Public Accounts Committee Slams Olympic Budget

The budget for the 2012 Olympic Games has been slammed by a government spending watchdog.A report by the government’s public accounts committee (PAC) also said that the ODA should not shy away from getting rid of unruly contractors. The report said the government’s original estimates for the Games were too low, and that it failed to take into account the extent of public-sector spending.

The original budget for the games was set at £4bn, but the bill has jumped to £9.3bn in the three years since then. The PAC's report describes the original estimate as unrealistic, and yesterday its chairman, Edward Leigh, said ministers and officials had underestimated the true cost in order to win government and public support for the bid.

"It is now clear that the estimated cost at the time of the bid, just over £4bn, was entirely unrealistic," said Leigh. "It ignored foreseeable major factors such as contingency provision, tax obligations, and policing and wider security requirements. At the same time, the estimate of the extent to which the private sector would contribute funding towards the games has proved little more than wishful thinking.

"We don't know whether it was deliberate or not but it seems extraordinary that foreseeable costs were left out of the budget," he said. "I believe that at the very best they were economical with the actualité, as a minister once put it, in order to win support for the bid. Parliament and the public were undoubtedly misled over the true costs of the Olympic project."

The committee's verdict is an embarrassment to Olympics minister Tessa Jowell and Ken Livingstone, the London mayor, the two most senior figures responsible for drafting the original budget who remain in office.

Jowell last night denied that the government had intended to mislead parliament. "I utterly refute any suggestion that there was an intention to mislead and I hope that the country, parliament and the PAC would accept that was not the aim. There was categorically no motive to put in a bid that was anything other than based on the most accurate forecasts and the best intentions."

She said Olympic bidding rules had required bids to be submitted at 2004 dollar prices, and that the security budget had been substantially affected by the July 7 2005 London bombings, which took place the day after London won the games.

She added that 75p in every £1 spent on the site was aiding regeneration in east London, and that significant private-sector funding had been attracted by the Olympics.

Olympics Is Beating Its Sustainability Targets

The Olympic Delivery Authority(ODA) published its Sustainable Development Strategy a year ago it now claims it is already beating some of its sustainability targets in terms of how it is cleaning and clearing the Olympic Park.

In a statement on its website it says that it has now:

• Beaten the target to reclaim 90 per cent of demolition material for recycling or reuse
• Is reclaiming materials to re-use in designs of venues and park lands
• Is recycling complete buildings to be re-assembled off site
• And is trans locating wildlife and creating new habitats including a wildlife corridor to the north of the Park.

To date, the following have been reclaimed:

• 80 lamposts
• 160 manhole covers and 187 gulleys
• 18 square metres of clay and slate roof tiles
• 2 tonnes of red bricks; 117 tonnes of yorkstone
• 100 tonnes of cobble/granite
• 41 tonnes of paving bricks and 35 tonnes of paving slabs
• 1200m of granite kerbs and 4200m of concrete kerbs.

ODA head of sustainable development and regeneration Dan Epstein said: "The commitment to reclaiming as much demolition material as possible is key to our strategy and so far, we are exceeding our 90 per cent target. This is unprecedented for a project of this size and scale…Much of these materials will then be integrated into the designs of the new venues and parklands, ensuring there is continuity between the history of the site and its future as the largest new urban Park in Europe."

To download the report click here.

Olympic Park Receives Formal Planning Permission

Formal planning permission has been granted for the Olympic Delivery Authority to construct the venues for the London 2012 Games.The ODA submitted two planning applications totalling 10,000 pages in February 2007 setting out plans for new sporting venues, infrastructure and open space within the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London.

The decision recognises the substantial long-term benefits that the Games will deliver to the local area, including the creation of an open, accessible Park with new networks of bridges, footpaths and cycleways.

Chief Executive of the ODA David Higgins, said: ’Receiving planning permission is a huge step forward. The recognition of the regeneration value of our plans gives us continued momentum as we continue work to create a world-class Olympic Park for Games and legacy.

‘With planning permission for the Olympic Park secured, we will continue consultation on detailed planning applications for individual venues and on the legacy master plan, so there will continue to be opportunities for people to comment on the plans for the future Olympic and legacy Park.’

Click here to find all the planning applications.

London 2012 Athletes Village Plans Unveiled

The first images of the £2bn Olympic Athletes’ Village development at Stratford City have been unveiled as part of a public consultation on the scheme.

Developers Lend Lease and partners First Base and East Thames have launched a public consultation for a masterplan for the £2billion Athletes Village development at Stratford City. which will house more than 17,000 athletes and officials during the 2012 Games. The village will then be converted into a residential community of 3800 homes, of which at least 30% will be affordable housing.

