The Olympic "Legacy"

[Nibble]

Whilst I found Boris' speech rather amusing and indeed thought the Olympics were a positive thing for some, the way the country as a whole has been behaving is all rather over the top. The speeches by Seb and Boris et al have all been vastly self congratulatory and wholly over zealous. If you had awoken from a summer long coma and switched on the tellybox you would be forgiven for thinking a couple of hundred people in rather camp military uniform had just seen off an invasion attempt on British soil.
As for the legacy, well, okay there is talk of more bean bags and hooplas being bought for some kids in local comps but how long will this enthusiasm last? We now have a gigantic sports hall that is going to be closed for anything between the next 2 and 4 years and during that time the government will have to figure out how to raise the tens of millions of pounds it is going to cost to keep it open every day.

The truth of the legacy is that hundreds of small businesses have closed down throughout the capital due to the government and organisers warning everyone to stay out of London if you were not involved in the Olympics. Theatres, restaurants, cab drivers, independant shops, music venues, small bars, all suffered huge losses and in many cases been put of of business permanently. Yes, the people that we keep being reminded "Made the olympics" did a good job but what about the poor bastards that make London what it is day after day, year after year, decade after decade and not just for a few short weeks over Summer? They're f***ed, that's what. So Britain could hold a summer long party and try to convince ourselves we are not rapidly hurtling towards social and economic meltdown.

You want my advice? Start learning Chinese.

 

[martyn20]

Have you been in a coma all summer and missed what just happened?

 

[Questions]

Whilst I found Boris' speech rather amusing and indeed thought the Olympics were a positive thing for some, the way the country as a whole has been behaving is all rather over the top. The speeches by Seb and Boris et al have all been vastly self congratulatory and wholly over zealous. If you had awoken from a summer long coma and switched on the tellybox you would be forgiven for thinking a couple of hundred people in rather camp military uniform had just seen off an invasion attempt on British soil.
As for the legacy, well, okay there is talk of more bean bags and hooplas being bought for some kids in local comps but how long will this enthusiasm last? We now have a gigantic sports hall that is going to be closed for anything between the next 2 and 4 years and during that time the government will have to figure out how to raise the tens of millions of pounds it is going to cost to keep it open every day.

The truth of the legacy is that hundreds of small businesses have closed down throughout the capital due to the government and organisers warning everyone to stay out of London if you were not involved in the Olympics. Theatres, restaurants, cab drivers, independant shops, music venues, small bars, all suffered huge losses and in many cases been put of of business permanently. Yes, the people that we keep being reminded "Made the olympics" did a good job but what about the poor bastards that make London what it is day after day, year after year, decade after decade and not just for a few short weeks over Summer? They're f***ed, that's what. So Britain could hold a summer long party and try to convince ourselves we are not rapidly hurtling towards social and economic meltdown.

You want my advice? Start learning Chinese.

I think the lad is going to be disappointed with that effort Martin.

 

[Wozza]

The truth of the legacy is that hundreds of small businesses have closed down throughout the capital due to the government and organisers warning everyone to stay out of London if you were not involved in the Olympics. Theatres, restaurants, cab drivers, independant shops, music venues, small bars, all suffered huge losses and in many cases been put of of business permanently.

Got evidence?

Theatre takings, for example, were UP: BBC News - Lloyd Webber wrong over Olympics theatre

 

[Simster]

I'd like to think the best legacy we could hope for is for the reintroduction of competitive sports at a young age. School playing fields have been sold off all over the place, which has been mutually beneficial for the economically speaking extreme-right, happy to flog public land to prop up school funding; and the extreme-left who have been held responsible for the absurd "everyone's a winner" mantra that have held us back until recently.

I'd also like to see more variety of sports played at a young age. This obsession with football is wrong - the game is being run by morons so lets move into sports being run properly.

As for your point about small businesses, it is true that some have struggled. But were really supposed to not host the Olympics because of this? There are always going to be winners and losers when special events take place.

 

[Nibble]

It's not that we shouldn't have hosted the Olympics it's that Boris should not have told folks to stay out of London.
As for theatres , that article is in direct contradiction to what I have been told by theatre owners. For example many weren't allowed deliveries and were told to stockpile food and beverages. Well, these small victorian buildings don't have the storage space to stockpile before weeks of no deliveries so they lost huge revenue on food and drink sales. What Andrew Lloyd Webber has experienced is not what many venues have experienced I can assure you.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

Bread and circuses - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

All talk of legacy is utter nonsense. The reality is that money for school and community sport is being cut at the moment.

 

[martyn20]

Bread and circuses - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

All talk of legacy is utter nonsense. The reality is that money for school and community sport is being cut at the moment.

