralympic constituencies. Post-Games, the scaled-down reconfigured stadium will be the centerpiece for the revitalization of Washington Park and Chicago\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s South Side. The accessible, community-based venue will be used for sports, concerts and other civic events and can be expanded to host major international athletics events. The sustainable, cost-saving approach of the stadium design could be a blueprint for future host cities.\\\\r\\\\nThere is no organized opposition to the bid. Chicago 2016 is engaged in ongoing dialogue with individuals or groups that have expressed concerns about the impact of specific areas of the bid. While none of these individuals or groups has voiced opposition to bringing the Games to Chicago, the bid committee continues to work with each of them to find solutions to the issues they have raised.\\\\r\\\\nDownload the PDF from; Applicant File [1]\\\\r\\\\nPART 2. The Nitty Gritty\\\\r\\\\nWille \"J R\" Fleming addressing the housing displacement potential of the Olympics in Chicago.\\\\r\\\\nWillie \"J.R.\" Fleming is a Cabrini Green resident/organizer/documentarian/ website designer and researcher with the Coalition to Protect Public Housing, and presented testimony before the U.N. Office of the High Commission on Human Rights this year. He also led the March for the Right to Return with public housing residents and leaders in New Orleans during the Hurricane Katrina one-year memorial. He filmed and edited a gospelmentary titled \"Voice of the Voiceless\" along with several other short videos on housing that can be found at housingisahumanright.com. Before joining the Coalition to Protect Public Housing, Fleming was the director of a gang intervention music program for young men in Cabrini Green, and is currently the Chairman for the Hip Hop Congress Community Chapter in Chicago which deals with issues of social and economic injustice using music as a platform to unite the people. This year Fleming protested the U.S. Olympic Committee in Chicago by noting that the Olympics can cause poor people to be evicted from their communities and homes. He also took part in training housing and homelessness advoates on how to utilize housing as a human rights mechanism in the United States and educating their communities in fighting for housing as a human right.\\\\r\\\\nBelow ; Extracts from: A Report to the \\\\\\'Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination\\\\\\' on Racial Discrimination in Homelessness and Affordable Housing in the United States, Dec 2007\\\\r\\\\n...the Chicago housing market is becoming more inaccessible each day. Public housing is being eradicated, project-based Section 8 contracts in buildings housing thousands of people are set to expire, homelessness is on the rise, condo [Freehold] conversions have saturated the market, and private low income and affordable housing options have virtually disappeared\\\\r\\\\nAccording to a recent study, only 20 percent of current and potential Chicago homeowners can afford the city\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s median home price of about $250,000. ...the city is short by nearly 100,000 units of affordable to poor households. Additionally, there is an active effort within public housing developments in Chicago to displace the current residents in favor of gentrification.\\\\r\\\\nUnder its Plan for Transformation, the Chicago Housing Authority has sought to demolish the existing stock of affordable housing in favor of mixed-income development. 19,000 units of public housing have already been demolished without replacement. The dislocation of residents of Chicago public housing is an issue of racial justice given that approximately 84% of residents are African-American and 5.4% Latino.\\\\r\\\\nAt any given time, over half of the public housing authorities in Illinois have closed waiting lists for Housing Choice Vouchers \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 meaning families cannot even sign up to wait for assistance. 81.1% of Illinoisans eligible for Housing Choice Vouchers are not receiving them.\\\\r\\\\nEven for those fortunate enough to receive a housing unit or a housing voucher, significant problems can persist, such as racial and economic segregation, placement in high crime areas with little or no economic development opportunities, overcrowded and infested buildings, and unresponsive landlords. The state of housing in Illinois only serves to perpetuate poverty and racial discrimination.\\\\r\\\\nThe Plan for Transformation guaranteed the CHA $1.6 billion in federal funds to demolish 51 high-rise buildings over a 10-year period and to replace them with lower-density, mixed income housing. However, when completed, the plan will have a total of 25,000 units \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 13,000 fewer than Chicago had when the plan was approved in 2000.  Based on the number of occupied units at the time and not the number of families in need, the CHA plan falls well short of the estimated need for 153,000 affordable housing units for people earning less than $20,000 a year, a figure determined by a city-supported study completed before the plan was approved.\\\\r\\\\nWithout new prevention and permanent housing resources, the city\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s meager measures will have a devastating effect on homeless Chicagoans of color, and stand in the way of any significant steps toward eradicating homelessness.\\\\r\\\\nChicago\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s 10-year Plan to End Homelessness, launched in 2003, severely underestimates the number of new permanent housing units needed because it only counts people currently in the shelter system, ignoring increasing numbers of people living in precarious housing situations. Since 2003, the City of Chicago has added only $3 million to the 10-year plan. This is only enough funding to create 18 new units of affordable housing for a city of nearly three million residents.   Additionally, the city plans to eliminate more than 1,200 shelter beds by 2012, representing a 32 percent reduction.\\\\r\\\\nCHA qualifying policies, moreover, have a disproportionate impact on people of color. Anyone considered in default of a CHA lease, owing money to a utility company, and ex-offenders with drug offenses are prohibited from occupying new public housing developments or Section 8 homes. Upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in March 2002, this last exemption reflects the national \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cone strike\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d policy that can result in eviction of entire families if one member or a visitor is convicted of a drug-related offense on CHA property\\\\r\\\\nAt the request of the Chicago Housing Authority, the Chicago Police Department is stopping African American men, women and children in the Cabrini Green and Harold Ickes housing developments, checking their identification, and if they do not posses a local address, charging them with trespassing, even if they have a valid reason to be in the area. Police data show that that there are over 220 arrests per month for trespassing.  Sadly these numbers only represent two of the many public housing communities throughout America where similar systematic human right abuses take place.\\\\r\\\\nSee: Full Report attached below\\\\r\\\\nAttachment\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\\'This collection includes all collaborative Olympic crawls performed by IA for the IIPC.\\\\r\\\\nTIMESTAMPS\\\\r\\\\nPublished on Games Monitor ( http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk )\\\\r\\\\nThe London Olympics: How we can use the spectacle to build resistance\\\\r\\\\nStart:\\\\r\\\\n22 Oct 2011 - 17:00\\\\r\\\\nThe London Olympics: How we can use the spectacle to build resistance [1]\\\\r\\\\nThe upcoming 2012 London Olympics has already been a disaster for London. The five \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cOlympic boroughs\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d have been culturally and economically cleansed. The \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cOlympic legacy\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d has failed to materialise in every area from housing to local jobs to the environment, with increased security and gentrification the only things left to look forward to. Come along to discuss what action we can take between now and the Games in July 2012 to strengthen campaign networks and organise resistance to the Olympics.