London mayor Ken Livingstone has called for a swift decision on the future of Wembley, and an end to speculation about the site of the national stadium. The mayor was joined in his call by the business lobbying group London First.
A Sunday press report claimed that the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) was planning to offer £70m in cash incentives in return for the national stadium’s being located near to Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre. The leak was said to have come from friends of the sports minister, Richard Caborn.
Livingstone said yesterday: “I would like reassurance from Richard Caborn that no decisions on the location of the new national football stadium have been made in advance of Patrick Carters report” – Patrick Carter is heading a Home Office taskforce charged with reporting on the Government’s options regarding a national stadium. The report is due to be published on 20 August.
A DCMS spokesman told EGi that the allegations were “a load of nonsense,” adding: “There is no way ministers would make any proposal like this before the publication of the Carter report, even in private.Whichever ‘friends’ of Caborn’s said this are not very good friends.”
London First said that the leak was unlikely to have any basis in fact. Judith Salomon, its head of property, said: “As soon as Patrick Carter reports, ministers will have to come to a quick decision. This delay and indecision is costing money and could potentially damage Wembley’s regeneration. It must be Wembley, and they must get on with it.”
London First chief executive Stephen O’Brien said: “If the Government blocked the stadium it would cost them at least £120m. Also, all the money pledged to regenerate the area by developers in section 106 agreements would dry up – the area would be blighted for another 10 years,” he said.
Livingstone said: “Wembley deserves a fair and proper hearing because, with planning in place, £170m funding for new transport infrastructure and a brand name that has worldwide recognition, it is by far the best choice for the location of the new national football stadium.”
The mayor added: “We have one huge advantage over the Birmingham site – we’re not on a greenbelt.” He said that he found it difficult to see how the Government could endorse a development on a greenfield site, given that its urban regeneration policies aim to discourage such developments.
Ann John, leader of Brent council, which covers Wembley, said: “We are ready to go with Wembley. We have the planning permission. All we are waiting for is for the Government to say ‘yes, it’s Wembley’. There is land with planning permission for hotels and conference centres and shops, but everything is waiting on the stadium.”
EGi News 31/07/01
