Interesting article on Greenwich in the Telegraph

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shoeey

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The Telegraph has run a comment piece from Sebastian Coe today, replying to the concerns of NOGOE and the like.
All sounds very positive as far as I'm concerned both as a fan of equestrianism and a local resident
 
spot the obvious mistakes. here is one

"Myth: The park will be closed for a year.

Fact: We will keep large sections of the park open as much as possible, inconvenience will be kept to a minimum. Construction of the temporary arena starts in April 2012, but this won't mean the whole park being shut. Many cross-country course jumps will be portable and will be brought in and positioned in the final weeks running up to the Games to minimise disruption. "

Pity that Mr Coe has missed the fact that the test event, as per required by IOC regulations will be held in 2011. So i would like to hope at least one of the arena's is started prior to April 2012 and they might need to have the park closed for that as well.......
 
Quote "Myth: We are being secretive, misleading and lying about our plans.

Fact: We are being open – some plans are still being worked through, but we are clear that the borough, local residents and the equestrian community are partners in this project." unquote

I would say that telling the IOC as part of the bid, that the park was twice as big as in reality, is fairly misleading.....
 
and here is a third

Myth: Having horses racing round the park will irreversibly damage the ground.

Fact: The cross-country is not like the Grand National: 75 horses go around one at a time, once, throughout the day. We have promised to return the park in the same state as it was given to us. Don't forget five days after the cross country in Hong Kong last summer, people were back playing golf.

I would absolutely agree about the horses galloping part, but two water complexes are required for this level event. Surely digging a couple of holes is going to do a bit of damage.
Oh and i would like to think Mr Coe went to Hong Kong at some point, in which case he would realise the Beas River site was ONLY used for cross country. All the excercising and competing for EVERYTHING else was at Sha Tin, so i should would be a bit surprised if the organising committee couldnt get rid of a few temporary boxes flags and electronic equipment in five days. That pretty much gets done at any three day anywhere in the world.
 
Also he's failed to address other issues such as the logistics of getting spectators in and out of the park, inadequate room for the spectators who would want to attend the cross-country phase, and adequate space for stabling and exercise areas. As for encouraging deprived youngsters to ride, how are they and/or their families going to afford it? How the other half live! I remember being shocked many years ago when Richard Meade (for who I had great admiration as a rider) declared that it wasn't too expensive for any child to have a pony. My family weren't what I'd describe as very poor, but we certainly could not have afforded a pony. Sadly I think it was an example of blinkered vision.
 
Well said SJFAN, To think i thought it wa only me who could see the flaws in this statement. And i suspect there are a few people in Deptford who might agree with you as well.
 
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