\\\\r\\\\nOrganised by: Corporate Watch [2] and the Counter Olympics Network [3]\\\\r\\\\nRoom 326, The Bancroft Building , Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS\\\\r\\\\nSource URL:\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\\'Public Accounts Committee Feb 2012 Report\\\\r\\\\nSummary\\\\r\\\\nThe Olympic Delivery Authority\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s programme is on track and within budget. The Delivery Authority\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s management of its building programme has been exemplary. However, due mainly to significant increases in the cost of venue security, the likelihood of staying within the overall \\\\xc2\\\\xa39.3 billion Public Sector Funding Package is very finely balanced once the Department\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s own best estimates of the most likely costs are taken into account. The Funding Package of \\\\xc2\\\\xa39.3 billion allocated to the Olympics does not cover the totality of the costs to the public purse of delivering the Games and their legacy, which are already heading for around \\\\xc2\\\\xa311 billion.\\\\r\\\\nThe Government is highly dependent on LOCOG to deliver a successful Games and is obliged to meet any shortfall between LOCOG\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s costs and revenues. However, operational and financial risks have emerged in areas of LOCOG\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s responsibility. LOCOG\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s initial estimates for the cost and scale of venue security were based on a \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cfinger in the air estimate\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d, there have been delays in the LOCOG-led consultations over transport arrangements, and LOCOG itself now has almost no contingency left to meet further costs, even though it has done well in its revenue generation.\\\\r\\\\nThe number of security guards required in and around the venues has more than doubled from LOCOG\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s early estimate of 10,000 guards to 23,700. Consequently, the total cost to the Public Sector Funding Package of venue security has nearly doubled in a year from \\\\xc2\\\\xa3282 million in 2010 to \\\\xc2\\\\xa3553 million in December 2011. 7,500 of the extra guards will be military personnel. LOCOG and its security contractor, G4S, now face a significant challenge to recruit, train and coordinate all the security guards in time for the Games.\\\\r\\\\nLOCOG has had to renegotiate the contract for venue security it awarded to G4S in December 2010. However, there is no evidence that the Government has secured any price advantage, even though the value of the business it is putting to its contractor has increased from \\\\xc2\\\\xa386 million to \\\\xc2\\\\xa3284 million. Despite the assertions of LOCOG and the Home Office, we consider that LOCOG\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s estimates for venue security could have been better informed much earlier, and that LOCOG\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s late planning undermined its negotiating position and ability to drive down costs.\\\\r\\\\nWith only 109,000 new people regularly participating in sport against an original target (which the new Government chose not to adopt) of 1 million by March 2013, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has got poor value for money for the \\\\xc2\\\\xa3450 million spent through sporting National Governing Bodies. It is unclear what the sporting participation legacy of the Games is intended to be.\\\\r\\\\nOn two matters - additional money for ceremonies and the dropping of the sports participation target - the Accounting Officer declined to engage with us on the grounds that these were Ministerial policy decisions. It is important to note that where policy has changed the Accounting Officer remains accountable to Parliament for the value for money of public expenditure incurred. Whilst we applaud the progress made so far, we heard that responsibility for delivery of the legacy is shared across many different parts of Government, and this rings alarm bells about the effective integration of the various legacy plans and about clear accountability to us and the taxpayer. When we return to the examination of the Olympic legacy we expect clarity over precisely who will be accountable to Parliament for delivering the benefits to taxpayers from their significant spending on this programme. We were concerned that the Department was unable to quantify what funding has been set aside by London boroughs for the socio-economic regeneration of East London as in the current economic climate such funding must be regarded as uncertain.\\\\r\\\\nFull Report Attached\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"Home\\\\r\\\\nOlympic Legacy or \\'Emperors New Clothes\\' ?\\\\r\\\\nDavid Mackay, architect for Barcelona\\'s Olympic Village and Port and co-author of the pre-Olympic masterplan for the Lower Lea Valley doubts the lasting benefits of London\\'s Olympic development.\\\\r\\\\nSouth of the Hackney Marsh in the Lea Valley Regional Park, today are the local recreation grounds, Lea Valley Sports Centre and Cycle circuit, Sports grounds and other open spaces. Until now Regional Parks were protected by law from encroaching constructions.\\\\r\\\\nIn consideration of this restriction the Park Authority had for sometime wished to link up with the river Thames creating sinuous green routes along the waterways forming a related cityparkway, providing an opportunity for new canal communities . The Olympic Games could have been the instrument to achieve this, just as Barcelona used it to invade brownfield industrial land to open the city to the waterfront. The idea of recovering the natural features of the Valley has \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\xa6 escaped the Olympic Authorities.\\\\r\\\\nUnfortunately London has lost this opportunity by deciding to agree to cover the existing recreation facilities with the silliest architecture seen for years with no real concern for a legacy. Recently speaking to a person responsible for legacy within the Olympic Delivery Authority it was apparent that this person was not even aware that legacy is of primary importance.\\\\r\\\\nJudging by what has been published and written by the various overlapping Government agencies and the questionable cultural quality of some of the key players, so far as legacy is concerned, we are being asked to look at the Emperor\\'s New Clothes \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 so delicate that nobody can see them.  Instead of enhancing the geographical and historical capacity of the Valley (as Capability Brown would have done in the English landscape tradition and remembering that the Lower Lea Valley is comparable in size to Nash\\'s Regent Park including Regent Street all the way down to the Thames) the authors EDAW, HOK Sport, Foreign Office with Allies and Morrison have slapped down over water and land an independent decorative layout.\\\\r\\\\nA committee is the wrong way to try to improve matters, Stuart Lipton and Richard Rogers at heart must know that. The \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cfine-tuning\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d published last June is exactly what would be expected \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x93 adjusting a bad beginning that has no landscape concept or understanding of heritage. If carried out, and with only five years to go, the Olympic legacy is more likely to be like a Hollywood set for a ghost town or an abandoned Expo site.\\\\r\\\\nFrom: Olympic legacy or \\'Emperor\\'s New Clothes\\'?, David Mackay, Planning in London, Issue 59, October-Dec 2006, Pages 5-7, Leader/Opinions.\\\\r\\\\nDownload full text PDF from: 5 LEADER/OPINIONS\\\\r\\\\n\"b\\'The London Olympics: How we can use the spectacle to build resistance\\\\r\\\\nThe upcoming 2012 London Olympics has already been a disaster for London. The five \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cOlympic boroughs\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d have been culturally and economically cleansed. The \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9cOlympic legacy\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x9d has failed to materialise in every area from housing to local jobs to the environment, with increased security and gentrification the only things left to look forward to. Come along to discuss what action we can take between now and the Games in July 2012 to strengthen campaign networks and organise resistance to the Olympics.