London is Rubbish

Way back in January, I told you that London was crap at doing anything. You name it and London would find a way to muck it up. It just wouldn't be a 'London project' if it wasn't late and grossly over-budget.


So today we read that the former president of the Olympic Committee is starting to sweat on London 2012. Sixteen months has passed and Juan Antonio Samaranch has reminded Ken Livingston and Coe (geddit!) that time is running out.

Work on the site of the Olympic stadium isn't due to start until 2008, a contractor has yet to sign on the dotted line and already it looks like the accountants have got their sums wrong.

First the Aquatics Centre plans were rejected after going twice over it's £75m budget, less than five months after London was awarded the Olympic contract and then it seems that the overall costs have risen from £3.5bn to £5bn. (Apparently someone didn't factor in that they'd have to pay VAT.)

Of course, this isn't the first thing that London has managed to make a mess of. Where the Portugese could build or refurbish ten stadiums in time for the Euro 2004 Championships, London couldn't even muster one ground to host the FA Cup Final, the Rugby League Cup Final and a few rock concerts.

Then there was the Millennium Dome. 12m people were expected, 6m people came. As for funding, an additional £204m of lottery funding was needed to keep it running and as of yet, it's still nothing more than an empty tent.
And lets not forget the British Library, five years late and £341m over it's £170m budget.

Maybe it's just a southern thing? The National Air Traffic Control Centre in Hampshire, The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, The Channel Tunnel - those three projects combined equate to 7 years of delays and £5.3bn in extra costs.

And it looks like the Olympic organisers haven't learnt from the mistakes of those before them. The smart money is certainly on the 'revised' £5bn budget being increased again before the starting gun fires.

Enjoy London 2013 folks - if you're lucky!