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2012 chiefs face village costs grilling
Matthew Beard, Sports News Correspondent09.05.08
Concerns over the mounting costs of the athletes' village are to be raised during an inspection of the 2012 project by the International Olympic Committee.
IOC inspectors will probe 2012 chiefs over an estimated £200million funding gap in the £800 million public-private scheme.
It is believed the credit crunch has presented developer Lend Lease with mounting finance costs, and the Australian firm is demanding a larger contribution from the Olympic Delivery Authority. The ODA is up against a fixed deadline for the project and is funding the earthworks and infrastructure as negotiations on the remainder of the scheme continue with Lend Lease. The developer is hoping cheaper credit will be available later in the year.
An internal document seen by the Standard reveals concern over the Olympic village, which will provide accommodation for 17,000 athletes before it is converted into 4,000 homes after the Games. It says the programme for other major venues is currently going to plan.
The £303 million aquatics centre, to be built by Balfour Beatty, is slightly behind schedule. However the £496 million athletics stadium is several months ahead of schedule.
The IOC, which makes its annual inspection of the 2012 project in 10 days, will demand to know if the ODA has an alternative plan. If the IOC does not receive satisfactory answers it is prepared to send an independent analyst to assess the risk.
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Please can we ask Paris if they still want it. This is a white elephant that is getting bigger by the second, and we will be paying for it decades after it has finished.
- Jeremy E, London
"It is believed the credit crunch has presented developer Lend Lease with mounting finance costs, and the Australian firm is demanding a larger contribution from the Olympic Delivery Authority."
You couldn't make this up, exactly the same thing happened with Wembley, an Australian developer runs behind schedule and asks for more money, do these morons never learn?
- R Scratch, Vauxhall