\\\\r\\\\nOrganised by: Corporate Watch and the Counter Olympics Network\\\\r\\\\nRoom 326, The Bancroft Building , Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\\'The Second Annual Poverty Olympics will be held on February 8, 2009\\\\r\\\\nDear Visitor,\\\\r\\\\nWelcome to Vancouver. You are coming to one of the greatest cities in the world: eye-popping scenery, efficient services, moderate climate, relaxed and diverse population.\\\\r\\\\nThe United Nations survey on livability rates Vancouver in the top handful of cities on earth. And in 2010, we\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99re going to host the winter Olympics! What a great opportunity to enjoy Vancouver\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s attractions \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x94 including all the Olympic legacies, like new stadiums, highways and tourist sights.\\\\r\\\\nBut one legacy that won\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t be so enjoyable is the thousands of homeless people on the streets of Vancouver. You can\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t help seeing them as you walk around downtown, and in many other neighbourhoods around the city.\\\\r\\\\nUnless we do something about this shameful situation, visitors in 2010 will be treated to a city with more homeless people than athletes competing in the Games!\\\\r\\\\nGrinding poverty and growing homelessness are happening despite some bold promises to create a positive Olympic legacy \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x94 promises such as building more social housing, reducing homelessness, and not displacing poor people to make way for Olympics-driven development.\\\\r\\\\nSo we are organizing new games that reflect the unique local flavour of the 2010 host city \\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x94 the Poverty Olympics. The first annual games took place on Sunday February 3 2008, in the Downtown Eastside (Vancouver\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s poorest neighbourhood).\\\\r\\\\nWe\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99ve asked the International Olympic Committee to make these games part of the official 2010 program. We hope that shining the international spotlight on the dark side of our prosperous city and province might finally convince our governments to take action.\\\\r\\\\nWe hope, dear visitor, that you\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99ll take a few minutes to look around\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\xa6 Learn more about the poverty amid plenty\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\xa6 Help us make change by taking some simple actions\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\xa6 And don\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99t forget to invite your friends to visit our fair city!\\\\r\\\\nSincerely,\\\\r\\\\n\\'b\"New Year Feast & Bonfire at Manor Gardens\\\\r\\\\nStart:\\\\r\\\\n7.30pm Broadcast of ITV\\\\xe2\\\\x80\\\\x99s \\'Disappearing London\\' featuring our campaign\\\\r\\\\n8:30pm Fresh food will be served!\\\\r\\\\nMoro restaurant owners Samantha and Samuel Clark will cook alongside in house \\'Food Heroes\\' Hassan and Reg assisted by Adile.\\\\r\\\\nPlease come to show the strength of support to showcase this precious part of Lea Valley\\'s heritage rather than the \\'Green\\' Olympics plan to bulldoze 100 year old Manor Garden Allotments for a screen to show events to non-ticket holders.\\\\r\\\\nDavid Mackay, Author of the original Stratford City plan and lead Architect for the Barcelona Olympic Village and Port, flagged up as the most successful Olympics for regeneration recently wrote, \\'Unfortunately London has lost this opportunity by deciding to agree to cover the existing recreation facilities with the silliest architecture seen for years with no real concern for a legacy.... So far as Legacy is concerned we are being asked to look at the Emperor\\'s New Clothes - so delicate that nobody can see them.....If carried out, and with only five years to go, the Olympic legacy is more likely to be like a Hollywood set for a ghost town or an abandoned Expo site.\\'\\\\r\\\\nThe eviction date is set to be 2nd April at the latest.  The planning application for the Olympic Park will be submitted to the ODA at the end of January 07. The public can lodge objections for the next three to four weeks.\\\\r\\\\nCleve West, garden writer for the Independent and Chelsea Gold Medal winner, wrote \\'If the Olympic ideal means anything, it should apply to much more than four weeks of running, jumping and swimming. Friendship, tolerance, vision and healthy, sustainable living are fanfared by Manor Garden Allotments.\\'\\\\r\\\\nManor Gardens, bequeathed to be allotments \\'in perpetuity\\' by their original owner the \\' Right Hon\\' Major Villiers, sit in the North central section of the Olympic Park. The LDA plan to remove them to make a footpath to the stadia and now to house a screen, destroying in the process a century of devoted cultivation and a close-knit community rooted in this irreplaceable site. Old timers, Tom and Albert, have been growing veg and keeping fit here for 54 and 58 years respectively, taking over from their fathers. 10 year old Boris, whose parents are members, nags them to come to the plot and wants to hand his plot down to his son. Members trust in the permanence of the site led one plot holder to scatter his brother\\'s ashes on his plot.\\\\r\\\\nHowever this diverse community of Turks Cypriots, Greeks, Jamaicans, Africans and Brits welcome the potential for regeneration brought by the Olympic development. Rather than being moved out of the way they want to offer their contribution which seems to them to be entirely consistent with the Olympic and Government ambitions. They believe to remove the allotment gardens would be to rip out the \\'healthy heart\\' of the Olympic Park area as well as to fragment the community.\\\\r\\\\nEven if the Manor Gardening community could be protected by relocation there is growing opposition  from people local to the relocation site on Marsh Lane fields. If planning permission is granted it would only be for seven years after which the Society may be moved again. Yet it would take at least twenty years, plus the right conditions, to re-establish our current food production levels and to create a similarly viable community.\\\\r\\\\nAs plot holder Armagan and her friend Cavide said, \\'We could make the London Olympics different from all other Olympics\\'. \\'Having the allotments in the Olympic Park and preserving them for the Legacy Park would send out the message world wide that the UK really does care after all.\\'\\\\r\\\\nBut do the LDA and the Mayor care about local grown initiatives even when they are successful examples, like Manor Garden Allotments, of the Governments own strategies such as the London Food  and the Biodiversity Strategies?\\\\r\\\\nWriter and supporter of the campaign to incorporate the allotments, Iain Sinclair says, \\'We don\\'t want it (the Olympic Park) imagining for us. We don\\'t want it over-imagined. We want to imagine it for ourselves. Please preserve the soul of the place as represented by the beautiful Manor Garden Allotments.\\'\\\\r\\\\nAt the end of the day the TV will be turned on in the Community Shed to show the broadcast of \\'Disappearing London\\' featuring Manor Garden Allotments on ITV at 7.30pm.\\\\r\\\\nRSVP to info@lifeisland.org\\\\r\\\\nInvitation and map attached below.\\\\r\\\\nJulie Sumner\\\\r\\\\n\"'\n"
     ]
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "print(content10)"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 149,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic1 + 'all_texts_together' + directory1 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile1:\n",
    "    content1 = myfile1.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic2 + 'all_texts_together' + directory2 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile2:\n",
    "    content2 = myfile2.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic3 + 'all_texts_together' + directory3 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile3:\n",
    "    content3 = myfile3.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic4 + 'all_texts_together' + directory4 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile4:\n",
    "    content4 = myfile4.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic5 + 'all_texts_together' + directory5 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile5:\n",
    "    content5 = myfile5.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic6 + 'all_texts_together' + directory6 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile6:\n",
    "    content6 = myfile6.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic7 + 'all_texts_together' + directory7 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile7:\n",
