£159m Olympics 'black hole'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The project to buy up land for the London 2012 Olympics has overspent by £159m, according to papers published yesterday. The documents, from the London Development Agency (LDA), show that the amount represents "increased Olympic land commitments". The LDA has called on the accountant KPMG to investigate spending.
"This has major implications for the medium and long-term financial position of the agency, and these issues will need to be resolved through the set-up arrangements for the Olympic Park Legacy Company," the papers state. The impact on the 2009-10 budget is a shortfall of £94m which needs to be resolved immediately."
The LDA had to pay more than 3,000 businesses and individuals to buy land for the 600-hectare site in Stratford, east London, through compulsory purchase orders. Revised budgets for 2009-10 "will require careful management to ensure that no further net overspends occur".
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments