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Councils refuse to pay any more for 2012 leisure pool
Joe Murphy, Political Editor29.01.08
The aquatics centre for the London Olympics is at the centre of a funding row after council chiefs refused to pay any more towards the final bill.
A leisure pool is due to be built as an extension to the Olympic facility after the Games to be used by local people.
Newham and Tower Hamlets have agreed to put £5 million and £1.5 million respectively towards the scheme. But they insist they will not pay any more.
The Olympic Delivery Authority is carrying out a feasibility study of plans to build a two-storey annexe to the aquatics centre featuring slides and flumes. The councils fear the ODA may demand a greater investment, and have refused to foot the bill. Council leaders agree there is huge demand for the leisure pool, and Newham mayor Sir Robin Wales views the Olympics as a way of boosting poor levels of health and fitness in the area.
But he said the prime legacy of the London Olympics should be paid for out of the £9.3 billion Games budget, and Newham would only contribute to capital projects that were built specifically for them.
Meanwhile, Jules Pipe, mayor of Hackney - another Olympic borough - said it would not take on "long-term revenue costs".
The aquatics centre will follow the model of the 50-metre Ponds Forge pool in Sheffield, which hosts international competitions but can also be adapted for leisure use.
The ODA has budgeted for moveable floors that adjust the depth of the aquatics centre's main 50-metre pool, and a boom that can split it into sections. They will be installed after the Games. These features - which unlike the leisure extension are fully budgeted - will enable pool dimensions to be altered to create teaching pools.
Next month the ODA is expected to sign contracts with Balfour Beatty to build the aquatics centre. An original budget of £75 million is expected to rise to at least £150 million - the increase partly explained by inflation and VAT. Sport England, responsible for community sports capital projects, will make a contribution of £40 million.
An ODA spokeswoman said: "We are working with the host boroughs on a 'legacy plus' option, that would include leisure water facilities.
"The London Development Agency and ODA have commissioned a feasibility study to explore the opportunities for the provision and funding of legacy leisure water facilities, in the context of wider legacy uses alongside the aquatics centre site."
Tom Russell, director of Olympic legacy at the LDA, which owns the site, said a budget for the legacy had yet to be set.
He said: "We've not got all the answers to the boroughs' concerns but we respect their right to raise these issues. We don't know what the cost of all this is going to be at this stage."
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This whole olypmics projects has become a bad joke. We cannot afford all that Red Ken has promised. He is not even going to be there anymore. I would much rather give Stratford a one-off development cheque. At least that would be clear and not this bottomless pit.
- Phil, Islington, London
