Olympic Families...
Now here's a cosy concept. The Olympic 'family.' This is the nausea-inducing title given to the group of 'clients' that the Olympic Delivery Authority actually care about for 2012. They include National Olympic Committee officials, athletes, workforce, media and, most tellingly, 'marketing partners' - i.e. advertisers. The Paralympic 'family' has similar categories.
So why am I writing about this today? Because on the 23rd, the ODA produced the transport plans for 2012. We're all going to go by public transport. No ifs. No buts. Unless we can manage to join The Family...
So what will The Family enjoy that we can only stand in our queues and watch?
Well, traffic lights will be rephased so that traffic going to the games gets priority and where necessary roads will be closed. Routes will be diverted and 'kerbside controls' (Parking restrictions) brought in. Special 'Olympic' lanes created for more than 1000, officials who will be entitled to their own car and driver. For us this will mainly mean that the Blackwall Tunnel will be down to one lane because most of the roads in Greenwich won't support a separate lane.
The ODA are, at least, good enough to accept that the most important sub-category of The Family is the athletes. Fair enough. It would be most annoying if the race began and the runners were all stuck on the Northern Line. But after that I start to wonder just how many of these dignitaries really justify a dedicated lane in already-congested roads. The rest of us are expected to leave time for our journeys - which will be worse because The Family are taking up an entire lane. I like the way they put things: that less than 50 percent of the ORN (Olympic Road Network) will be affected - a good news-way of telling us that nearly half of our roads will be fiddled with.
Do I ultimately care? Probably not that much for the total of four weeks during the two sets of games. But I will not be happy if it is extended for months before and after the festivities because the building work is going at its usual Olympic speed (late) creating designated lanes for JCBs...
What do you folks think?
http://www.london2012.com/plans/transport/getting-ready/transport-plan.php
The Phantom lights the blue touch-paper and retires...
So why am I writing about this today? Because on the 23rd, the ODA produced the transport plans for 2012. We're all going to go by public transport. No ifs. No buts. Unless we can manage to join The Family...
So what will The Family enjoy that we can only stand in our queues and watch?
Well, traffic lights will be rephased so that traffic going to the games gets priority and where necessary roads will be closed. Routes will be diverted and 'kerbside controls' (Parking restrictions) brought in. Special 'Olympic' lanes created for more than 1000, officials who will be entitled to their own car and driver. For us this will mainly mean that the Blackwall Tunnel will be down to one lane because most of the roads in Greenwich won't support a separate lane.
The ODA are, at least, good enough to accept that the most important sub-category of The Family is the athletes. Fair enough. It would be most annoying if the race began and the runners were all stuck on the Northern Line. But after that I start to wonder just how many of these dignitaries really justify a dedicated lane in already-congested roads. The rest of us are expected to leave time for our journeys - which will be worse because The Family are taking up an entire lane. I like the way they put things: that less than 50 percent of the ORN (Olympic Road Network) will be affected - a good news-way of telling us that nearly half of our roads will be fiddled with.
Do I ultimately care? Probably not that much for the total of four weeks during the two sets of games. But I will not be happy if it is extended for months before and after the festivities because the building work is going at its usual Olympic speed (late) creating designated lanes for JCBs...
What do you folks think?
http://www.london2012.com/plans/transport/getting-ready/transport-plan.php
The Phantom lights the blue touch-paper and retires...
posted by The Greenwich Phantom at
08:41
14 Comments:
Would anyone actually notice if any of the atheletes were stuck on the Northern Line? How many billion to watch a load of minority sports? I am disguisted that I have to pay a single penny for this jumped up school sports day and even more disgusted that non London tax payers will also have to pay.
one thing we certainly win gold medals in is negativity and wingeing. Oh Phantom, the media are going to have enough of a field day boring us with this easy story so please don't add to the 'hysteria'. Why can't people get over themselves and accept that yes, it may cause a bit of congestion (although in a city of god knows how many million is it really going to lead to gridlock?) and yes it might add a tenner or two to council tax (how much money have we poured into Iraq or pointless Lady Di enquiries etc etc??), but it might actually be fun, it might cause people to smile, it might give this country a bit of decent pr and repair some of the recent damage, it might for a couple of weeks break the monotony of everyday life, it might inspire a generation of kids to get off their backsides and compete/contribute/get fit/feel good about themselves etc etc. Have we totally lost the will to party?
I would say that we could do with a bit more certainty for the cost of this government's latest white elephant. I wasnt aware that I put in a 12 to 14 hour day to pay for a sportsday that may or may not pursuade the fat and lazy to be less so.
Hey Noel yeah - perhaps you have a point. I confess I am the original grumpy old Phantom over the olympics - I was probably the only soul on earth (certainly in my own household) who didn't welcome the winning bid. Sadly sport has never made me smile.
Ultimately, as I've said in the main body of the blog, I don't really care about the road closures/lane streaming/parking issues - but neither do I care about the Olympics themselves. I guess I'm pleased for anything that will make people want to contribute/compete/get fit etc - I don't even mind coughing up cash for something that the majority of people enjoy, however inexplicable that enjoyment is to me. But the odd whinge will help me cope along the way...