    "    content7 = myfile7.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic8 + 'all_texts_together' + directory8 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile8:\n",
    "    content8 = myfile8.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic9 + 'all_texts_together' + directory9 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile9:\n",
    "    content9 = myfile9.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic10 + 'all_texts_together' + directory10 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile10:\n",
    "    content10 = myfile10.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic11 + 'all_texts_together' + directory11 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile11:\n",
    "    content11 = myfile11.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic12 + 'all_texts_together' + directory12 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile12:\n",
    "    content12 = myfile12.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic13 + 'all_texts_together' + directory13 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile13:\n",
    "    content13 = myfile13.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic14 + 'all_texts_together' + directory14 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile14:\n",
    "    content14 = myfile14.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic15 + 'all_texts_together' + directory15 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile15:\n",
    "    content15 = myfile15.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic16 + 'all_texts_together' + directory16 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile16:\n",
    "    content16 = myfile16.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic17 + 'all_texts_together' + directory17 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile17:\n",
    "    content17 = myfile17.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic18 + 'all_texts_together' + directory18 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile18:\n",
    "    content18 = myfile18.read()\n",
    "with open(os.path.join(localolympic19 + 'all_texts_together' + directory19 + '.txt'), 'r', encoding= 'utf8') as myfile19:\n",
    "    content19 = myfile19.read()\n"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 102,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/plain": [
       "[('games', 439),\n",
       " ('sport', 295),\n",
       " ('people', 182),\n",
       " ('year', 177),\n",
       " ('world', 151),\n",
       " ('new', 146),\n",
       " ('getty', 144),\n",
       " ('time', 139),\n",
       " ('sports', 127),\n",
       " ('don', 126),\n",
       " ('independent', 124),\n",
       " ('day', 119),\n",
       " ('stadium', 108),\n",
       " ('school', 103),\n",
       " ('gold', 103),\n",
       " ('find', 96),\n",
       " ('british', 94),\n",
       " ('premium', 92),\n",
       " ('team', 91),\n",
       " ('britain', 91),\n",
       " ('profile', 88),\n",
       " ('message', 87),\n",
       " ('section', 85),\n",
       " ('uk', 85),\n",
       " ('says', 84),\n",
       " ('bookmarks', 82),\n",
       " ('park', 82),\n",
       " ('like', 78),\n",
       " ('pictures', 77),\n",
       " ('government', 76)]"
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 102,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "get_top_n_words([content7], get_stopwords(lang), 30)"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 81,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/plain": [
       "[('games', 263),\n",
       " ('people', 139),\n",
       " ('sport', 89),\n",
       " ('new', 82),\n",
       " ('bid', 73),\n",
       " ('government', 71),\n",
       " ('east', 66),\n",
       " ('uk', 62),\n",
       " ('city', 58),\n",
       " ('time', 58),\n",
       " ('bbc', 52),\n",
       " ('park', 52),\n",
       " ('school', 52),\n",
       " ('report', 50),\n",
       " ('years', 49),\n",
       " ('world', 48),\n",
       " ('plans', 45),\n",
       " ('work', 44),\n",
       " ('young', 42),\n",
       " ('ioc', 41),\n",
       " ('money', 41),\n",
       " ('going', 41),\n",
       " ('mayor', 40),\n",
       " ('year', 39),\n",
       " ('johnson', 37),\n",
       " ('sports', 36),\n",
       " ('coe', 36),\n",
       " ('local', 36),\n",
       " ('host', 35),\n",
       " ('beijing', 35)]"
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 81,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "get_top_n_words([content1], get_stopwords(lang), 30)"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 83,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/plain": [
       "[('games', 6362),\n",
       " ('new', 3283),\n",
       " ('sport', 3062),\n",
       " ('people', 3059),\n",
       " ('city', 2709),\n",
       " ('park', 2486),\n",
       " ('world', 2118),\n",
       " ('stadium', 2009),\n",
       " ('local', 1835),\n",
       " ('years', 1721),\n",
       " ('time', 1632),\n",
       " ('year', 1595),\n",
       " ('sports', 1593),\n",
       " ('uk', 1492),\n",
       " ('public', 1473),\n",
       " ('housing', 1385),\n",
       " ('development', 1327),\n",
       " ('east', 1299),\n",
       " ('government', 1294),\n",
       " ('bid', 1290),\n",
       " ('event', 1260),\n",
       " ('like', 1220),\n",
       " ('site', 1211),\n",
       " ('money', 1191),\n",
       " ('events', 1099),\n",
       " ('area', 1069),\n",
       " ('plans', 1003),\n",
       " ('community', 995),\n",
       " ('work', 983),\n",
       " ('way', 971)]"
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 83,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "#TOP N WORDS FOR THE ENTIRE DATASET\n",
    "get_top_n_words([content1+content2+content3+content4+content5+content6+content7+content8+content9+content10+content11+content12+content13+content14+content15], get_stopwords(lang), 30)"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 84,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/plain": [
       "[('west ham', 451),\n",
       " ('world cup', 402),\n",
       " ('long term', 353),\n",
       " ('lea valley', 353),\n",
       " ('uk sport', 313),\n",
       " ('stratford city', 309),\n",
       " ('young people', 308),\n",
       " ('paralympic games', 300),\n",
       " ('local people', 288),\n",
       " ('boris johnson', 274),\n",
       " ('international committee', 263),\n",
       " ('chief executive', 257),\n",
       " ('delivery authority', 244),\n",
       " ('mega event', 223),\n",
       " ('clays lane', 223),\n",
       " ('lower lea', 220),\n",
       " ('tessa jowell', 218),\n",
       " ('co uk', 211),\n",
       " ('world class', 211),\n",
       " ('years ago', 194),\n",
       " ('new park', 189),\n",
       " ('development agency', 188),\n",
       " ('prime minister', 184),\n",
       " ('mega events', 183),\n",
       " ('new homes', 182),\n",
       " ('lord coe', 181),\n",
       " ('national lottery', 179),\n",
       " ('sport england', 178),\n",
       " ('year old', 176),\n",
       " ('hosting games', 175)]"
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 84,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "#TOP N BIGRAM FOR THE ENTIRE DATASET\n",
    "get_top_n_bigram([content1+content2+content3+content4+content5+content6+content7+content8+content9+content10+content11+content12+content13+content14+content15], get_stopwords(lang), 30)"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 85,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/plain": [
       "[('games', 0.4107779455250433),\n",
       " ('new', 0.21197484991491938),\n",
       " ('sport', 0.19770544941805762),\n",
       " ('people', 0.19751174714886946),\n",
       " ('city', 0.17491314907691644),\n",
       " ('park', 0.16051461373392922),\n",
       " ('world', 0.13675380204684717),\n",
       " ('stadium', 0.12971595293301036),\n",
       " ('local', 0.11848122132009659),\n",
       " ('years', 0.11112053509094616),\n",
       " ('time', 0.10537403443836382),\n",
       " ('year', 0.10298503978504307),\n",
       " ('sports', 0.10285590493891764),\n",
       " ('uk', 0.09633459520958261),\n",
       " ('public', 0.09510781417139087),\n",
       " ('housing', 0.08942588094187126),\n",
       " ('development', 0.08568097040423334),\n",
       " ('east', 0.08387308255847709),\n",
       " ('government', 0.08355024544316347),\n",
       " ('bid', 0.08329197575091259),\n",
       " ('event', 0.0813549530590309),\n",
       " ('like', 0.07877225613652197),\n",
       " ('site', 0.07819114932895747),\n",
       " ('money', 0.07689980086770301),\n",
       " ('events', 0.0709595979459325),\n",
       " ('area', 0.06902257525405081),\n",
       " ('plans', 0.0647611253319111),\n",
       " ('community', 0.06424458594740932),\n",