Over ten hectares of open space including parks and squares are planned, along with a locally owned and run community centre, a primary healthcare centre and an education campus' for all ages.A new transport network is also on the cards, with a new Docklands Light Railway station, new bus and cycle routes and more than 2,500 new car parking spaces.The centrepiece of the scheme is a series of cascading ponds, creating an open view back to the City.

Lend Lease Europe chairman Nigel Hugill said: “The Athletes Village is a key part of east London’s 2012 legacy. We are determined to create something amazing.”

Public comments will be passed on to the Olympic Delivery Authority planning decisions team, which is expected to issue a decision on the design in December.

Olympic Park Opens Its Doors To Public

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) gave almost 2,000 members of the public a guided tour of the 2012 Olympic Park over the weekend. As part of London’s ‘Open House’ architectural festival, the ODA opened up the Olympic Park for the first time, offering the public the opportunity to see the work currently underway cleaning and clearing the site for the start of construction of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic venues and parklands next summer.

David Higgins, ODA Chief Executive, said:

“Open House has given us a fantastic opportunity to open up the Olympic Park to the public, offering them the chance to see how this area of east London is being transformed, both for 2012 and long after.

“This is a hugely challenging project – twice the size of Terminal 5 in just half of the time – and we have made a strong start. The work to clear and clean the majority of the site by Beijing 2008 is well underway and the tours over the weekend allowed people to judge the progress that is being made.

“There was an overwhelmingly positive response from the public and we look forward to doing a similar event next year.”

The tours started in the north at the old Eton Manor sports ground which is now the main offices for the site and began with an overview of the Velopark area. The public were then driven through the centre of the Park, past the main venues and the tour concluded at the Olympic Stadium site, where there they could see the demolition and archaeological work that is on-going.

Westfield Get Go Ahead for Olympic Site

Building Magazine reports that Newham Council and the Olympic Delivery Authority have approved Westfield's development next to the London 2012 site.

Stratford City, one of the largest regeneration projects in London, has been given the go ahead by the Olympic Delivery Authority and Newham Council.

The retail-led development, for client Westfield, is adjacent to the London 2012 Olympic site. The scheme, which will also have a residential element, does not include the Olympic Village. This part of the scheme was sold off by Westfield to the ODA last year.

The development, which covers Stratford Town centre, will include 175,000 sq m of retail and leisure space, 106,000 sq m of office space, 34,800 sq m of hotel space as well as 1,224 residential apartments.

Westfield said carbon emissions on the scheme would be initially reduced by 25% against current benchmarks, moving to 50% by 2020 and up to 80% by 2050. The scheme hit the headlines in January after Building revealed that the homes on the scheme would not meet government targets for zero carbon homes by 2016.

John Burton, development director at Westfield, said: “We now move to the next stage of the planning process with planners and stakeholders about the detailed design of all of the proposed buildings for Zone 1.”

Work is expected to start on the scheme next year. It is expected to be open by 2011.

Design Teams Sought For North Section Of Olympic Park

The contract to design a key cluster of venues and facilities in the north of the Olympic Park was put out to tender by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) last week .A range of temporary and permanent sporting facilities will be built at Eton Manor, the site of a former community sports centre.

Disused since 2001, the site will be transformed to provide facilities for athletes training during the Olympic Games. It will also be the venue for Paralympic Archery and Paralympic Tennis.

After the Games the Eton Manor site will provide hockey facilities with 5,000 permanent seats, tennis facilities and other multi-purpose sports facilities. Demolition work has already begun on the site.

Together with the world-class VeloPark and the renovated Hackney marshes it will create a sporting hub in the north of the Olympic Park for the local community and elite athletes.

David Higgins, Chief Executive of the ODA, said: ‘The Eton Manor site is steeped in sporting history. We want to recapture this and regenerate the area with well designed, world-class facilities fit for the Olympic and Paralympic stage.

'The new facilities, along with the new bridges and new walking and cycling routes better linking them into the local community, will mean that London 2012 will leave a significant sporting legacy in the north of the Olympic Park for generations to come.’

The Eton Manor design contract has been posted on the ODA’s e-tendering website and the design contract is expected to be awarded early next year.

Hopkins Architects Awarded Olympic Velodrome Design Contract

Hopkins Architects, designer of the Lord’s Mound Stand and Glyndebourne Opera House, has been chosen to build the 6,000-seat design 2012 Olympic Games Velodrome.

