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City Hall Fire First Salvo Ahead Of Stadium Talks With West Ham

nevillenixon's picture
Submitted by nevillenixon on Tue, 20/03/2018 - 12:22

In an unprecedented statement released through City Hall, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has laid out his 'battle plan' ahead of finally meeting up with representatives of West Ham United to discuss where to go with the London Stadium impasse. Stage one will be the sub committee questioning of David Edmonds CBE, former Chairman, LLDC and Neale Coleman CBE, former Deputy Chairman, LLDC. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, 21 March from 2:00pm in The Chamber (The Queen’s Walk, London SE1),

Media and members of the public are invited to attend. We suggest if you are not working or otherwise busy that you trundle down and see how these sub committees really work and see how they blame!

This is where the real issues will raise their collective ugly heads, the most glaring of which is why on earth did those in control sanction such a massive expenditure on a Stadium that would not be fit for purpose after the Olympics without extensive and expensive re-seating costs. It is not as if there was no template to follow, the Commonwealth games held in Manchester yielded what is now known as the Etihad Stadium and doesn't cost the taxpayer a penny for it's existence or up keep, the main reason for which is that the Stadium was designed collaboratively between the organisers and Manchester City football club.

Back in the day, West Ham United requested a similar joint enterprise which would have seen the London Stadium being built primarily for football, and then adapted for athletics, as opposed to the ludicrous decision that was finally arrived at which saw a gigantic, expensive white not fit for more than one purpose elephant hewed out of the East End at vast expense! Why was such a decision taken? Well, Lord Coe promised there would be an athletics legacy if The United Kingdom was awarded the right to host the Olympics, and he couldn't go back on his word could he? It is not as if any other country ever goes back on it's word is it?

So the price of honouring Lord Coe's promise and therefore ensuring that he be known as a man of his word, is conservatively estimated, if you will be so kind as to ignore the pun, at approximately around £300 Million plus and still rising at around £10 Million a year. Had the Stadium been constructed with football being it's main legacy after the games then the conversion cost would have been £80 Million, furthermore as a proper football stadium it would have generated money for the tax payer instead of losing money.

Where do things go from here?
It is no secret that The Mayor would dearly like to get shot of the London Stadium and all it stands for, his target having been made a little easier by the removal of the chief of Newham Council who themselves have had to write off a £40 Million 'loan' which was supposed to be repaid with interest out of the London Stadium 'profits'! This endless money pit is no good to anyone at the moment and will continue to be so in the immediate future until a practical solution can be found. In a normal business environment an overseer would look at the situation and write off any further expenditure from the public purse straight away, they would examine the projected losses and come to the conclusion that the only realistic way for the Stadium to be viable would be if it was 'sold' in it's entirety to West Ham United and permanently converted for football, rugby and cricket. The Olympic athletics 'legacy' can be transferred to Birmingham where the Commonwealth games are due to be hosted in a new 'purpose built' track and athletics stadium which WILL have a lasting legacy because it will not be considered as a football venue at any time and will therefore become the focal point for athletics in this country, a situation that many non Londoner's have historically been campaigning for.

If West Ham United owned the Stadium as they originally tried to do but were thwarted due to legal action brought by Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient, the club would be able to attract significantly more in bound finance than it currently is able, and that in turn could lead to future success. At the end of the day it will prove to be the ONLY way forward, it just depends on who is in charge of doing the 'head banging' that will be necessary in order for things to progress at a faster pace than has so far been the case. Don't forget Wednesday, 21 March from 2:00pm in The Chamber (The Queen’s Walk, London SE1) if you can make it - Ed

The City Hall press release in full:
The full cost of West Ham’s Stadium 20 March 2018 The cost of retrofitting the Stadium has risen from a budgeted £190 million to £323 million The stadium’s approved business case forecasted a surplus, but it will now lose over £10 million every year On 1 November 2016, Sadiq Khan announced an investigation into the rising costs of West Ham’s London Stadium[1]. On 1 December 2017, the report into the Stadium was published,[2] revealing for the first time the depth of its financial difficulties. The Mayor’s review covered three distinct phases of the Stadium’s life:
Olympic bodies’ original decision making in the design of the Stadium The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC)’s (and its predecessors’) decisions in tendering for and delivering the Stadium transformation Decisions made about the current operational arrangements of the Stadium Following on from sessions with the Mayor’s Chief of Staff and the LLDC Chief Executive in December 2017 and January 2018, tomorrow, the London Assembly Budget Monitoring Sub-Committee will question two of the key decision makers associated with the London Stadium, who were in post before the Olympics took place:
David Edmonds CBE, former Chairman, LLDC Neale Coleman CBE, former Deputy Chairman, LLDC. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, 21 March from 2:00pm in The Chamber (The Queen’s Walk, London SE1). Media and members of the public are invited to attend The meeting can also be viewed LIVE via webcast. Follow us @LondonAssembly and take part in the meeting discussion using #AssemblyBudget and #LondonStadium.

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Comments

I agree Nev,and it would be very interesting to go and see the process of this.I also agree that it is the only way forward, to own the ground ourselves outright.It seems there are a lot of loose ends here which I imagine are hanging in red tape,and feel this could be the start of a lengthy on going,because this is where all the finger pointing will start.So is Gold and Sullivan up for this we ask ourselves,will they dig deep if needed,or are they planning for a for sale board to go up,pocket what they can,and leave it for a bigger financial force to step in.

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303 users have voted.

I can only see sugo selling up...cant ever see them splashing out to convert to a football stadium & spending big money on players.

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204 users have voted.
darrenharry's picture

Wow. Thanks everybody. Not even 4/5pm, thus giving some a chance to leave work early. I’d love to attend this but alas no.
It’s as if they don’t want me there...

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182 users have voted.
moore2come's picture

Will there be any objections from the scum at the Lane or Leyton Orient if it's decided the only way forward is to allow WH outright ownership?

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219 users have voted.
asheshammer's picture

Spurs have made their bed now, they ain't going after the ironic stadium again. Leyton Orient are in no financial position to buy. But I reckon the only way forward is for a much wealthier entity to come in, buy the stadium AND the club, placate the City of London and Newham Council, and get the bad taste of SUGO out of everyone's mouth. The only thing is, if this entity is Kia Joorabchian, would we be better off with the devil we know?

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187 users have voted.

You no what,that Kia fellow came to my mind aswell,he is some sort of a bloke he is.He seems to get people together,all with money and they listen to what he says,then takes his cut,with the least amount of effort,put it this way he dosent clock on anywhere,just walks around and gets richer,the influence he must have,i wouldn't be at all surprised if he dosent start sniffing around.

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226 users have voted.
cast iron's picture

I've just read this article properly and see that it is being broadcast at the London assembly the details are at the bottom

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151 users have voted.

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