       " ('work', 0.06346977687065664),\n",
       " ('way', 0.06269496779390396)]"
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 85,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "#TOP N WORDS TFIDF (TOP RELEVANT) FOR THE ENTIRE DATASET\n",
    "get_top_n_words_tfidf([content1+content2+content3+content4+content5+content6+content7+content8+content9+content10+content11+content12+content13+content14+content15], get_stopwords(lang), 30)"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 86,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/plain": [
       "[('games', 4309),\n",
       " ('people', 2112),\n",
       " ('sport', 2064),\n",
       " ('new', 1857),\n",
       " ('stadium', 1748),\n",
       " ('city', 1351),\n",
       " ('world', 1331),\n",
       " ('time', 1243),\n",
       " ('year', 1193),\n",
       " ('sports', 1162),\n",
       " ('years', 1072),\n",
       " ('park', 1010),\n",
       " ('bid', 978),\n",
       " ('government', 946),\n",
       " ('like', 895),\n",
       " ('public', 811),\n",
       " ('east', 793),\n",
       " ('uk', 791),\n",
       " ('money', 787),\n",
       " ('local', 708),\n",
       " ('team', 693),\n",
       " ('cost', 672),\n",
       " ('going', 668),\n",
       " ('britain', 658),\n",
       " ('athletes', 643),\n",
       " ('way', 640),\n",
       " ('british', 623),\n",
       " ('work', 619),\n",
       " ('plans', 600),\n",
       " ('centre', 594)]"
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 86,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "#TOP N WORDS FOR NEWS\n",
    "get_top_n_words([content1+content2+content3+content6+content7+content8+content9+content11+content12+content13+content14], get_stopwords(lang), 30)"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 90,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/plain": [
       "[('west ham', 426),\n",
       " ('world cup', 285),\n",
       " ('boris johnson', 224),\n",
       " ('long term', 205),\n",
       " ('international committee', 193),\n",
       " ('young people', 193),\n",
       " ('co uk', 192),\n",
       " ('tessa jowell', 178),\n",
       " ('prime minister', 174),\n",
       " ('chief executive', 174),\n",
       " ('sport england', 168),\n",
       " ('guardian co', 165),\n",
       " ('lord coe', 156),\n",
       " ('ken livingstone', 155),\n",
       " ('year old', 152),\n",
       " ('getty images', 152),\n",
       " ('local people', 149),\n",
       " ('lea valley', 148),\n",
       " ('opening ceremony', 148),\n",
       " ('new homes', 143),\n",
       " ('development agency', 135),\n",
       " ('hosting games', 127),\n",
       " ('delivery authority', 123),\n",
       " ('gold medal', 117),\n",
       " ('premier league', 111),\n",
       " ('article continues', 111),\n",
       " ('paralympic games', 107),\n",
       " ('team gb', 105),\n",
       " ('sky news', 105),\n",
       " ('organising committee', 104)]"
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 90,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "#TOP N BIGRAM FOR NEWS\n",
    "get_top_n_bigram([content1+content2+content3+content6+content7+content8+content9+content11+content12+content13+content14], get_stopwords(lang), 30)"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 87,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/plain": [
       "[('sport', 626),\n",
       " ('world', 556),\n",
       " ('uk', 398),\n",
       " ('games', 373),\n",
       " ('international', 319),\n",
       " ('events', 273),\n",
       " ('park', 261),\n",
       " ('new', 245),\n",
       " ('championships', 226),\n",
       " ('people', 215),\n",
       " ('event', 206),\n",
       " ('british', 187),\n",
       " ('paralympic', 179),\n",
       " ('sports', 172),\n",
       " ('athletes', 170),\n",
       " ('programme', 150),\n",
       " ('sporting', 146),\n",
       " ('east', 141),\n",
       " ('enter', 138),\n",
       " ('search', 138),\n",
       " ('host', 136),\n",
       " ('development', 134),\n",
       " ('national', 134),\n",
       " ('team', 133),\n",
       " ('inspiration', 123),\n",
       " ('young', 122),\n",
       " ('major', 122),\n",
       " ('home', 120),\n",
       " ('class', 116),\n",
       " ('year', 116)]"
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 87,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "#TOP N WORDS FOR GOV\n",
    "get_top_n_words([content10+content15], get_stopwords(lang), 30)"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 91,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/plain": [
       "[('uk sport', 217),\n",
       " ('enter search', 136),\n",
       " ('international inspiration', 119),\n",
       " ('world class', 108),\n",
       " ('world cup', 97),\n",
       " ('young people', 97),\n",
       " ('queen elizabeth', 93),\n",
       " ('national lottery', 93),\n",
       " ('elizabeth park', 92),\n",
       " ('paralympic games', 80),\n",
       " ('search press', 68),\n",
       " ('press enter', 68),\n",
       " ('world championships', 63),\n",
       " ('development corporation', 61),\n",
       " ('major events', 59),\n",
       " ('lee valley', 54),\n",
       " ('chief executive', 51),\n",
       " ('gold event', 47),\n",
       " ('event series', 47),\n",
       " ('share enter', 42),\n",
       " ('sporting events', 40),\n",
       " ('great britain', 37),\n",
       " ('children young', 36),\n",
       " ('east bank', 34),\n",
       " ('high performance', 31),\n",
       " ('aquatics centre', 29),\n",
       " ('england hockey', 29),\n",
       " ('european championships', 28),\n",
       " ('events uk', 28),\n",
       " ('look forward', 27)]"
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 91,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "#TOP N BIGRAM FOR GOV\n",
    "get_top_n_bigram([content10+content15], get_stopwords(lang), 30)"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 88,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/plain": [
       "[('games', 1680),\n",
       " ('city', 1287),\n",
       " ('park', 1215),\n",
       " ('new', 1181),\n",
       " ('local', 1053),\n",
       " ('housing', 998),\n",
       " ('development', 734),\n",
       " ('people', 732),\n",
       " ('area', 697),\n",
       " ('site', 649),\n",
       " ('public', 635),\n",
       " ('oda', 629),\n",
       " ('urban', 609),\n",
       " ('event', 579),\n",
       " ('years', 542),\n",
       " ('barcelona', 523),\n",
       " ('community', 518),\n",
       " ('stratford', 504),\n",
       " ('jobs', 494),\n",
       " ('regeneration', 492),\n",
       " ('land', 472),\n",
       " ('economic', 451),\n",
       " ('residents', 413),\n",
       " ('sector', 411),\n",
       " ('facilities', 402),\n",
       " ('report', 400),\n",
       " ('xc2', 400),\n",
       " ('money', 394),\n",
       " ('mega', 382),\n",
       " ('council', 382)]"
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 88,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "#TOP N WORDS FOR ACTIVIST WEBSITES\n",
    "get_top_n_words([content4+content5], get_stopwords(lang), 30)"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 92,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "text/plain": [
       "[('stratford city', 254),\n",
       " ('mega event', 212),\n",
       " ('lea valley', 202),\n",
       " ('clays lane', 180),\n",
       " ('new park', 167),\n",
       " ('mega events', 160),\n",
       " ('julian cheyne', 153),\n",
       " ('org uk', 136),\n",
       " ('new jobs', 132),\n",
       " ('long term', 127),\n",
       " ('http www', 124),\n",
       " ('public housing', 122),\n",
       " ('local people', 121),\n",
       " ('delivery authority', 120),\n",
       " ('lower lea', 120),\n",
       " ('leabank square', 120),\n",
       " ('open space', 115),\n",
       " ('paralympic games', 113),\n",
       " ('british cycling', 112),\n",
       " ('europe 150', 108),\n",
       " ('games monitor', 106),\n",
       " ('urban park', 96),\n",
       " ('real estate', 94),\n",
       " ('jobs created', 94),\n",
       " ('monitor http', 94),\n",
       " ('www gamesmonitor', 94),\n",
       " ('gamesmonitor org', 94),\n",
       " ('arena fields', 92),\n",
       " ('hackney wick', 91),\n",
       " ('health safety', 90)]"
      ]
     },
     "execution_count": 92,
     "metadata": {},
     "output_type": "execute_result"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "#TOP N BIGRAM FOR FOR ACTIVIST WEBSITES\n",