The building will have an upwardly curving roof at each end to form an oval shape, and be part of a cycling complex that will include a BMX circuit.

The consortium that won the design competition was made up of Hopkins Architects, Expedition Engineering, BDSP and Grant Associates. British Olympic cycling gold medallist Chris Hoy was part of the judging panel.

After the Games, the BMX circuit will be repositioned next to the Velodrome with a road cycle circuit and mountain bike course added to create a legacy VeloPark that will combine cycling facilities across all disciplines in one cycling 'hub', linked into cycle routes across London.

In addition to the facilities that will remain in the VeloPark beyond 2012, the London Development Agency (LDA) are investing £5m in a new permanent road cycle circuit and mountain bike course at Hog Hill, Redbridge and will be funding the facility up to the completion of the legacy VeloPark.

Construction on the velodrome won't begin until mid-2009, but will be completed in time for test events in 2011.

The three other permanent facilities to be built in Olympic Park are the Olympic Stadium, aquatics centre and media centre.

London Olympics construction ahead on previous games

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge has said that London 2012 is way ahead of past host cities after two years' preparations.

“The reports I am getting show that in the initial period of two years, London is ahead of every host city we have had in the past. That includes Beijing,” Rogge said in an interview in the Daily Telegraph. “Beijing is now almost ready, which means they have done a tremendous job since the beginning, and now we are one year from the Games. I think I will be able to say that again in 2011 because London is progressing extremely well.”

Michael Brown deputy chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) commented, “The construction of London 2012 should be something that the nation can be very proud of - in the same way as we will be of the Games itself.

“To be considered further ahead of previous Games at the same stage is a good sign that the hard work and planning is on track. The industry is not just aiming for the Games to be delivered on time and on budget but also to be a model for other future Olympics around the world. This is just another example of how excellence prospers in the construction industry, and we hope this encourages young people to get involved in industry.”

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is on track to have most of the Olympic site cleared and cleaned by summer 2008.The first earthworks have started in the Olympic Park with the excavation of the site for the London 2012 International Broadcast Centre and Main Press Centre.

The work on the site of the media centre involves excavation of over 80,000 cubic metres of soil to prepare the platform for construction work to begin in late 2008. The excavated soil will be reused on site for future use in landscaping and construction.

Brookfield launch bid for Multiplex

Brookfield Asset Management Inc has made a $6.5-billion all-cash takeover bid for Multiplex Group, the major Australian construction company behind London's recently completed but Wembley Stadium.

The deal would give Brookfield, a major Toronto-headquartered conglomerate formerly known as Brascan, its first major foothold in Australia through Multiplex. The Sydney-based company has spent the last few years wracked by controversy and speculation that it was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

Under the terms of the offer, worth Aus$7.3 billion, Brookfield needs to acquire more than 50 per cent of Multiplex's shares, which are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

The Roberts Family Nominees, which holds about 26 per cent in Multiplex, has agreed to Brookfield's offer, Multiplex said in a statement. The board also agreed to the offer, it said. "Multiplex welcomes Brookfield as a significant Multiplex securityholder," the company said.

Multiplex directors had undertaken to support the proposal once they receive an independent report that concludes it is fair and there isn't a superior bid available.

Jeff Blidner, managing partner at Brookfield said, "We believe that this offer maximizes value for all Multiplex security holders in a structure which provides the certainty of an all-cash offer at a significant premium."

Multiplex was founded by John Roberts in the early 1960s and built a strong reputation with projects like the Telstra Stadium in Sydney Olympic Park, home of the Summer Olympics in 2000.

Brown wants jobless to work on Olympics build

Gordon Brown set out plans to push 200,000 jobless people into work over the next five years, including a program to get thousands working on construction projects for London's 2012 Olympics.

Brown told the GMB union in Brighton that the government will establish a series of Employment Partnerships with companies, aiming to match workers with vacancies. People claiming long-term benefits will receive job trials and mentoring from employers. At the end of the program, they will be guaranteed a job interview.

The measures are part of Brown's plan to reduce government benefit payments and get more of the 7.9 million classified as inactive back into the workforce. Britain will spend £161 billion pounds on welfare programs this year, more than on health, defense and transportation combined.

Olympic Logo

The £400,000 new logo of the London 2012 Olympics was unveiled at a star-studded ceremony.

Opinion seems to be divided and there has been much criticism of the design in fact within 12 hours, an online petition asking for support to "get this terrible logo dropped as soon as possible" attracted more than 13,000 signatures.

