Some 2012 Venues May Be Moved – London Mayor

London’s Mayor Ken Livingstone told BBC News that some of the venues for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games might have to be moved, adding that key decisions have to be taken in the next few weeks. Increased security levels are a priority in light of the London bombings in July, said the Mayor.

“We’re going back now, looking at it all in the light of the bombings. I think we should change this. The deal we do in the next few weeks is then the project we carry forward."

Although he didn’t name specific venues the Mayor hopes tackling potential problems now will prevent disruption in the future.

Livingstone said, “can we reconfigure some of those things so that we can all save money, that we can work with the local and neighbouring developments to integrate it all better? What killed Olympics in the past is politicians and sports people coming along after two or three years saying ‘oh I’ve had a new idea’. But once we’ve done those deals over the next few weeks and have got the IOC’s backing for that, then that’s the scheme we take forward”.

Sebastian Coe, head of London 2012, confirmed to the BBC that discussions about potential venue changes were taking place. He said, “as the Mayor has quite properly said, this is a partnership approach. We have to make sure that all this fits in. It’s a big jigsaw. It’s a multi-faceted project and, as Ken has said, it’s very important to get all these things nailed down at the very beginning.

“The things that have caused grief over a seven-year implementation phase is when actually the strategy has consistently and continually changed. This is something that we want to deal with now”. Write or read comments about this article