Can you supply the figures to confirm school and community sport is being cut at the moment, thanks in advance

 

[Moshe Gariani]

Can you supply the figures to confirm school and community sport is being cut at the moment, thanks in advance

:10 seconds later: Drop in school sport support blamed on funding cuts | Education | The Guardian

 

[Hillian1]

I happened to be in London twice during the Olympics and I have to say that walking up Oxford Street was strange, there was so few people around it felt like a Sunday afternoon, the restaurant we take clients to where you always have to wait to be seated had about four people in and the manager was moaning that his takings were about 50% down.

Yes they probably shouldn't have made such a big thing about coming to London during the Olympics and I am sorry that some business's have suffered but I wouldn't have changed it for the world.

 

[Nibble]

Quite, the government bangs on about a generation inspired to take part in sports. It doesn't say that they are going to pay for it, in fact they are actively stripping funds from it. Legacy? Total fallacy I'm afraid.

 

[Nibble]

I happened to be in London twice during the Olympics and I have to say that walking up Oxford Street was strange, there was so few people around it felt like a Sunday afternoon, the restaurant we take clients to where you always have to wait to be seated had about four people in and the manager was moaning that his takings were about 50% down.

Yes they probably shouldn't have made such a big thing about coming to London during the Olympics and I am sorry that some business's have suffered but I wouldn't have changed it for the world.

That's cos you don't runa restaurant in London.

 

[Hillian1]

That's cos you don't runa restaurant in London.

Should we not have hosted The Olympics then Nibble?

 

[martyn20]

:10 seconds later: Drop in school sport support blamed on funding cuts | Education | The Guardian

The report quoted is a couple of years old, have the coalition not announced extra funding during the summer?

 

[Nibble]

Should we not have hosted The Olympics then Nibble?

I have yet to see the full effects of the legacy so impossible to tell. What we should have done is ensured people knew London was okay to come to, the government should also be more up-front about the damage it has done to London, what they are now going to do with the site and how exactly they intend to continue to "inspire" a generation. I know peole have been caried away with the Olympics and in many ways it was a good thing but let's not get too carried away and ignore pressing facts, it's that sort of thinking that got Europe into the mess it's in now.

 

[The Large One]

The report quoted is a couple of years old, have the coalition not announced extra funding during the summer?

It would have little meaning if they had (and I'm not sure that they have), all the while the sale of school playing fields continues.

Michael Gove overruled experts to sell school playing fields | Politics | guardian.co.uk

 

[martyn20]

With the massive change in the East End and building projects across London with more investment coming in from around the world than ever before London has never been in better shape for the future, it's not utopia clearly but it's moving in the right direction.
If people think the 3 weeks of the Olympics and 1.5 weeks of Paralympics when some avoided London but millions visited London has damaged the city they are wrong, I know several families who found getting into London a lot easier than they thought and will be visiting far more often.

 

[Nibble]

With the massive change in the East End and building projects across London with more investment coming in from around the world than ever before London has never been in better shape for the future, it's not utopia clearly but it's moving in the right direction.
If people think the 3 weeks of the Olympics and 1.5 weeks of Paralympics when some avoided London but millions visited London has damaged the city they are wrong, I know several families who found getting into London a lot easier than they thought and will be visiting far more often.

Yes, that's the point! For those that came to London it was easy. And the summers festivities didn't last for 4.5 weeks, in terms of business the affecting events started months ago with the Jubilee. The investment you speak of, buildings etc don't do much for the future of London as a whole. I'm not saying the whole summer of festivities was a wholly bad thing, I'm saying let's not see it through rose tinted specs shall we?

 

[Gritt23]

What Andrew Lloyd Webber has experienced is not what many venues have experienced I can assure you.

Erm, isn't that true of theatre in general though, that ALW achieves bums on seats like no-one else? If others haven't done as well as him this summer, I doubt that will be as a result of the Olympics, and more to do with the fact that he seems to put on teh shows that people want to see.

 

[Wozza]

It's not that we shouldn't have hosted the Olympics it's that Boris should not have told folks to stay out of London.
As for theatres , that article is in direct contradiction to what I have been told by theatre owners. For example many weren't allowed deliveries and were told to stockpile food and beverages. Well, these small victorian buildings don't have the storage space to stockpile before weeks of no deliveries so they lost huge revenue on food and drink sales. What Andrew Lloyd Webber has experienced is not what many venues have experienced I can assure you.

Boris advised Londoners to avoid central London, not tourists.

I'm sure some buinesses lost out. I'm also sure many didn't. And I imagine tourist numbers will be UP next year.