    "get_top_n_bigram([content4+content5], get_stopwords(lang), 30)"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 73,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "image/png": "iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAXcAAAFJCAYAAABgsG0jAAAABHNCSVQICAgIfAhkiAAAAAlwSFlzAAALEgAACxIB0t1+/AAAADh0RVh0U29mdHdhcmUAbWF0cGxvdGxpYiB2ZXJzaW9uMy4xLjAsIGh0dHA6Ly9tYXRwbG90bGliLm9yZy+17YcXAAAgAElEQVR4nO3dd5wsRbn/8c+XAwKSwwElHkUEEUXwEBTMiaCiEgRREPBiFi9eFdMP8BoQBa8JFSWpBEkCKgqiIIKkQwYBRURA0kGJCkp4fn88NWzvbPfszIazS5/v+/Wa10731PTUdni6uqq6WhGBmZm1ywJTnQEzM5t4Du5mZi3k4G5m1kIO7mZmLeTgbmbWQg7uZmYt5ODeQpLukLTZgN95taQrJitPg5D0Z0kvmsLfX1fSlZIelLTHVOVjKkh6tqR7pzofT0aS3iPpzKnOR0frgns5IDuvxyU9VJneaarzN11FxJkRsd5U5wMgItaIiPOnMAufAH4eEYtHxCGSjpX06SnMzzwTEX+MiKXn5W9K2lzSDfPyN+cHrQvu5YBcPCIWB24G3lCZd9RU528iSVpwqvNQZ7rmawCrA9dM1ML6WR+SZkzU79nke1Jsr4ho7Qu4CXh117xFgW8BtwO3Al8GFiqfbQ7cAOwH/AO4Ediux/IvAPYpf+8HTgOWaUh7IbBVef9qIIBXlunXAxeU9zPK798M3AkcBixRPlsbeBT4L+AW4Iwyf/eSfi7wUeAOYLPy2abAZSV/dwBfbMjf5sANlek7gP8GrgbuA44CntLw3fcAvynr9R7g02X+u4Hry7r8ObBymX8E8LmuZZwOvK/y25tV1sdnyra4u+Rj6fLZj4H3l/fPKut0tzK9LnBHQ37XBs4u+ZoLHFlZx78HHgMeBh4E/h/wCPDvMn18SbcqcErJ043AeyrL3x84uuTvAeDtNXk4Fvg6cAbwT2Azct/8v7Jt7wC+ASzctW9+uvzm34Atga2BPwN/Bz7S535+I5XjAli4bON1yrp5tN99HHgXQ/vex6rbruZ/3hq4rqyTW4APAcsBDwGPl/X7YJk3IccpsAVwcWX6XOCcyvQcYPPy/nnA74B7gSuBLUbZXiuU9XE/cD7wReDMyn77zbJe7gOuANaap/FvXv7YvH5RH9wPKBtweWBF4GLgU5Wd5tGykZ5CBuF/Ac9oWP4FZPBaA1iMDAz7NqQ9APhyef/ZckDuV/nsS+X9+4BrydLjksDPgO+Vz9YmA9j3gaeWA+AF5WB5EXmQfqv8D53geFlnxweWADZuyF9dcD+vrKOZ5WB6Z8N338PQSWdGydcO5f94NrAQ8DngrJL+tV2/tQJ5gC9f+e1O/vcu22slYBHyxHB4ZV11gu1uZZ0eWfnsxw35XRt4ZdnGTyvbcf+u7fr2yvSxlBNWmZ4BXAV8vCzj2WSAe1n5fH/yZLAleXW8aE0ejiUD08YlzcLAd4ATgKWBpcgT3j6V7fNI+c0FgQ+W9fRDct9bnzwhdU6gvfbzLwCHVvKyDXB5Zd10B/fafZzc9+4HNin5/zqVfa/mf/47sFF5vxywft2+N5HHKbnP/5s8lhYhTxZ3lPdLlHW2RJn+K/ARcn99HXmieUaP7XUy8COGjsM7GQruW5MBf8mS/rnACvM0/s3LH5vXL+qD+98oJebKRriustM8DCxS+fxU4KMNy78A+J/K9F7AyQ1ptwIuKu/PJks8Z5fpC4Ety/vzKKXPMr1e2XHFUHBfqfL5F4AjKtNLkaWgTnC8CPgUsNwo66ouuG9bmf468H8N330P8MeueWcBO1WmFyKD04pkcLyDoQP9g8BpXb/dyf9fgE0rnz2jsj6eC9xZ5h9Bnlz+UqZ/TLkS6GM/2QE4v2u79gruLwP+1LWM/YBvl/f7U66qevzmscAhlekFgf9QgnOZ9wrg2sr2uQ9YoEzPLPvCepX01zBUCu21nz+XvMJ6Spk+EfhYeV8X3Gv38bLvHV75bMnqvlfzP98J7Eq5Smra9ybhOL2YPNG+vKQ7tbzfgqFj8jVkcFflez8B9m7YXouU/3VWZd5BDAX3Lcv22Ki6zHn5al2dey+SRJbU/lqZ/Vdg5cr03Ih4uOvzlXos9o7K+38BizekOxdYT9LywFpkVcBaZXq98jnlt7rztyiwbJl+PCJuq3y+EnmJC0BE3EcGgY5dgOcDf5R0oaTX9fhfxvq/Uc1DsTrwHUn3lt4Xc8nS1ioR8RhwHLBjSfs2srplmLK9VgVOqyznMrIktBzwB2ABSeuQl8k/AR6QtDrwUuC3dRmVtJKk4yX9TdL95JXQ8j3+t26rA7M6eSr52ovct5rWR51qmpXIE+A1lWWeTF7VdMyNiMfL+4fK3zsrnz8ELD7afh4R15Tf3kLSkmSQO6ZHPpv2g+59736G73vd3kReJdws6TeSZtclmoTj9LdkMO/sE2eTJ+iXMbSPrATcHCUyN/xmdXs9jSxg3NKVvuMXwKHAd4E7JR0sqdfxM+Hmq+BeNtwd5MHZsRpZSuhYXtIiXZ9Xg+lYf/s+sv56L+CSiHiErO/bC7i6HBiU3+rO30PkJSFkaa3qdjIAAiBpKbL03vndayPirWSQ+DpwkqSnjPf/qdGdr1vIapylK69FI+KS8vkxwFslPYus6zx5xAJze3VKcNXlLBIRd5fPzwF2Ah6OiLvJg/XdZEn4Dw15/TJZb7puRCxJXkVpwP/tuq48LRERb+7xndGWezt58lujssylImK5PpYzfKH97efHkCfXbcg66X5ORt1uB1bpTJQTxVJNiSPi/Ih4PXn1dgZDJ5ToSjfRx2l3cP8tI4P7bWUZVd2/Wc3nHWV61a70T/wPEXFQRKxPFq7WA/ZsyN+kmK+Ce3EMsI+k5SStQFZZ/Kjy+ULAZyQ9RdIrycu1Eyfot38LfIChHersrulO/v5H0mqSliDrqo/uKlFUHQe8RdLGkhYu6TulOyTtLGm5Ulq+j9whH69f1IT6DvBpSWuVfCwjaZvOh5FdHR8Gvg38NCL+2WM5+0tatSxnBUlvqHz+W7Jap3udntNjnS1B1qfeL2k18gTby53AMyvT55a8fFjSIpIWlPR8SRuMspxG5WR/GPA1ScsrrSrpNWNc5Gj7+TFkQ/67yMbfsTgO2EbShqXA8Fka9i1Ji0naoZwAHiHbiR4rH98JrNBVsp3I4/R3ZHBdl7zyuwx4DtlOcW4lzQJlmy5Y1vtrgePrFliuGn4K7CdpUUnPJwsZnf93E0mzS0+pf5JVbo/VLWuyzI/B/f+RJbprgMvJOu4DKp/fRJag7iAPtl0j4sYJ+u3fkoHlnIZpyGB3Etlw9WeyxN4YfCLiMrIR6ASyV8HNZG+KjtcD10t6gGyA2j4iHp2If6aXiDiG7C1wUqn6uJw8AKuOIRvDegWXA4Azgd+U/+H3QDWIdq/Dc8hqg+o67fb/yGqc+8iqnNFO3ocAG5bqkmNLIN4SeDF5KT6X3G7jvez+MFmCnFPy9kuyF9BY9NzPI+ImsgfHhjQEsNGUfe+j5Dr8G1mSv49swKyzG7m+7gN2JqsMKfk4FfhrWcfLjpZ/BjhOI+LesqzLIuKxUrV1CdmecW9J8zB5rGxLNvweBLw1Iv7cYxW8m7wKuZOsfjm88tnSZDvQvWRvnr+SV87zjJoLN/MfSZsD34yIsR5QZvMtScuQhZGVIuL2SfwdH6d9mB9L7mY2QSS9sVRLLE6Wdi+czMBu/XNwN7Px2I6sGrmV7FniIT6mCVfLmJm1kEvuZmYtNC0GeFp++eVj1qxZU50NM7MnlUsuueTuiJhZ99m0CO6zZs1izpw5U50NM7MnFUl/bfrM1TJmZi3k4G5m1kIO7mZmLeTgbmbWQg7uZmYt5OBuZtZCowb3MuzoWZKulXSNpD3L/H3Lww4uL68tK9/5hKQbJF0/4MMhzMxsAvTTz/1R8sG7l5bxxS+R9Kvy2Vcj4ivVxOWpODuQj/JaCThT0rPLeOJmZjYPjFpyj4jbI+LS8v4B8qHHK/f4ytbAsRHx74j4C/lg5Y0mIrNmZtafge5QlTSLfHrJhcCmwAck7Uw+XOAjEXEPGfgvqHytM1pcX2bt/fPa+Tftv9UgWTUzm6/13aBaxms+Efhwed7nt4E1gBeQT2A5sJO05usjhp6UtIekOZLmzJ07d+CMm5lZs76Cu6SFyMB+VEScBBARd1YeWfU9hqpebmX4Q2NXoebBtRFxSETMjojZM2fWjntjZmZj1E9vGQGHks8bPKgy/+mVZG8Gri7vTwV2kLSwpGcAawIXTVyWzcxsNP3UuW8KvAO4StLlZd4ngR0lvYCscrmJfFgsEXGNpOPIB9I+CrzfPWXMzOatUYN7RJxLfT36aT2+83ng8+PIl5mZjYPvUDUzayEHdzOzFnJwNzNrIQd3M7MWcnA3M2shB3czsxZycDczayEHdzOzFnJwNzNrIQd3M7MWcnA3M2shB3czsxZycDczayEHdzOzFnJwNzNrIQd3M7MWcnA3M2shB3czsxZycDczayEHdzOzFnJwNzNrIQd3M7MWcnA3M2shB3czsxZycDczayEHdzOzFnJwNzNrIQd3M7MWcnA3M2shB3czsxZycDczayEHdzOzFnJwNzNroVGDu6RVJZ0l6VpJ10jas8xfVtKvJP2p/F2mzJekr0u6QdKVkjaY7H/CzMyG66fk/ijwkYh4DrAJ8H5J6wB7A7+OiDWBX5dpgC2ANctrD+DbE55rMzPradTgHhG3R8Sl5f0DwLXAysDWwJEl2ZHAm8r7rYEfRLoAWFrS0yc852Zm1migOndJs4D1gQuBFSPidsgTALBCSbYycEvla7eWed3L2kPSHElz5s6dO3jOzcysUd/BXdLiwInAhyPi/l5Ja+bFiBkRh0TE7IiYPXPmzH6zYWZmfegruEtaiAzsR0XESWX2nZ3qlvL3rjL/VmDVytdXAW6bmOyamVk/+uktI+BQ4NqIOKjy0anALuX9LsAplfk7l14zmwD3dapvzMxs3liwjzSbAu8ArpJ0eZn3SWB/4DhJuwM3A9uVz04DtgRuAP4F7DqhOTYzs1GNGtwj4lzq69EBXlWTPoD3jzNfZmY2Dr5D1cyshRzczcxayMHdzKyFHNzNzFrIwd3MrIUc3M3MWsjB3cyshRzczcxayMHdzKyFHNzNzFrIwd3MrIUc3M3MWsjB3cyshRzczcxayMHdzKyFHNzNzFrIwd3MrIUc3M3MWsjB3cyshRzczcxayMHdzKyFHNzNzFrIwd3MrIUc3M3MWsjB3cyshRzczcxayMHdzKyFHNzNzFrIwd3MrIUc3M3MWsjB3cyshRzczcxaaNTgLukwSXdJuroyb19Jf5N0eXltWfnsE5JukHS9pNdNVsbNzKxZPyX3I4DNa+Z/NSJeUF6nAUhaB9gBeG75zsGSZkxUZs3MrD+jBveIOAf4R5/L2xo4NiL+HRF/AW4ANhpH/szMbAzGU+f+AUlXlmqbZcq8lYFbKmluLfNGkLSHpDmS5sydO3cc2TAzs25jDe7fBtYAXgDcDhxY5qsmbdQtICIOiYjZETF75syZY8yGmZnVGVNwj4g7I+KxiHgc+B5DVS+3AqtWkq4C3Da+LJqZ2aDGFNwlPb0y+Wag05PmVGAHSQtLegawJnDR+LJoZmaDWnC0BJKOAV4OLC/pVmAf4OWSXkBWudwEvBsgIq6RdBzwB+BR4P0R8djkZN3MzJqMGtwjYsea2Yf2SP954PPjyZSZmY2P71A1M2shB3czsxZycDczayEHdzOzFhq1QXU6m7X3z2vn37T/VvM4J2Zm04tL7mZmLeTgbmbWQg7uZmYt5OBuZtZCDu5mZi3k4G5m1kIO7mZmLeTgbmbWQg7uZmYt5OBuZtZCDu5mZi3k4G5m1kIO7mZmLeTgbmbWQg7uZmYt5OBuZtZCDu5mZi3k4G5m1kIO7mZmLeTgbmbWQg7uZmYt5OBuZtZCDu5mZi3k4G5m1kIO7mZmLeTgbmbWQg7uZmYtNGpwl3SYpLskXV2Zt6ykX0n6U/m7TJkvSV+XdIOkKyVtMJmZNzOzev2U3I8ANu+atzfw64hYE/h1mQbYAlizvPYAvj0x2TQzs0GMGtwj4hzgH12ztwaOLO+PBN5Umf+DSBcAS0t6+kRl1szM+jPWOvcVI+J2gPJ3hTJ/ZeCWSrpby7wRJO0haY6kOXPnzh1jNszMrM5EN6iqZl7UJYyIQyJidkTMnjlz5gRnw8xs/jbW4H5np7ql/L2rzL8VWLWSbhXgtrFnz8zMxmKswf1UYJfyfhfglMr8nUuvmU2A+zrVN2ZmNu8sOFoCSccALweWl3QrsA+wP3CcpN2Bm4HtSvLTgC2BG4B/AbtOQp7NzGwUowb3iNix4aNX1aQN4P3jzZSZmY2P71A1M2shB3czsxZycDcza6FR69zbYtbeP6+df9P+W83jnJiZTT6X3M3MWsjB3cyshRzczcxayMHdzKyFHNzNzFrIwd3MrIUc3M3MWsjB3cyshRzczcxaaL65Q3UQvpvVzJ7sXHI3M2shB3czsxZycDczayEHdzOzFnJwNzNrIQd3M7MWclfICVDXddLdJs1sKrnkbmbWQg7uZmYt5OBuZtZCrnOfx1w/b2bzgkvuZmYt5OBuZtZCrpaZxjw6pZmNlUvuZmYt5JJ7SwxSyvcVgVn7ueRuZtZCDu5mZi00rmoZSTcBDwCPAY9GxGxJywI/BmYBNwHbR8Q948ummZkNYiLq3F8REXdXpvcGfh0R+0vau0x/fAJ+x6aA6+fNnpwmo0F1a+Dl5f2RwNk4uM83BrkD13frmk2e8da5B3CGpEsk7VHmrRgRtwOUvyuM8zfMzGxA4y25bxoRt0laAfiVpOv6/WI5GewBsNpqq40zG9Z2470i6JXerI3GVXKPiNvK37uAnwAbAXdKejpA+XtXw3cPiYjZETF75syZ48mGmZl1GXPJXdJiwAIR8UB5/1rgs8CpwC7A/uXvKRORUbPJ4FK+tdV4qmVWBH4iqbOcoyPil5IuBo6TtDtwM7Dd+LNpNvV8IrAnkzEH94i4EVivZv7fgVeNJ1NmZjY+HlvGbJK4W6hNJQd3sycZnwisHw7uZi3m0ULnXw7uZjYwnwimP48KaWbWQi65m9mkm6zGZd+53MwldzOzFnLJ3cysy2Q1RA969TCenlEuuZuZtZCDu5lZCzm4m5m1kIO7mVkLObibmbWQg7uZWQs5uJuZtZCDu5lZCzm4m5m1kIO7mVkLObibmbWQg7uZWQs5uJuZtZCDu5lZCzm4m5m1kIO7mVkLObibmbWQg7uZWQs5uJuZtZCDu5lZCzm4m5m1kIO7mVkLObibmbWQg7uZWQs5uJuZtdCkBXdJm0u6XtINkvaerN8xM7ORJiW4S5oBfAvYAlgH2FHSOpPxW2ZmNtJkldw3Am6IiBsj4j/AscDWk/RbZmbWRREx8QuVtgU2j4h3lel3ABtHxAcqafYA9iiTawHX1yxqeeDuPn/2yZZ2uuRjOqSdLvmYDmmnSz6ebGmnSz7mddrVI2Jm7TciYsJfwHbA9yvT7wC+MYblzGlr2umSj+mQdrrkYzqknS75eLKlnS75mA5pO6/Jqpa5FVi1Mr0KcNsk/ZaZmXWZrOB+MbCmpGdIegqwA3DqJP2WmZl1WXAyFhoRj0r6AHA6MAM4LCKuGcOiDmlx2umSj+mQdrrkYzqknS75eLKlnS75mA5pgUlqUDUzs6nlO1TNzFrIwd3MrIUc3M3MWqgVwV3SYn2k2bSfeWX+MyciX+Mh6Rn9zJtfDLL9xrDsZSUtMxHLmiqSFp7qPNSRNEPSjyZp2S+W9DZJO3deDekWkPTiAZc9pv1N0jKSnj/IbzUsZ9zrbVoFd0kHSFpS0kKSfi3pbklv75H+xZL+AFxbpteTdHBD8m/0OQ/gCEl/lnSspPdJel6PPHxptHmSviHp602vhkWfWDPvhB75+GzX9AxJRzWkPVHSVpJ6bn9Jzy7b4eoy/XxJn+6RfhNJS1Sml5C0cVeaZXu9emSnr+3X7z4kabWyfecCFwIXS7qrzJvVlXbg7Sdpsc76LevxjZIWaki7e828/evSls8O65peHDitJl3dOm7KQ99pS/qvSHpu0+cdEfEYMLN0iR6VpC9IWroyvYykz9Wk+yHwFWAzYMPymt2Qh8eBA/v5/Yq+44Wks8s+tyxwBXC4pIMa0l4l6cqu1+8kfVXScpU8D7Te6kxKV8hxeG1EfEzSm8kbobYDzgKazmBfBV5H6UMfEVdIemk1gaQXAS8mV9RelY+WJLtpjhARLy0rdUPg5cDPJS0eEXXB5zXAx7vmbdE1b075uyk5kNqPy/R2wCVd+V0beC6wlKS3dOV3kbr8FqtJ+kREfFFZijseuLQh7beBXYGvSzoeOCIirqtJ9z3go8B3ASLiSklHAyMOtspyN6hM/7Nm3iVAAKr5fgDDrprGsP363Yd+DPwfsFM5kDoD3m1HjoW0SSVt39uv4hzgJcorgl+XZbwV2Kkm7baSHo6Io0o+DgZ6lcT/JunbEfHesvyfk9uq26XkzYT3kOt7aeB2SXcB/xURl4wxLcB1wCGSFgQOB46JiPsa8nsTcJ6kU8l9AoCIqAuAW0TEJytp7pG0JdBdqJgNrBP9d/c7Q9I2wEm9vjOWeAEsFRH3S3oXcHhE7CPpyoa0vwAeA44u0zuUv/cDRwBvqKS9if7X2wjTLbh3SgpbkjvLP6S6GDAkIm7pSvNYV5KnAIuT/+sSlfn3A9vWLVPSZsBLymtp4GfA77rSvBd4H/DMrg25BHBeVx6PLN95J/CKiHikTH8HOKPr59cCXl9+t7qhHwD+qy6/xa7AUZI+AbwC+EVEfLUuYUScCZwpaSlgR+BXkm4hA8SPOvkDnhoRF3Wt30d75EHVAyciHi8Hf/W3B61aGnT79bsPLR8RP67OKEH+WEn/2zV/kO3XoYj4VymVfyMiDpB0WUPatwCnSnqcLBj8IyLe