Meg Backs West Ham's Olympic Stadium Bid

Meg has come out in support of West Ham's bid to take over the Olympic Stadium after 2012.

The board of the Olympic Park Legacy Company will be making its decision about the legacy tenant for the Olympic Stadium on the 28th January.
There are now only two bids on the table – from West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur.

Both clubs intend to create a 60,000 capacity stadium on the site. Whereas West Ham's bid - backed by Newham Council – would involve removing the top tier of the existing stadium and modifying the roof, Tottenham Hotspur's would rip up much of the athletics stadium - including the running track - replacing it with a £250m football ground. Spurs' bid also includes a £20m investment in London's current athletics stadium - the dilapidated track in Crystal Palace, south London.

Concerns have been raised that Spur's proposals would be a waste of the public money invested in the 80,000 capacity Olympic Stadium and would be needlessly damaging to the environment. Spurs fans have also voiced their anger at the prospect of the North London team moving east, well away from their traditional home at White Hart Lane.

Meg said:

"We won our bid for the Olympics on a very clear commitment to ensuring that the Stadium would be a multi-purpose venue with athletics at its core, as well as a house of sport with training, sports science and sports medicine facilities - all being available to the local community.

"I also believe that being local to the original fan base is vitally important. Of course, we need to ensure that West Ham's community sports scheme really reaches local kids, properly embedding long-term benefits for the community. But overall I support the West Ham bid."