OLYMPIC LEGACY MAY COST TAX PAYERS DEAR

With the cost of the London 2012 Olympics already trebled from £2.4bn to £9.3bn, Havering council tax payers could yet be saddled with paying even more towards the final Olympics bill.

London council tax payers are already pumping in £625m to the Games through an average annual levy of £20 per household payable until 2016/17. Havering residents alone will be stumping up some £19m towards the total cost.

Following the 2012 Olympics, it is proposed that responsibility for the Olympic legacy is passed on to the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA)

However, the LVRPA is paid for through a levy on council tax payers in London, Essex and Hertfordshire, with Havering residents currently paying £273,000 towards the £12m annual cost of the park.

With the LVRPA managing the Olympic project after 2012, the potential to increase the levy to meet any unfunded Olympic liabilities will once again fall heavily on the taxpayer.

Cllr Clarence Barrett (Cranham RA) said: “Bearing in mind that the residents of Havering are already contributing £19m to the Games. It is essential that the Lee Valley Levy should not be used as a Trojan horse to meet the inevitable overspend and ongoing liabilities of the Olympic sites.

“Rather than imposing any increased burden on the council tax payers of London, Essex and Hertfordshire it would be a better option if the Lee Valley Park was funded directly from central government in the first place. This would result in a simpler and more efficient form of funding and would head off any potential to increase the levy to fund Olympic overspends.

24.4.09