f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

You would think after the fiasco of the Scottish Parliament building (11 times over budget I think) and the mess that is Wembley Stadium (massively over budget, years late and only suitable for football), to mention just two, that we as a country would have learned our lesson.

That lesson being that we in the UK can't undertake a major construction project without it going over budget and ending up years behind schedule because of a mixture of bad planning, poor initial financial analysis, lack of budgetry controls during the build, a reluctance to impose penalty clauses and let's face it probably some corruption thrown in there for good measure.

So I whinced when I read this which even removing the BBC's usual dose of sensationalism makes for scary reading:

BBC NEWS | Politics | London Olympics could cost £9bn

Bear in mind here that not a single piece of concrete has been poured yet and London only got the Olympics 20 months ago. How can the budget have already risen so dramatically and as for a 60% contingency fund, just how bad are we at costing a project? Of course everyone is blaming everyone else and as usual it will get swept under the carpet in the same way the Wembley fiasco has.

This time though it is on such a massive scale that it will cost the taxpayer dear for years to come and let's face it this is just the tip of the iceberg, expect the costs to rise to several times the revised estimate as the project becomes another behind schedule diaster. Of course justification will be made for spending more and more on it as we can't miss the deadline by even one week and the world is watching us (and probably laughing already) so unless we intend to host the 2012 Olympics in 2015 money will soon be no object.

Is it too late to say 'No, we made a mistake, give it to the French'?

ADILM

its going to cost us taxpayers dear!

Dieseldog

We just don't learn. The Dome proved Britain can't manage big public projects.

James Neill

iTrader: (1)

You only hear the bad news. Heathrow T5 is on time and on budget last I heard and makes Wembley look like a tree house.

Dieseldog

Exactly James - private corporations have some sense of fiscal responsibility, but the Government and all its Quangos are just a ship of fools frittering away our money...

warrenm2

Not a good record is it? £2.375bn in 2005, £9bn in Feb 07, just think what it will be by 2012! £20bn is looking good I reckon

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Yes, fair enough there are some successes amongst the disaasters, but this is the Olympics which in turn makes Heathrow T5 look like a tree house and is already spiralling cost wise before a single brick has been laid. £2.35bn to a potential £9bn in 20 months, what will it be at by 2012 other than half finished

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Yep, I reckon you're about right there. It's frightening.

What gets me is there is never any real investigation into these projects. I would dearly love to know how Wembley can be so over budget and behind schedule, but all we will get is everyone waing lyrical about what a wonderful stadium it is when the FA Cup Final kicks off in May forgetting it should have kicked off 3 years ago and has cost many many millions more than the original budget.

Leslie

Yes, another piece of sensationalism without the slightest idea how much is was going to really cost, although how anyone could have really believed the original estimate beats any kind of logic. I would be more inclined to believe that they knew all the time anyway and grossly understated the real estimate which they knew in the first place. What could we expect in any case after the Dome and Wembley?

Think of the "stick" that the constructors have got to beat the government of the day as we approach 2012 to vastly increase the cost so that they can "complete it in time for the Games" If they even manage that anyway!

I bet Warrem2's estimate is not far off the mark.

I feel that the Olympics has now gone way over the top anyway with each country trying to outdo the previous one and the money being made "on the side" must be horrific.

The best idea I heard was to always hold it in Greece where it originated and that the participating countries should share the cost.

Les

Les

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

Terminal 5 due to open to the public Mar 2008 (on time) at a cost of £4.3bn (on budget). It's quite a complicated project (!) & seems to be going OK. Seems that it is possible then.

TX.

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

The Olympics will be very good for the UK - good for construction due to workload over next 5 years, good for UK due to spend levels in the UK when the games open.

TX.

Leslie

I hope they are prepared to wait until 2014 then!

Les

Brun

AudiLover

Yep I cant wait. I will be able to take people for a even greater ride when theres more shortages. Just hope that more crappy eastern european builders dont come over. So many dont have any experience but can just blag their jobs. Management doesnt care because they are so cheap labour. And those scum dont pay taxes etc most of the time either

Ah well. Roll on the days of £200 an hour

DeltaBravo 9

do you actually believe that do you know that one of the olympic cities in the 80s has just finished paying for the games they held !! great for the economy in the long run it's going to be a disaster

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Yes except for one fatal flaw in the case of the subject being discussed and that is that the Olympics are already over budget.

BTW I think the only city to make a profit on the Olympics in recent history was Atlanta, even Sydney lost money.

JohnD

iTrader: (5)

Everyone sign this: OPPOSING THE 2012 OLYMPIC LEVY Petition
JohnD

Trout

iTrader: (1)

I think £700m for a tent is money well spent

dpb

Excellant for east end dwellers and those participating ...!

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Doesn't matter WHAT it costs: the money is to be spent for LONDON, so everyone lese can go ****.

Alcazar

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

A bit like that stupid kissball stadium then

I'm not even a grumpy northerner and I can see that building the "national stadium" in the middle of a london suburb was a particulary stupid idea. The olympics.. great - more public money spent on nonsense while public services continue to collapse.