A blaze started at the site for the 2012 Olympics park in London yesterday, and sent a plume of acrid smoke into the air over London.
Firefighters were called around midday, as residents across the capital reported seeing the smoke rising thousands of feet into the air.
The fire was in a disused warehouse in Hackney Wick, East London, on the edge of the Olympic park, which is being prepared for the 2012 games.
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) said that the fire appeared to have been started accidentally, and confirmed that its staff had been at the warehouse earlier in the day.
The London fire brigade said the warehouse was not in use, but it was too early to say how the fire had started or what had caused the thick black smoke.
Tuesday, 13 November 2007
Monday, 12 November 2007
Cycling Newtered
Sometimes the plans of mice, men and the Olympics Delivery Authority (ODA) can be blown off course by the most unlikely of circumstances.
In the case of the ODA plans for cycling, it is the humble newt (Ken Livingstone's favourite creature) that has put a spanner in the works.
Cyclists attending clubs at Eastway Cycle Circuit in East London face the prospect of being denied facilities for at least a year, after newts held up the building of a new interim track.
The cyclists left Eastway in November 2006, to make way for the Olympic Velopark due to open April 2007.
However, the land is home to 450 newts one of which is the rare and protected great crested newt.
The London Development Agency (LDA) have had to put work on hold until the newts are relocated at a cost of £70K.
To date, 240 have been moved, but that leaves another 210. The delay in newt clearance means that the cyclists will be without their track until Summer 2008 at the earliest.
Eastway Users Group Chairman, Michael Humphreys, said:
"I would like to know why the LDA did not start collecting the newts until August 2007.
A lot of time has been wasted."
This little episode is entirely symbolic of the slip shod organisation and planning of the London Games.
More cock ups can be expected.
In the case of the ODA plans for cycling, it is the humble newt (Ken Livingstone's favourite creature) that has put a spanner in the works.
Cyclists attending clubs at Eastway Cycle Circuit in East London face the prospect of being denied facilities for at least a year, after newts held up the building of a new interim track.
The cyclists left Eastway in November 2006, to make way for the Olympic Velopark due to open April 2007.
However, the land is home to 450 newts one of which is the rare and protected great crested newt.
The London Development Agency (LDA) have had to put work on hold until the newts are relocated at a cost of £70K.
To date, 240 have been moved, but that leaves another 210. The delay in newt clearance means that the cyclists will be without their track until Summer 2008 at the earliest.
Eastway Users Group Chairman, Michael Humphreys, said:
"I would like to know why the LDA did not start collecting the newts until August 2007.
A lot of time has been wasted."
This little episode is entirely symbolic of the slip shod organisation and planning of the London Games.
More cock ups can be expected.
Friday, 9 November 2007
Dopes
The International Olympic Committee President, Jacques Rogge, has reaffirmed that the IOC will continue its fight against doping.
Quote:
"I would like to reiterate the IOC's total commitment to the fight against doping."
The IOC will adopt a law that would see athletes who had served a doping ban of six months or more, being banned from the Olympic Games.
Quote:
"This measure will be accepted at the next IOC congress in Beijing in August, just before the Games, meaning it will come into effect in time for the 2010 winter Games in Vancouver and the 2012 summer Games in London."
Why do the athletes damage their bodies in this manner?
Quote:
"I would like to reiterate the IOC's total commitment to the fight against doping."
The IOC will adopt a law that would see athletes who had served a doping ban of six months or more, being banned from the Olympic Games.
Quote:
"This measure will be accepted at the next IOC congress in Beijing in August, just before the Games, meaning it will come into effect in time for the 2010 winter Games in Vancouver and the 2012 summer Games in London."
Why do the athletes damage their bodies in this manner?
Thursday, 8 November 2007
Thumbs Down For The Olympics Stadium
The London ODA continues to heap embarrassment and opprobrium upon itself, not content with allowing the budget to run out of control and not even being able to set a firm price for the stadium, they have now managed to attract derision and scorn for the lousy design of the 2012 London Olympics stadium.
The design was revealed yesterday, with all the usual hype and pr spin usually reserved for a third world dictatorship.
The result?
A very predictable damp squib.
A boring oval shaped stadium that has no defining features of beauty or originality, and worse it will have to down size from a capacity of 80,000 during the games to 25,000 afterwards.
Why?
Simple, there is no need for a stadium in that part of London. At best it will used, maybe, by a football club.
Hardly legacy architecture, is it?
Then again, the legacy of these games (an out of control budget, bad planning, hype, spin and lousy architecture) is rather in keeping with the capabilities and performance of the current government.