15CWiPiMpC+V338hsH9E1F3p/RL4SUScXvL7WmBz4DjgYGDjMaYlIr4PfF/SWuS+d6Wk84DvRcRZXfm4rbwWYPg2rDND0sIR8e+Sj0WpP9FdDTwNuH2U5XXsBSwGPCrpYfIEFhGxZFe6geMFsKCkpwPbA58aJR+bRkS1eucqSedFxKY1V5id9aaSp8EMOl7BZL6A/ckSwWXkQToTuLBH+hPIs+yl5Eb5H+DYmnQzgBMGyMdj5KX6m4CnNKRZCpgFHAOsXnkt22O511c/B5YBrm9I+6I+87pB5bUxcDk53PIGwAY9vrccsCdZojyVLFV+Azi7kuYXwBrApWV6W/Kk0bTMk4APlW23UFn+yT3Sv5G8tP4K8Poe6frefsAX+9mHyNJ5J2itVF4bl3nHTcD2uwx4EXAB8Nwy76quNMtWXquX73yzM69mmW+pvLYp2/qQzrya9CPGI+nMAy4fa9qu7bI1cDJ5BfNx4KfUHIMl/RLA4qNsv48B5wK7A7uV9x+rSXcWeZVxetl/TwVO7Wcf6XM/Wr3yfgFgyR5ptwWuBA4u088ETmxIewU5iGJneiPgis4+05V2Q+AnZb+4qryu7Pd/mHY3MZXLzPsj4jFlQ+kSEXFHQ9rlga8BrybPbmcAe0bE32vS/iYiXtlnHpYmL8FfSq7gx4HzI+IzDelnACtSuRKKiJtr0u0K7EvumAAvA/aNUjLsSnsAWf3xEFmqWg/4cET8qCtdZ1mdDanKe+r+Z0knAWsDPySrZG6vfDYnImaX988kg8eLyQPpL8DbI+KmhvWwAvB1oPObZ5Y831WTdn9y3XbaBXYkg8knGpY96vYrddybkG0wPfehUu22OxmcVibX261kkDg0Ssmx6zuDbL+XkoWN8yLiS2VdfjgiPlRJ8xcq24rhVVUREd1VVIf3+PcjInbrSn8GWSV0bJn1VrIacXPg4ojYYCxpS/qDyJPzr8n1dVHls+sjYq3K9Lrkvtap1rwb2Dka7lqXtDl5TAP8KsrVRFealzWshN/WzS/fWQZYk0r1ZkSc05D2aOA9ZEHvErIwd1BEfLkm7aYRcd5o88r8DYHDyJK4yCuCdwHXAFtFxHGVtNeT+9DVZAzq5PmvTf/jsN+aTsFd0lPJy6fVImIPSWsCa0XEzyZg2QeSG/Z4htdfndSQ/jnkwfsSMrjdHBEjdijlMAv7AncytAEiImpbzCU9jaFL3At7nLguj4gXlLrjNwH/DZwVEes1pN+nZnZExGdr0m4ZEad1zXviUrgm/WLAAhHxQN3nY1Gqsl4Q2djVOUFe1mO99bX9JJ0fES+aqHzW5KOv7TfA8hYgr9JGBIKG9DOAD0VDlVtX2uWBfchGR5Gl4P2A+8hj7IaxpC3pdyNL6P+q+d2lolL/Lun3wKeiVNdIejnwhYio7cEiaUWyRBvARXWFg0q6DctkY7qS9l3kleQq5BXPJmSBrbbAUDn+diKrvj4OXFK3f0q6tObkN2Je1+dLkfH33h5pzo2IzZo+H810q3M/nDxLdjb6reTBPCy4S/oGw0s8w1RLRxXLAn9nqFRJWcaI4C7pz+Ql+LnAd4BdIx86UufD5AloxNVCZXlrR8R1kjob+5bydyVJK0VEXcPnoO0PD1beL0LW21/bkPZzjOxdcT7DGz47VzA7k9VPC3Z+v2H9dkr6XyMPnCjL/O+IuLEhH0sD/yjvl2pI09Hv9uu34WxBsuT+JrLkHmT95ilkSfSRStrug3TU7Sfp2WSpaxbDr+iGBZPIdomvkFU4oypXI28kOxOMlvZu4IMNH98w1rTFEcDbJD0zIj4raTXgaRFxUYxsWF0sKvXwEXG2GrovS9oe+DJwNnmS+Yakj0bECWNJV7EneSK4ICJeoey4sF9DWoCFlL2F3gR8MyIekTRsf9IYGl+VnR22YeQxNaIQBuwj6fvk1dETBa+mAmm36Rbc14iIt0raESAiHlJ9RJtTM6+niNh1gORrdkqUfbiFLN30shf5YJIDGXkZHgwPWB0/lXQdWS3zPkkzgYebfiAihnX1KgHj1K55TyMD2aKS1meoGmBJ4Kk1iz2NrDO+isplYQ9Hk/X9by7TO5BtEhvXpP0icFmpVhJZBVZbJQMDbb9+G85+CNxLHuC3lh+920UAABcOSURBVHmrALuQPWveWknbqxtd0/Y7niwYfJ+Rjfzd+johVfxe0jfJXjvVq5hhJ5l+TzCDpi2+Re4TrwQ+Szb4n8hQSbrqRkmfIdc5wNvJKr46nwI27JTCy35/JiO7AfebruPhiHhYUucq9TplY3CT75K9Va4AzpG0OlmFUjWWxtdTyHhxCZWA3WBXsvp0ISq1AtQUSGs1VcZPxQv4PbAoQw14a5CXW6N9b0myXrVXmlXIxom7yCqUE4FVGtI+mzxbXl2mnw98uiHtoWQJ/xNkYNkL2Ksh7aLAR0o+TiKrWhbpkedlgBnl/VPJklG/63IZ4E9d83Yh64sfKH87r1Opb5C7dMDtV9dweUGP9E8n6223Hu1/G2T79ZnX2obQ8tkfa+YtQPZ06Hf5lwyQ9oFy8D5CBoYHyDaDpvRn1bx+U5PuCuC9ZBXHCzuvhmX2nba6b1BpBKQ0DDbsi18nOz5cSnZBXaYhbXej8wLd8wZJV/n8J+SV4r5kN9VTgNMG3GcWrJk3aGeNqwdI2/j/9POabiX3fcjGw1WVN+BsCryzKbGk2WRVzhI5qXuB3WJkn1xKuqPJvsmQpYfDyUajboP07765vJ5SXr0cSR68nRtfdgR+QHahqrMy8BpJ1f7tP6hLKOkqhq4KZpC9RIZd6kU2/B0paZuo7zrX7YeS/ousFqteFv6jmkhDNx+dpeyKeUzJy1vJPthNNiRL7JDB7ac90va9/fpsOLtH0nZkr4ZOvf8CZfn3dC8zBqw+Ia+83kcGlcZ1V+aN1j2wO/0r+kz6aER8exLSAjxS6v8Dnig5N13drRwNVXk1finpdHIfgtyHRtygNUA6ACKiczW5b7laXIqMNbVKnfg+DO2fvyWPp2FX6ZHVZL1uvuv2e0nPi4ir+kh7gaR1IuIPAyz/CdOqQRVAeZfWJuTl9AWRdYFNaa8E3h8RvyvTm5HdkeoaPS6PiBeMNq/MvzgiNpR0WUSs3ytt5TuLRcQ/mz4vaa6IrgbRunll/j7kDVTrkDvtFsC5EdHUN3/1yuSjwJ0R8WhXmrdHxI8kfYSaNovoujlC0vuBz5PVFzGUbEQvjk6vj041z7CeO93py3cG7S3T1/brt+FMeRfql8h7AjqNWkuTpeC9I2JEtYGk/cgub6NWn5R10q12XZT0b2QokJwdo3QikLQVebNb9QTWfZfyvuSVzqgnmEHSlvQ7kQF1A7LQsi15dXt8TdpzyYLP4WT7UWMjYkm/DVmwE3BORPykId1bGGoAbkxXSb8ZWeV6eDkZLV63nUvaE8leKp2eUO8A1ouIt9Sk7buzhvKO+meR1VL/ZugYqYtZ15K1F6OmrTPdSu6QpdUZZN5eKql2JRUPdAI7QEScK6mpR0fnNvTOmX5HsoGuKe0aDJVKtqXhZonSqHIoWfe2mqT1gHdH/U0ol0naJCIuKN/dmK4bniq2Jbs/XhYRuyp7Bny/IS3RX/eoTiNW3Q0RdcFqL+BZvU6w5befAaC84eR95AEX5I1fTaXBLRneW+ZIsj9vU717v9uvr4aziLipBLTLGNrnbgZOaTrgGarPf0zSQzTX5z+xTvpRc6LbU9JmEbF3Q/rvkNV0ryD3iW2Bi2qS7lL+frSaNbruAh5DWiLiKEmXAK8i18ObIqK2AT8iNit1+rsCcyRdRN7J+auG9CdSP/zGE0qD7CkRcVKpO19L0kJRaQjvSr8PeVfrWuRJZiGybaVpvJg1ImKbyvR+ki5vSNt3Zw2ykNavzQdIO9J46nQm+kX2/5xDni0PL6/DeqT/Kll18nKy2+LBZElzxA08wGpk3fLc8jqZyo0KXWmfSTbO/Av4G1mn3pT2QvK27Wrd49Vdaa4iS3zXkpeuN5Fn48e701a+c1H5ewnZpiDgmglaz0cCS1eml6lbz2V9PXWA5R5HBptXlNchNN8QdCXDbwhalh43aPS7/cg+2ZCl9oU772vSfZwM7B8nq3jeDuxdvrf3BK3ndckqt507rx7rYoHK9IxR1sWVXX8XB86YiDwP+P/NIG/+Wq3z6iP9NuWYupa82ewt5bNzy98HyKrLzqu2/aEcF08lT8y3kFccR/X47cvLMVQ9Tnut4/OBzSrTm5JXgGNdV0tW9vMRr8nYPtOt5L5JRKwzQPrOJfk+XfNfTFcvhsibit7Y53L/Rp5YziJX/v1kyaauuxIx+hAIr+/zd6vmKLsiHkLuyA+SJ5KJ8PyoXBpHjt+xfk26x4DLSx1l9VK9qf50rRhexXSWpCsa0g7aW6bf7XdrWW8nk8Mq3EP9w9l3J+8cHVbSU96ccw15t/QI/VafNFWr0dBmwmDdQh8qf/8laSWy1PjElYKkV0bEbzR8bKInRH11Qe2IihHR1MbzQfK4u5PcTzo9v+qqF55Pltq3An4FvCEiLi15P5+s5tqs/F6/7Q+DDO8A8J+ICJXujBp9JNn3ku1TnW1xD0NXN93/3yrk3d2bkuvgXPJmylsryY4m40Dd2EqNV0jjMd2C+/mDNCBE/w1Lg/bBPoWsh72U+sBQdYtyONFQ3vX4Ibr6l0efd5R1+QDwNvLO19eQJaPGrpADWkDSMhFxDzzRIFq3L5xcXv3qu9opIo6RdDZZHSHg49HjhqB+t1/033D2OFnq7N42T6ehYXDA6pNBqtW+AFxa1seoJzrgZ+UEdgBDA5dVl/0y4DcMH5uoo6m6oNqFcRGyuuVSmk9GezLK/R0V3yQ7KXwyIjonJiLiNvUYZXQUKlWiO5Enaugdz46T9F1gaWUngd2oH2yt41py/a5BnnjvI/u81w0INmpjf0S8vvydZ8N2T6sGVeUt2z8F7qCPBoSmFu2oGZ1O0gVk39xOne0OwAcjYkQfbElXR8S6fea57yEQBiHp25R+xBHxHGUPkDMioq4f8aDL3pkMHieQB/v2wOcj4oc9v9i8vE5PnYXIOs2by/TqwB+a1qWklUuaar/qptvBB9l+ozacKW9x/ybwJ4ZuSlqNbOz6QESMOCFogLtqJV0UERuVeulXkNULV0fEiGFylcPX/oksHd7MKHe+lraN95J3Tz/RthERE3Xy7xxbP4yI2qulcuJ8TXQ12s8r6mN4h670HyTjykbkcXp6NNT5l/S/ZKiA98SVeHTdT1LSjtrYr5E3MlYFOVjcWAqBjaZbyf0wslW635tmDiNbtDtdCd9BnjHrLkfVFbx+pBw6oE7f3ZUiGxvrhnEdr40jYoPOpWapOhnz2M5VEfEDSXPIaiuR9Z5PXC1JOi4ittfw7pWVr4/o3TNwtZNyzPu3klUg1Rs0aoM7fW6/fhvOIuKXpZFvI4aPLXNxlCGAG/RbfdKpVvseQ9VqdY2elHxuRlY7PZOsCjsnIr7WkP5I8mTRs0vtIIWfGv8ie4A0uRE4W9LPGV5lN2I4WuUwIl8kq6iqvXvGXBVRCgHnVKZvJK+am6xIXm1cSsaNM0f5iVUiot8GzX4a+z9CjuradEPccsqec+/o8zdHNd1K7n0P7lXSD9K9cX/yTHwsQ32wFyZLg0Sly5cG6670DPK27VkML4H2W7/f9L9dSLYdXFyC/Eyy5F5XNz6hJD09Im6XdBzDe08IOCAimvrlD/Ib15N1/6PdpddJ39f2Kz0a1idvsul0Y72y6epvwDzvQNbFn02l+iQijh3le7PIBrWmMb47VwEbkqX89wAPRcTaDWn76lKrwbrz/ZTh90k8h2wMb+qx093OBUBEjOiZpOwKuQ/ZAeINZP27IqJ2Gf3Q4HfUomwYe235/dlkB4BDI+LPNWkPIevyRy3gKYde+CZD90CcR169D1QSl3RGRLx2kO/0XN40C+4HkyWjn9LHWAqSzgc+GhHnlulNga9EzcBRGt7vuNoPu/zEUClCw/uMD32pZmOVBsND6braiB6j0/VDA/QjniyqHxBpogLlL4DtIuLBURMzYvt1e2L7VapDLi0nxcXIXg4TkedRq08aLrurGa0bh+bXZBfL88kqlnOj9yBYRwDf6Wrb2CW6ut8OWPh5WWXyUeCvXQ2CTXlZIv+t5u0o6ZKIeKGkqyLieWXe7yLiJaMtv8cyryCHd7iE4dUmTQ9P6XxvPTK4b052mNiEHHnyY+XzztXqguSVy42MoY95ze8O3Mg9XtOtWmZRckVWz15NDUBQ36L9zoa0Hwd+GfnElM+QQfN/6w62Ac+4D0dE06PyxiwG6Ec80TTAg0jGsOzOoG//IqsfugdFqr20HqAhatCGs0H0U31Sveyulpx6jSN0JXm7/7pkw929ytEtH6pJCzlWz86SOsNKrwZc2wlMlQD0kLLBt1r4qV1mRPxWw0dZ/FPDb1OWNWwYX0m9hvF9WHn3759KVdrfgBV6Lb8PA91RK+lDZG+Xu8nG549GDga2APm/fqwkHUsVYz+N/WNp5B6XaVVyHytJSwJERPfAPtU0V0bE80tj2xfIg/CTUdMgN+Bvv408w5/B8CDV9Ii7aa+cLJch60mrl+UPRMMdiwMsu7Y7WUfUjI1evtfXcNCDNpwNqt/qEzXc0NWr0VP5LNRdyeqGp0VE7aP2mq4sOzqFk1JK/QFDbQP3kCX8EdVDGjnK4kvIAFg7EJcGGMZXOYb5teRV+f+S920cEBFj7tqrwe+o/SxZBVN39f2c8RScNEBj/7w0rYK7cgyV3Rl5W/VuDelXJAP1ShGxhaR1yLGxD61Je1lErC/pi+SAPEerMrzAOPL8RbIu888MH8+977aD+VGpLnk4hj+/dOGoGR+8fP5j8hJ854hYtwTP82uqHT5HHlydhrPTY4J28kGqT0p7xf0MH15h6br2ilKafQlZev8r2VD4u4j4zTjz2xmGtnNH8oOUEQkj4vKutFeQvV+GjbLYXY9fTd9PvX+ZP5scxXF1hoayHnMVR1lmXTXdsOrVeUXShd2BXNIFEbFJTdq+Y9a4xTy+q63Xixyb4X/JQLkLWRr+Wo/0vyB7CHQeU7UgDSOpkYNffbcse2myMa52FLsB83wdDY/i86vneruAyiPXyAD0+x7pO49862cUQpEPTj+WHIv8C+Tt5OPN81fJwPsrcnTBVwKLNqQdkbce+f0oWdUyYtTBceb3aOCP5GMMDyz76g+Bi+l6dF33cUN/oyx+hmzQnEU+wLr2kYrksxHeCDyDyiMpp3ofnMD1vD95hTur/G8fK+tmxN2ng8Ss8b6mW537syJiO0lbR8SRypEYRzxiq2L5iDhOORIhEfGopKZubNuTjShfiYh7lQ+0/WhD2kFcQZ4sGhvArNYiUWmEi4gHS9VLk/+U0nrnDsM1aBgPOyJC0h1k9cyjZBXTCZKeaDgbi4j47/LbneqTw8mHNNdVnwxyQ9eIR7dNkOXIYTgeLHnYh7y34aXkVdABlbS/0ACjLJJtGfuRY8CIPOm9syHt3Ig4teGzMVPePDiL4b1lmm66mkydsf/fzfDOGrsx8u7TQWLWuEy34N65Ffze0mBzB7nxmvxTOYpk54DfhIYHZ0Re7p9Umb6d/p+c3suKwHWSLmZ43d+4ukLOB/4paYMobRPl0r22sU+SyJ4Row4HPUDD2cBqqk8OI6tn6vTb6DmZVgOqTxB7hCwxPySp+8R4K1nd9BIyMB0SvUdZXIMcU2kBMo68irySqfu/xvVEoTql59Ia5JgxneAYNN9RO5n67qzBADFrvKZbcD9EeSfmp8lBohYnL2+a7FXSPVPSeeQY5k1PQJksY+6rO5/bEzhe0m3kjr4Sw59+9IRSEt+T7EXVGQ56z6gfrXJ58qasv3Yt43FJYxnjp2pR4CCyznq0OzPHN6LfxDiaHBP8lDL9BuCY0t7RPcTHCuRNQE+0VYyy7KOoeXhzg/E9UajebGCdKHUbU+zTpTS+GTnkwIHkaKh1DarzLGZNtwbV6jjjnT7o91LTAFTSL0KOwfI68o6988kbDybsNmybHMoHZZxOli7fTAbtzzSUdpD0LeCIiLh43uXyyU/SC6k89DoiGh9RWa6Q+r3Jp++HN6vSv32iSDqefFD4RFx9jzcvfXfWmJcxa7oF96PJnarzRJ6tyMaftYHjI+KArvR1PRKWiYjtmEeUNyV8iSz5iKGbHUaM8W1DBu2aqrxr+Nlkdcg/GedNJVZPo9zkU0n3KvJ4G7WqRdL3gK/GGJ8o1LWszp20S5Cjwl7EFFeHSvoZ2Xf/1WSV3UPkkN11PYfmWcyabsH9dGCbSgPQ4mQD0JvJ0vs6Xen77o41iXm+gRzCdJ7cYNQWg3ZNberb3V39YmNT01ZxcrWtIiLW6Er/I7LQNWxsoKjptqxxPlGoa1kv6/V5jPPO8LEoHQE2J/fjP5XOGs+LiDNq0s6zmDXd6twHaQCCwZ5sNFnudGAfk78p7yR9NfAlSQuTjXO1HMQn3aBtFesNUNUyYe0P1eCt4XfUXhQ9hmyYTAN21phnMWu6ldw/Q5bSqw1Ap5KX7IdExE5d6a9laIhZKD0SyJLEPLlkl/Q1sjvcyUxQT4D5wSClHZt+JrKqZYy/P9AdtVNNYxwWe1y/OZ2COwzcANTXbdiTSdLh9T9df1etWRtMZFXLGH9/oDtqp9pUxKrpVi1D5KhuPUd2q6Sd0kt15S3zV0bEV6cyH2ZTYKq7ei7QVQ3zd3pU6021qYhV0y64P5lExGPKZ2o6uNt8ZaoLVsAvu+6o3YG8td+KaVct82Qj6fPkqHs/JrvoAU/uUSHNngxKN+RNKcMfRMQgz/ttPQf3cVI+S7JbhEeFNJtwnZunJD1ANkiq8vHj5CMQvxwRB09JBqcRB3cza40ybsvvI2Ktqc7LVJu2DRBPFpJWlHSo8rFxSFpH0u5TnS+z+VFE/B14+VTnYzpwcB+/I8gxUlYq038EPjxluTGbz02H8WamAwf38Vs+Io6j3IJdRguclPGZzcz65eA+fvNsfGYzs365n/v4fYQcImGNKRxT3sxsGPeWmQCSFiTHixBwfUQ8MspXzMwmlatlxqmMcfEx4OGIuNqB3cymAwf38Xsj+RDm4yRdLOl/JK021Zkys/mbq2UmkKQ1yWe+7hQRM6Y6P2Y2/3KD6gSQNAvYnnzA82NkNY2Z2ZRxcB8nSReSA/AfD2wXETdOcZbMzFwtM16S1o6I66Y6H2ZmVW5QHb/bJR0kaU55HShpqanOlJnN3xzcx+8w4AGyzn174H6g7tF7ZmbzjKtlxknS5RHxgtHmmZnNSy65j99DkjbrTEjaFHhoCvNjZuaS+3hJWg/4AfmoPYB7gF0i4sqpy5WZze8c3MdJ0l7l7eLl74PkqJCXRMTlU5MrM5vfuVpm/GYD7wGWJEvve5BPgvmeJN/MZGZTwiX3cZJ0OrBNRDxYphcHTgDeTJbe15nK/JnZ/Mkl9/FbDfhPZfoRYPWIeAj499Rkyczmdx5+YPyOBi6QdEqZfgNwjKTFgD9MXbbMbH7mapkJIOmFwGbkwzrOjYg5U5wlM5vPObibmbWQ69zNzFrIwd3MrIXcoGrzJUnLAb8uk08jH7Iyt0xvFBH/qf3iyOUsC2wfEd+Z+FyajZ3r3G2+J2lf4MGI+MoYvvss4AQPFGfTjatlzLpI2kXSRZIul3SwpAUkPVPSnyQtK2mGpN9LeiWwP7BWSbv/VOfdrMPVMmYVktYl7y5+cUQ8KukQYIeIOFrSgcDBwBXAZRHxG0k3A89yyd2mGwd3s+FeDWwIzJEEsChwC0BEfEfSdsCuwPpTlkOzPji4mw0n4LCI+MyID3LcoKcDM8hRQP85j/Nm1jfXuZsNdyawvaTlIXvVSFqtfPZl4Ajgs8B3y7wHgCXmdSbNRuPgblYREVcB+wFnSroSOANYUdKrgPWAAyPiSGABSe+IiDvJKpyr3KBq04m7QpqZtZBL7mZmLeTgbmbWQg7uZmYt5OBuZtZCDu5mZi3k4G5m1kIO7mZmLfT/AQgxELdEZufeAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC\n",
