London Latest - Olympic Land Debt Probe; Tickets for Test Events

Olympic Land Debt Probe

Questions are being raised about how London's City Hall will deal with an Olympic land debt of $365 million.

The London Assembly’s budget and performance committee will question Mayor Boris Johnson's chief of staff about why there is no commitment from government to help pay it off and how it can be settled.

Assurances previously came from the mayor that the government would cover the whole debt as part of the agreement made when the London Development Agency (LDA) transferred ownership of the Olympic land to the Olympic Park Legacy Company.

The LDA took on the debt to pay for the acquisition and remediation of the Olympic Park in east London. But it will be passed on to the Greater London Authority on April 1. The GLA is expecting to inherit $551 million of Olympic land debt – but government funding reduces that to $365 million by the end of March 2014.

However, the GLA had expected the government to provide sufficient funding to pay the debt off in full. The draft GLA budget shows no funding for the Olympic land debt beyond 2013/14.

To fund the shortfall, Londoners could be forced to pay council tax beyond 2016/2017 as their contribution to the Olympics.

John Biggs, chair of the London Assembly budget and performance committee, said: "We have repeatedly highlighted the ongoing financial risks from the uncertainty around the Olympic land liabilities and our worst fears appear now to have been realized.

"It looks as though the GLA now has to deal with an enormous long-term debt arising from the Games land, at a time when its overall pot of money is reducing.

"What will this debt mean for London? Will funding need to be cut from other regeneration projects, and will Londoners be paying for the Olympics for even longer than originally thought? We intend to find out."

The committee meeting takes place next Wednesday at City Hall.

Test Events for Aquatics, Track Cycling

Tickets for the first competitive events in the aquatics center and velodrome are now on sale. Other test event tickets for Olympic qualification in gymnastics and diving were also made available Thursday.

Prices range from $8 to $63.

International Gymnastics, a qualification event for the Games, will be a competition priority for the British men’s team – including Beijing 2008 medallist Louis Smith. Double Olympian Beth Tweddle may compete for the women’s team at the event, which takes place at North Greenwich Arena (the O2) from Jan. 10 to 18.

The Feb. 16 to 19 UCI Track Cycling World Cup will bring the best riders from around the world to London. It's the first opportunity for Beijing 2008 gold medal winners Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton to compete in the velodrome.

Tickets are also on sale for the 18th FINA Diving World Cup later in February. Britain’s best Olympic diving hope Tom Daley will be the star attraction.

Next week, London stages test events for handball, boxing, table tennis and fencing.

Next Sales Phase for Paralympics Tickets

The remaining tickets for the 2012 Paralympics will go on sale on a first-come-first-served basis on Dec. 2. A total of 800,000 tickets were allocated to more than 100,000 people through September’s initial public application phase.

Paralympic track cycling and wheelchair rugby are sold out. But there are plenty of tickets available for the following: athletics at the Olympic stadium; ExCeL and Olympic Park day passes; wheelchair basketball at the North Greenwich Arena; equestrian at GreenwichPark; and swimming at the aquatics center (morning sessions).

Tickets are still available on every day of the Games from Aug. 29 to Sept. 9, including for medal sessions in a number of sports. Tickets will be available here.

Games Boost to Tourism

New research from tourism agency VisitBritain reveals that U.K. cities hosting 2012 Olympic events are becoming increasingly popular tourist destinations.

London and Scottish capital Edinburgh are the two most popular destinations for inbound visitors, says an analysis of overnight stays in the U.K. throughout 2010. But cities and towns including Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle and Windsor have also shown that the Olympics may be boosting visitor numbers.

Research into all types of visits showed that London – home to the Olympic Park and the largest shopping center in Europe at Westfield Stratford City – came out as the top destination with 14.7 million overseasvisits.

Edinburgh was ranked second, with 1.3 million overnight visitors. Manchester, home to Man Utd's iconic Old Traffordstadium and venue for both men’s and women’s Olympic football matches, lies in third place with 811,000. Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, which will see Olympic football matches take place at Hampden Park, was placed fourth with 551,000 overnight stays.

Youngsters Benefit from Free Tickets

LOCOG chair Sebastian Coe and London mayor Boris Johnson on Thursday revealed the range of sports that the city's schoolchildren will have access to during the Olympics and Paralympics.

For the Olympics, around 23,000 tickets have been allocated for events in venues on the Olympic Park. Around 18,500 are available for events being staged at venues across London, with another 18,000 offered for visits to Wembley Stadium to watch Olympic football. More than 5,500 will be able to watch sports at venues on the outskirts of the capital.

The remaining 60,000 tickets will give youngsters access to the 2012 Paralympics Games athletics events being held in the Olympic Stadium.

There are enough 2012 tickets for one in eight of London's schoolchildren ages 10-18 to attend the Games free of charge.

Coe said: "I have always passionately believed that the Olympic and Paralympic Games can provide a once-in-a-generation platform for sport in this country. By seeing world-class athletes and witnessing world-class sport at fantastic venues, we are giving young people a magnificent opportunity."

2012 Mascots Eye Music Chart Success

The official London 2012 mascot song "On a Rainbow" is now available for download.

The single, penned and recorded by McFly star Tom Fletcher, features in the third installment of the mascots adventure – "Wenlock and Mandeville’s Rainbow Rescue"– that premiered Thursday. The song is based on the mascots journey to the London 2012 Games and the young people they meet along the way.

The third mascot film will be shown on 373 screens in more than 100 cinemas nationwide before selected family movies over the next month.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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