Olympic bosses described their logo as "dynamic, modern and flexible".

The prime minister said: "We want London 2012 not just to be about elite sporting success.When people see the new brand, we want them to be inspired to make a positive change in their life."

Are you "inspired" by the logo or do you think it is "terrible" ?, let us know your thoughts.

Alan Ritchie from UCATT talks to Personnel Today

Personnel Today, recently interviewed Alan Ritchie, General Secretary of UCATT. Here are some of the highlights:

Talking about the Olympic standoff Ritchie fears that unless the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) commits to the use of directly employed labour with proper employment contracts, it risks disaster.

"We're making it absolutely clear that we cannot accept a position where direct employment is not on the agenda....Direct employment would lead to better use of local labour, apprentices and improve health and safety on site".

He pointed to the successful Sydney Olympics, where direct employment was used and just one worker was killed.This compared to the Athens Olympics construction, which relied heavily on foreign labour, resulting in at least 13 deaths. Ritchie said there were probably more, as only the deaths of registered nationals were recorded.

"What we are saying to the ODA is that there is only one route to go down - the Australian route - all directly employed, working with unions in a framework for industrial relations," he said.

"Building work on the Olympic stadiums and village is due to start early next year, but so far no agreement has been reached. What the country doesn't want is another Wembley stadium debacle on its hands, Ritchie said."The ODA must learn the lessons from Wembley, where reliance on a subcontracted workforce led to chronic delays, confusion and spiralling costs," he added.

Of the Skills Shortage Ritchie said"Bogus self-employment is leading to huge skills shortages and increasing demand for migrant labour", Ritchie said. He estimates up to 55% of the 2.2 million building workers employed in the UK are operating under a false self-employment regime."

"We estimate about £2.5bn a year is being lost to the Treasury because of this issue," Ritchie said. "This is the private sector getting a subsidy from the taxpayer, and it's absolutely scandalous. The government said a new system introduced in April would curb this - it hasn't even scratched the surface."

Commenting on the Health and Safety Executive Research undertaken for the union last month which found its prosecutions for construction deaths fell from 42% to just 11% from 1998 to 2004, Ritchie said this is just not good enough. "The best way of murdering someone in the UK today is to set up a construction firm, break the Health and Safety at Work Act and end up with a paltry fine," he said. "Some of the fines handed out for deaths on-site are as little as £7,000 - it cannot be justified."

N.I. Avoidance Costs £2.5 Billion

According to latest reports from industry union Ucatt, construction workers falsely registering as self-employed have avoided a combined annual national insurance contribution in excess of £2.5 billion

They claims as many as 40% of the UK's 2.2 million building workers could be incorrectly registered as self-employed.

The union is also calling on the government to avoid using contractors and self-employed workers for work on the Olympics, because it believes that only directly employed workers should be used for large construction projects to prevent delays.

Alan Ritchie, general secretary of Ucatt, commented: "No one in Britain should have to pay a penny towards the Olympics. Gordon Brown on Wednesday needs to close this tax loophole...
"Bogus self-employment is the scourge of the industry. It has led to massive skills shortages and continues to deny workers basic employment rights."

Lend Lease Named Preferred Developer for London 2012

A consortium led by Lend Lease, the Australian property group, is poised to win more than £5bn ($9.6bn) of development work on the London 2012 Olympic Village and the adjoining Stratford City urban renewal project.

The consortium was named preferred developer of the site by the Olympic Development Authority, ahead of French builder Bouygues, which had teamed up with Barratt Developments, the UK house builder.

Reports suggest that the cost of London's 2012 Olympics has doubled to £5.1 billion, including £3.2 billion for construction of sports venues and £1.9 billion to regenerate the area around the Olympic site, but did not include a contingency for overruns or possible sale taxes.

Lend Lease's spokesman Ron Cutler said the first development phase, costing £2 billion, would provide 4200 dwellings on the 73-hectare site in East London. The dwellings would house around 17,000 athletes expected to attend the 2012 London Olympics.

There would also be commercial and hotel development on the site.Mr Cutler said the planning would be completed by 2008 and construction would begin in the following year, to be finished by 2011 or early 2012.

Slow Boat To Bow

British Waterways announced this week the go-ahead for a new lock and water control structure on Prescott Channel in Bow to Service the Olympic Park

The lock is funded by British Waterways, the Department for Transport, London Thames Gateway Development Corporation, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and Transport for London and will enable large river barges to access the area by water, helping to take hundreds of lorry journeys a week from local roads and save thousands of tonnes of CO2.

