Whilst strolling around and taking pictures in East London last week I came across a series of stickers publicising the following site:
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It's a page, supported by East London community groups, devoted to opposing London's bid to host the 2012 Olympics.
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I'm all for that.
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Without rehashing an earlier post of mine I am fervently anti-bid for zillions of reasons, including:
- the cost, which will undoubtedly spiral out of control, will be borne entirely by Londoners
- London's transport infrastructure is falling apart already
- Based on recent London projects, from The Dome to the Diana Fountain to the new Wembley Stadium, implementation of a successful bid would be a disaster
- Tony Blair and Ken Livingstone support it enthusiastically so it must be cr*p. Really, really cr*p
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The bid plan includes a proposal to turn Hackney Marshes into a paved coach park.
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People unfamiliar with East London won’t understand the importance of Hackney Marshes. We're talking about a large open area that has existed since the year dot. On Sundays you can watch literally dozens of amateur football matches taking place simultaneously on the geometric layout of grass pictures. For much of the rest of the week it is a green haven of peace and tranquillity, home to all sorts of local sporting activities and local festivals and events.
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… and some fecker wants to cover it in concrete to service a bloated sporting event that will last for about a fortnight. Bloody criminal.
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According to the official 'Back the Bid' website, 75% of people in the UK and Londoners want the Olympics to be staged in London. Well that's an outright lie for a start. No-one I know wants the Games here and they certainly don’t want to pay for them. There's also a give away in the line 'people in the UK and Londoners'. Given that Londoners live in the UK I can only conclude they've used this particular phrasing to mask the fact that Londoners aren’t happy with the idea. I've no doubt people in the rest of the UK are cool with a London Olympics as they won’t have to pay for it or live with the other consequences. Anyway, why would the Powers That Be be spending thirty, forty, fifty million pounds of our money on a Back The Bid campaign if we were already sold on idea.
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Apparently, a group of IOC officials are visiting East London in the middle of February to get a feel for local support for the bid and pick up their official London 2012 bribes and promotional call-girl action. I for one will do my best to be there to moon them and generally be as rude and offensive as possible.
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2 comments:
the olympics are very unlikely to come back to europe so quickly, especially after the Athens debacle. The most likely chances are south africa and new york. If Africa looks ready for the world cup, they will likely get the olympics.
I really don't get it. The fact that there's talk of even the slightest possibility of buggering with The Marshes just shows what kind of people are involved with the bid and how little they know or care about East London.
I doubt if anyone is going to host an International Event in America these days, so that leaves, thumbs crossed, Paris or Africa. Common sense would dictate Paris, as they have the venues and an administration competent enough to pull it off. But how often does common sense triumph in thie World?
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