      "text/plain": [
       "<Figure size 432x288 with 1 Axes>"
      ]
     },
     "metadata": {
      "needs_background": "light"
     },
     "output_type": "display_data"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "## You can also visualize the same using a plot\n",
    "common_words = get_top_n_words([content11], get_stopwords(lang), 30)\n",
    "df2 = pd.DataFrame(common_words, columns = ['Text' , 'count'])\n",
    "df2.groupby('Text').sum()['count'].sort_values(ascending=False).plot(\n",
    "    kind='bar', title='Top n words in review after removing stop words').get_figure().savefig('output.png')"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 150,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "#------------ WRITE CSV WITH DATA ----------------#\n",
    "\n",
    "import csv\n",
    "from itertools import zip_longest\n",
    "\n",
    "#-------- entire dataset-------#\n",
    "\n",
    "#TOP N WORDS ENTIRE DATASET\n",
    "list0 = get_top_n_words([content1+content2+content3+content4+content5+content6+content7+content8+content9+content10+content11+content12+content13+content14+content15+content16+content17+content18], get_stopwords(lang), 50)\n",
    "\n",
    "#TOP N BIGRAM ENTIRE DATASET\n",
    "listbi = get_top_n_bigram([content1+content2+content3+content4+content5+content6+content7+content8+content9+content10+content11+content12+content13+content14+content15+content16+content17+content18], get_stopwords(lang), 50)\n",
    "\n",
    "#TOP N WORDS TFIDF (TOP RELEVANT) FOR THE ENTIRE DATASET\n",
    "listrel = get_top_n_words_tfidf([content1+content2+content3+content4+content5+content6+content7+content8+content9+content10+content11+content12+content13+content14+content15+content16+content17+content18], get_stopwords(lang), 50)\n",
    "\n",
    "\n",
    "#-------- per group: news/gov/activist-------#\n",
    "\n",
    "#TOP N WORDS FOR NEWS/TOP N BIGRAM FOR NEWS\n",
    "list0n = get_top_n_words([content1+content2+content3+content6+content7+content8+content9+content11+content12+content13+content14+content16+content17+content18+content19], get_stopwords(lang), 50)\n",
    "listbin = get_top_n_bigram([content1+content2+content3+content6+content7+content8+content9+content11+content12+content13+content14+content16+content17+content18+content19], get_stopwords(lang), 50)\n",
    "\n",
    "#TOP N WORDS FOR GOV/TOP N BIGRAM FOR GOV\n",
    "list0g = get_top_n_words([content10+content15], get_stopwords(lang), 50)\n",
    "listbig = get_top_n_bigram([content10+content15], get_stopwords(lang), 50)\n",
    "\n",
    "#TOP N WORDS FOR ACTIVIST WEBSITES\n",
    "list0a = get_top_n_words([content4+content5], get_stopwords(lang), 50)\n",
    "listbia = get_top_n_bigram([content4+content5], get_stopwords(lang), 50)\n",
    "\n",
    "#-------- per website or media outlet -------#\n",
    "\n",
    "#TOP N WORDS\n",
    "list1 = (get_top_n_words([content1], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list2 = (get_top_n_words([content2], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list3 = (get_top_n_words([content3], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list4 = (get_top_n_words([content4], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list5 = (get_top_n_words([content5], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list6 = (get_top_n_words([content6], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list7 = (get_top_n_words([content7], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list8 = (get_top_n_words([content8], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list9 = (get_top_n_words([content9], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list10 = (get_top_n_words([content10], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list11 = (get_top_n_words([content11], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list12 = (get_top_n_words([content12], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list13 = (get_top_n_words([content13], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list14 = (get_top_n_words([content14], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list15 = (get_top_n_words([content15], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list16 = (get_top_n_words([content16], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list17 = (get_top_n_words([content17], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list18 = (get_top_n_words([content18], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list19 = (get_top_n_words([content19], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list20 = (get_top_n_words([content7+content14], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list21 = (get_top_n_words([content1+content16], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "list22 = (get_top_n_words([content6+content19], get_stopwords(lang), 50))\n",
    "\n",
    "\n",
    "#TOP N WORDS\n",
    "\n",
    "d = [list0, listbi, listrel, list0n, listbin, list0g, listbig, list0a, listbia, list1, list2, list3, list4, list5, list6, list7, list8, list9, list10, list11, list12, list13, list14, list15, list16, list17, list18, list19, list20, list21, list22]\n",
    "export_data = zip_longest(*d, fillvalue = '')\n",
    "with open('./data_analysis/' + 'datanalysisexcel2.csv', 'w', newline='') as myfile:\n",
    "      wr = csv.writer(myfile)\n",
    "      wr.writerow((\"Top words all\", \"Top nbigram all\", \"Top words tfidf\", \"top news\", \"top bigram news\", \"top gov\", \"top bigram gov\", \"top activist\", \"top bigram activist\", directory1,directory2,directory3,directory4,directory5,directory6,directory7,directory8,directory9,directory10,directory11,directory12,directory13,directory14,directory15, directory16, directory17, directory18, directory19, \"The independent/google+shine\", \"BBC/google+shine\", \"Guardian/google+shine\"))\n",
    "      wr.writerows(export_data)\n",
    "myfile.close()"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": null,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "#------------ plot charts ----------------#"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": 108,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [
    {
     "data": {
      "image/png": "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\n",
      "text/plain": [
       "<Figure size 432x288 with 1 Axes>"
      ]
     },
     "metadata": {
      "needs_background": "light"
     },
     "output_type": "display_data"
    }
   ],
   "source": [
    "## You can also visualize the same using a plot\n",
    "common_words = get_top_n_words([content1+content2+content3+content4+content5+content6+content7+content8+content9+content10+content11+content12+content13+content14+content15], get_stopwords(lang), 30)\n",
    "df2 = pd.DataFrame(common_words, columns = ['Text' , 'count'])\n",
    "df2.groupby('Text').sum()['count'].sort_values(ascending=False).plot(\n",
    "    kind='bar', title='Top n words in review after removing stop words').get_figure().savefig('output.png')"
   ]
  },
  {
   "cell_type": "code",
   "execution_count": null,
   "metadata": {},
   "outputs": [],
   "source": [
    "get_top_n_words([content7], get_stopwords(lang), 30)"
   ]
  }
 ],
 "metadata": {
  "kernelspec": {
   "display_name": "Python 3",
   "language": "python",
   "name": "python3"
  },
  "language_info": {
   "codemirror_mode": {
    "name": "ipython",
    "version": 3
   },
   "file_extension": ".py",
   "mimetype": "text/x-python",
   "name": "python",
   "nbconvert_exporter": "python",
   "pygments_lexer": "ipython3",
   "version": "3.7.3"
  }
 },
 "nbformat": 4,
 "nbformat_minor": 2
}