The design was revealed yesterday, with all the usual hype and pr spin usually reserved for a third world dictatorship.
The result?
A very predictable damp squib.
A boring oval shaped stadium that has no defining features of beauty or originality, and worse it will have to down size from a capacity of 80,000 during the games to 25,000 afterwards.
Why?
Simple, there is no need for a stadium in that part of London. At best it will used, maybe, by a football club.
Hardly legacy architecture, is it?
Then again, the legacy of these games (an out of control budget, bad planning, hype, spin and lousy architecture) is rather in keeping with the capabilities and performance of the current government.
Wednesday, 7 November 2007
Olympics Budget Shambles
As is widely known, the budget for the London 2012 Olympics is an utter shambles. It is currently standing at around £12BN (including running costs), and is likely to balloon to around £18BN by the time the games are held.
Despite the fact that the financial planning of these games has been an unmitigated disaster, the organisers still seem determined to heap further misery and ridicule upon themselves.
It is reported that the final cost for the main London 2012 Olympic Stadium could be higher than the revised £496M million estimate that was reported last month.
Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) chairman John Armitt told members of the London Assembly on October 10th that they had agreed the figure of £496M with main contractors Robert McAlpine for the 80,000 seater stadium.
The original budget for the stadium was in fact £280M, the £496M represents a staggering 77% increase.
However, it seems that the figure that Armitt gave the London Assembly was only a forecast. It seems that the forecast figure has an 80% chance of being correct. The people organising the games really seem to have no concept of plain speaking, and prefer instead to allow people to make assumptions.
Needless to say, this lack of rigour in their planning and communications inevitably comes back to bite them. I would have thought that they should have learnt their lesson by now, evidently not!
The actual cost of the stadium will only be known once the work is complete in 2011, a year before the London Games open.
I wonder how many more "surprises" the ODA have hidden up their sleeves for the long suffering tax payers?
Despite the fact that the financial planning of these games has been an unmitigated disaster, the organisers still seem determined to heap further misery and ridicule upon themselves.
It is reported that the final cost for the main London 2012 Olympic Stadium could be higher than the revised £496M million estimate that was reported last month.
Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) chairman John Armitt told members of the London Assembly on October 10th that they had agreed the figure of £496M with main contractors Robert McAlpine for the 80,000 seater stadium.
The original budget for the stadium was in fact £280M, the £496M represents a staggering 77% increase.
However, it seems that the figure that Armitt gave the London Assembly was only a forecast. It seems that the forecast figure has an 80% chance of being correct. The people organising the games really seem to have no concept of plain speaking, and prefer instead to allow people to make assumptions.
Needless to say, this lack of rigour in their planning and communications inevitably comes back to bite them. I would have thought that they should have learnt their lesson by now, evidently not!
The actual cost of the stadium will only be known once the work is complete in 2011, a year before the London Games open.
I wonder how many more "surprises" the ODA have hidden up their sleeves for the long suffering tax payers?
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
Personal Branding
My compliments to the parents in China who hold no fear of being prosecuted by the IOC for using their "Olympics" brand name. It seems that nearly 3,600 people in China are called Aoyun, which translates to "Olympics" in English.
In addition, 4,100 people have names that translate into Beijing Olympic Games.
It is likely, that as the date for the 2008 Beijing Games approaches, the number of people with Olympics based names will increase.
What will the IOC lawyers do, in response to such a blatant breach of their copyright rules?
In addition, 4,100 people have names that translate into Beijing Olympic Games.
It is likely, that as the date for the 2008 Beijing Games approaches, the number of people with Olympics based names will increase.
What will the IOC lawyers do, in response to such a blatant breach of their copyright rules?
Monday, 5 November 2007
The Ticket Lottery
Ticket sales for the 2008 Beijing Olympics will revert to a lottery system, after last week's problems with the first-come, first served process caused the computer system to crash.
Demand was so high that the official ticketing website had 8 million views in the first hour.
The first tranche of tickets were sold in April 15 using a lottery system, and organisers decided to revert to it "in the interest of fairness and for everyone's convenience."
People who want to buy tickets can submit applications between December 10th and December 30th.
The date of the lottery will be announced later.
Demand was so high that the official ticketing website had 8 million views in the first hour.
The first tranche of tickets were sold in April 15 using a lottery system, and organisers decided to revert to it "in the interest of fairness and for everyone's convenience."
People who want to buy tickets can submit applications between December 10th and December 30th.
The date of the lottery will be announced later.
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