Your Gold-Medal-Grumpy Friday-Afternoon Phantom will be more cheery next week, when I get onto much more familiar territory...
I dont feel quite so guilty now, I was willing and praying that Paris got the bid. I really am a grumpy old "not in my back yard" woman - I know that its going to be hell on earth trying to get around Greenwich. I also have a horrible feeling it will last a darn sight longer than a month
I was probably the only soul on earth who didn't welcome the winning bid.
Mrs Andrekabu will doubtless be along to assure you that, thanks to me, you were not.
I thought it was a waste of money at £2.3bn. You should have heard me when it went up to £9bn. And just you wait till it gets up to £20bn, as it inevitably will.
Things is - the cost is not really what gets me. I really don't mind forking out a few extra quid id it's going to be fantastic. But I worry that people are using this as some kind of salve for all the coutnry's ills. The desperate hope that somehow by having a few sportspeople turn up for a few weeks everything will somehow be alright in East London.
I truly worry what Stratford (and for that matter, Greenwich) will look like in 2013, when suddenly it doesn't have to look spruced-up for the world. Will all these amenities actually be converted into something good for local people - or, as with so many previous olympic sites, become abandoned and forlorn? Will the public transport system still be good? If so, then I welcome the Olympics with open arms and I truly don't mind paying.
And, on a slightly unrelated issue, I still worry about long-term damage to Greenwich Park caused by the frenzy of olympic fever which seems to be cutting great swathes into anything in the way of the games.
I am prepared to be wrong on all of these. And I hope to be proved wrong too. I will be delighted to be the first person to shout "I was wrong." I'm big enough to wear egg on my face with pride.
You were definitely not alone in being grumpy about the Olympics.
The Phantom quite rightly mentions lighting the blue touch-paper. There will be lots of fireworks, arts events and opportunities to engage young and old in the biggest party and occasion of our lifetimes.
On 6 July 2005 I was in Trafalgar Square to hear the outcome of the bids. I thought Paris was an absolute certainty but I wanted to be part of a big crowd who would show the world that we could take disappointment on the chin. Jacques Rogge’s announcement of our success was an unexpected surprise. Did he really say London? I can honestly say that when the Red Arrows flew over minutes later, as a symbol of victory and celebration, it was one of the proudest moments of my life (although as a good Evertonian I have something of an aversion to the colour red).
Over the coming years there will be lots of carping and moaning- partly about the inconvenience, partly about the cost, partly because some people will exercise their right not to engage- but mainly because there is something in the English psyche that gnaws away at the prospect of successfully delivering something that is really great. We love to identify the feet of clay and tut about scandals, real or imagined.
If we want to frame things that way, we can feel very annoyed that the blazers and princelings of the Olympic family are treated like the VIPs (that actually, for the duration of the games, they are). We can dwell on the cynics making a fortune out of sport and we can expose and dwell on athletes who enhance their unbelievably hard training efforts by cheating with banned substances. Perhaps worst of all we can have a hissy fit about the impact that the preparations for our guests may have on our lives locally.
If you are not too cynical or scornful to be inspired take a look at the short promo film at:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV_GzL2AYgI
Or track down the film, shown as part of London’s presentation to the IOC, about the way five imaginary young people are fired up by London 2012. Incidentally, if there were Olympic gold medals for advertising, the UK would be invulnerable.
We are Londoners and Britain can afford bread, roses and circuses, as well as roads, CAT scanners and kidney machines. We don’t have to do without any of them. And when we welcome the world, lets do it with a giving attitude that shows the UK, London and Greenwich at our very best. Nil Satis Nisi Optimum!
Top comment Gwladys!
Well put :)
The 'fat cats' of this world should get over themselves, stop wage slaving so hard if it makes them so grumpy, or move to Switzerland [or some other tax haven] like all the other selfish buggers, while the rest of us sing "good riddance".
I bet that the people commenting here about the equestrian events in Greenwich being inspirational, fun, and showing Greenwich at its best, blah ... LIVE NOWHERE NEAR THE PARK. People, it is going to be unbearable.
Even the British Equestrian Federation thinks that Greenwich Park is unsuitable, and that the venue for this Olympic event should be moved to Badminton. That would be a good reason to celebrate and party.
The organisers say that they will "consult" about which trees are to be cut down. A lot of people reacted to that with astonishment: waidaminit, why are we talking about ANY trees being cut down - some of them are 400 years old.
You are absolutely right Indigo. How dare I comment about something that touches on the park. I live over three minutes jog from the nearest gate (though on a good day and with a bit of speed work I could probably get there in two minutes). I will apply immediately for reduced rate 'country membership' of the Friends of Greenwich Park or perhaps simply just fall on my pen.
Call yourself Indigo, by the way- I bet you don't even live anywhere remotely close to the 02.
Fair point about the 400 year old trees though.
@Gwladys Street 6 November 2007 19:37,
Call yourself Indigo, by the way- I bet you don't even live anywhere remotely close to the 02.
First, I think you'll find that the word indigo has been used for several centuries before the O2 was even dreamed of. Second, what is the association you make between the word indigo and the O2: don't say that the only thing indigo defines for you is a PR company?
Third, I do live near the O2.
What's your next blind prejudice?
I was right- no sense of humour.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home