The new structure is part of an £18.9m project that comprises twin water control gates and a 62m x 8m tidal lock, providing access for 350-tonne barges. The lock will open up the waterways in the area and help the ODA meet its aspiration to transport 50% of construction materials by sustainable means. In the longer term, it will provide access for barges carrying construction traffic and recyclables between Stratford and the Thames, and create new opportunities for leisure boats, water taxis, trip boats and floating restaurants.

Construction of the new lock will begin in March with a Team managed by British Waterways and which includes Volker Stevin Ltd, Tony Gee & Partners LLP, Bennett Associates, Clague Architects and Weetwood Environmental Engineering.

Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London said of the scheme "I am committed to ensuring that the 2012 London Games are the greenest games ever and deliver a social, environmental and economic legacy long after they are over. The plans for this new lock are another example of the many concrete steps we are already taking to deliver on these commitments. This exciting project will shift construction traffic from lorry to barge, reducing carbon emissions and traffic congestion, but will also provide a lasting legacy helping the regeneration of East London.”

Scottish Parliament Costs Announced

Building magazine has reported the final costs for the construction of the Scottish Parliament.

The anticipated yet adjusted cost of the works was £430.5m, the actual cost has now been disclosed at £414m. Whilst this reflects a minor saving it should be noted the cost of the construction work is over ten times the original budget. The original estimate of the works was a mere £40m.

The project, which was delivered three years late was severely delayed and suffered from continual costs increases.

Despite an independent review of the construction process no blame has been attributed to one party. The project team included, Bovis Lend Lease, Davis Langdon,EMBT/RMJM, Arup

The project team must be sighing a collective sigh of relief, if only the taxpayer felt the same way.

The taxpayer does seem to lose out quite regularly, it has been interesting to see the rise in the Olympic Costs prior to any work even starting. Hopefully the construction industry can demonstrate its ability to provide world class buildings on time and within budget.

Amicus Organise Protest Rally

Amicus, the largest manufacturing union in the United Kingdom, with over one million members in the public and private sectors, are holding a rally and lobby of Parliament to protest at the exploitation of migrant labour in the UK's construction sector.

Amicus members will be meeting with their MPs to demand that publicly funded construction projects like the Olympics use workers that are covered by union negotiated national agreements and are directly employed.

In a recent article Amicus' General Secretary, Derek Simpson, said:
"We are determined to achieve direct employment in construction underpinned by national agreements........We will not accept the exploitation of cheap labour in the UK and the undermining of the hard won terms and conditions of our members. Construction is not the only industry affected by this problem so we are calling on workers from other industry sectors to join us in our rally and lobby of Parliament in London on 28th March."

The Rally which is scheduled for Wednesday 28th March in Westminster fro more details click here.

2012 Olympic's Plans "Most Complex" in History

This week The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), organisers of the 2012 London Olympics submitted, what is said by Lord Coe to be "one of the biggest and most complex" planning applications in UK history.

The substantial 15-volume application for the Olympic village and surroundings sets out what organises call a vision "for one of the largest urban parks to be built in Europe for 150 years."

The first stage of the application includes extensive work to waterways, including the construction of river and flood defence walls. It also includes the construction of highways and a continuous loop road surrounding the Olympic park.
.
Part two focuses on the construction of five permanent sporting venues and three other temporary venues, plans also affordable housing, and office space.

The application will be considered by a committee including representatives from all the London boroughs affected and a final decision is expected by late summer.

Green Olympics

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is set to release its strategy to make London’s 2012 Olympics the greenest in history.Estimates suggest the International travel alone to London by competitors, officials and members of the Olympic Family would generate an estimated 35,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions

The ODA, the public body responsible for ensuring the delivery of the new venues and infrastructure,has pledged to cut carbon emissions linked to the Olympic Park and other venues by 50 percent, more than the 44 percent reduction required by new regulations due to be introduced in 2013.

Key parts of the strategy include:

• Aiming to minimise the carbon emissions associated with the Olympic Park and venues through a 50% reduction in carbon dioxide by 2013.
• Reducing waste through design - 90% of demolition material to be reused or recycled and at least 20 per cent of materials used in permanent venues and associated works and the Olympic Village to be recycled.
• Ensure efficient water use, reuse and recycling, with a target for a 40 per cent reduction in the demand for potable water in permanent venues and a 20 per cent reduction target for residential development.
• Prioritising walking, cycling and the use of public transport to and within the Olympic Park and venues, including building over 80km of walking and cycling routes and to aspire to 50 per cent of construction materials to be transported to the Park by water and rail.