East London to miss out on Olympics?

The East London Advertiser is right to worry about this and wrote this:

“FEARS have surfaced that East London could miss out on the benefits of playing ‘host’ to the 2012 Olympics.

Ambitious plans to use the Games to transform one of London’s “most deprived” areas will need a huge effort from the Government and local authorities, City Hall has been told.

The regeneration would prove challenging and require virtually unprecedented levels of cooperation between Whitehall, Mayor Boris Johnson and the five ‘host’ boroughs, the London Assembly’s economic development committee heard.

“There is scepticism from people in the East End about how much their life will improve as a result of the Olympics,” said committee chair Dee Doocey.

“The risk is they’ll be left out of the benefits after 2012 unless we act to secure that legacy in terms of skills, jobs, housing and standard of living.

Several areas have been identified where the five boroughs lag behind the rest of London.

These include targets for narrowing the difference in life expectancy, unemployment, education and skills”

Should we be surprised? The Olympics are a bonanza to the participating companies. Being next door does have its advantages. Unfortunately, it’s Canary Wharf (as in Big Business) who are benefitting.
Tower Hamlets is being bypassed.
A project that was meant to cost £3,000 million has quadrupled to £12,000 million, and we still have two and a half years left for more opportunities to pad the bill.
Then, comes the question of who pays the bill.
Thanks Ken Livingstone.
A nice idea on the back of a fag packet.
Heseltine & Blair failed with the Millenium Dome.
What a precedent.