London 2012 Chiefs Set To Finalise Budget

In a New Year’s message, London 2012 Olympic organisers have stated their
intention to resolve the fears over the escalating budget for the Games early in
2007.

London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe and Olympic Delivery Authority chairman
Roy McNulty, issued a joint statement indicating that the issues of budgets and
funding would be resolved in the very near future.

The statement read: ‘Rigorous cost management is a fundamental pillar of this
project and we are working with government to ensure issues of budgets and
funding are resolved early in the New Year and we are confident they will be. We
must not lose sight of the wider benefits of this project. It is not simply
about cost. It is also about value and ambition.’

The leaders of the respective 2012 bodies also added: ‘This project is all
about good planning. By planning Games and legacy together now, we are making
sure that we only build permanent venues if there is a long-term legacy use. We
can also make the most of the regeneration opportunity winning the Games has
given us.’

Towards the end of last year, the 2012 organisers had come under increasing
media pressure over the budget for the Games after a multi-million pound
oversight on the VAT bill and inflating construction costs.

A new finalised budget for the Games is now expected to be run before
Parliament in the coming weeks.

Among the tasks that lie ahead for London 2012 in the next 12 months are the
beginning of sponsorship sales on its commercial programme; the unveiling of the
Olympic visual branding; and London’s contribution to the closing ceremony of
the Beijing 2008 Games.

Organisers will also begin to clear the 202-hectare Olympic Park site in
Stratford, East London, install utilities and develop more detailed venue plans.