As part of a three year deal, which will see teams from world cities including London, Paris, New York, Sydney, Buenos Aries and Mumbai compete in a three day tournament, organisers World Polo Ltd will provide a lump sum investment of £200,000 plus an additional £50,000 per year.

The park’s grass area is to renovated for the polo and a new long jump pit and shot put area will be built after the tournament in addition to an enlarged grass athletics track. Council bosses say these changes will ensure schools and clubs who currently use the park benefit from improved facilities the whole year round.

Cllr Paul Bristow, Hammersmith & Fulham’s cabinet member for residents’ services, said: “This really is an excellent deal for residents who regularly use Hurlingham Park. We have negotiated hard with World Polo Ltd and are pleased that they have agreed to invest such a large sum of money on our park.”

The competition has also received a warm welcome from local residents. Caroline Scott, 60, of Hurlingham Road, said: “I think this is a terrific idea. People often see polo as an elitist sport but I think it will be really fun and it will make this area known for something.”

The competition will take place from Thursday June 4 to Saturday June 6, 2009. The council will be giving away 100 free tickets for local people and another 250 tickets will be available at a discounted price of £15.

Local considerations
The council has promised that all clubs who may be inconvenienced during the week of polo are rehoused.

A special community event will also be held on Sunday June 7 where local people will be able to learn more about the sport of polo and residents will be able to learn more about the polo festival and the major improvements set for the park at meeting to be held on Wednesday 26 November, from 6pm to 7.30pm at the Hurlingham Park pavilion.

This year fans will have the chance to see the San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints go head-to-head on Sunday (26 October) in London’s iconic Wembley Stadium.

Tonight’s dinner will also be attended by over one hundred leading business figures and sporting celebrities and will also mark the launch of The Economist ‘Global Sports Summit which will take place tomorrow. Organisers say the summit “will bring together the most powerful global community of senior sports leaders, who are setting the agenda for the international sports industry.”

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s dinner, Mayor of London Boris Johnson said the return of the NFL proved the capital “is right up there amongst the top cities in the world to host top international sporting events.”

Highlighting London’s established social infrastructure the Mayor commented: “We can provide world-class Olympic training facilities, we have world-class theatre and culinary offerings and more importantly, we have the hunger to improve on this reputation. That is why Events for London is now tasked with bringing even more Olympic and non-Olympic sports to the city. The message is clear: sporting bodies will find us an open, accessible and equally importantly, a welcoming city.”

The Mayor’s comments were echoed by Alistair Kirkwood, Managing Director of NFL UK, who said the League’s return “is a tribute to the great partnership we have developed with the city.”

“The teams who came over last year had a fantastic experience and enjoyed excellent hospitality from the people of London. With both the Saints and Chargers being here for the whole week of game this year, demands have been higher, but all the facilities, venues and organisations we are working with are doing their bit to ensure that we have another very successful event.”

Mayor Johnson said:  “I returned from my visits to Beijing with a wealth of experience and ideas for the London Games. These were boosted by today’s meeting where Mr Chen Gang has underlined Chinese interest in contributing to a fantastic Games and even better legacy. I believe these proposals can provide the foundation for a stronger and broader programme of partnership and collaboration between our two cities in different economic and cultural areas.”

Today’s meeting follows talks between the pair during the Paralympic Games in Beijing. Mr Chen Gang also met with the Olympic Delivery Authority boss David Higgins and was given a tour of the Olympic Park.

Writing in the Barnet Press, Mr Coleman said “While Britain’s athletes may have won more medals than usual they must remember that they are tainted with the blood of Tibetans, Falun gong practitoners, and Roman catholic priests who are being tortured and held in labour camps just a few miles from the glittering ‘Bird’s Nest’ Stadium.”

As well as serving on the London Assembly Mr Coleman was appointed as Chair of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority after Boris Johnson’s victory in May.

Coleman said Mayor Johnson had been “forced to go” Beijing to collect the Olympic flag and that he would have “told the International Olympic Committee to put it in the post.”

Labour Assembly member Valerie Shawcross said: “The Mayor’s support for our athletes as they return from Beijing has been totally undermined by one of his senior appointments. Mr Coleman has gone out of his way to personally attack, insult and disparage the remarkable achievements of the British team.”

“While the rest of the country have seen how uplifting success at the Olympics can be, and have swung behind London 2012, Mr Coleman’s gross insult does nothing but undermine and embarrass the city. We should be giving our young athletes all the resources and support possible, not rubbishing and going out of our way to put them down.”

Coleman’s comments were also condemned by Cllr Alison Moore, Leader of Barnet Labour Group who said: ‘Brian Coleman is a key appointee of Boris Johnson’s, and the real face of the Tory party in London - however much David Cameron tries to dress up his party. Coleman’s comments should not be allowed to undermine London’s image as a forward-looking city that is proud to welcome visitors to enjoy the Games in 2012.”

“Quite frankly Boris Johnson should sack him – we just can’t have senior members of the Mayor’s team attacking Olympic heroes in this fashion.”

Attempting to distance him from the article a spokesman for the Mayor told this site: “Brian Coleman is entitled to his views on the Olympics, which is a matter of taste and political opinion. But it is preposterous to suggest that Boris Johnson was forced to go to Beijing. He did so with great enthusiam and is extremely grateful to his hosts. It was a very proud moment to receive the Olympic flag on behalf of London for the 2012 Games.”

“He rejects absolutely any suggestion that Britain’s athletes are “tainted with the blood of Tibetans, Falun gong practitioners and Roman Catholic priests.”

“It is offensive to suggest so when these fine young men and women are not only doing Britain proud but are helping to open China to the world and the world to China.”

Mr Coleman had not responded to our email requesting a response by the time of publication.

The two Mayors also discussed ways to encourage tourism, business links, trade, educational exchanges and cultural relations between the two capitals.

As he prepared to receive the Olympic flag which marks the handover to London as Olympic host city Mayor Johnson promised the city would deliver “a spectacular sporting”.

The Mayor’s comments can as he launched ‘London Calling’, a prospectus setting out the ambitions for the Olympic Park after the Games and challenging global investors to submit exceptional ideas for its development.

Mayor Johnson said: “Since my election as Mayor I have insisted on new focus and more impetus in planning and delivering this long term legacy.  And today I am calling on investors and organisations around the world to come forward and surprise us with startling ideas that can preserve the memory of the Games while creating a new focus for London’s eastward growth.”

The parade, scheduled for Thursday 16th October 2008, will allow Londoners to celebrate the nation’s success which has seen athletes win 12 golds, the largest number of Olympic gold medals since 1920. As of Monday the UK’s athletes had also won 7 silver and 8 bronze medals.

Announcing the parade Mayor Johnson said: “Just over half way through the Beijing Games and Team GB has put in one of its best ever performances. In September our Paralympians will I hope return from Beijing having achieved similar success.”

The Mayor added: “to reflect the excitement and pride of the country in our athletes’ superb victories we’ve set a date in the diary now when we can cheer all our heroes and honour their extraordinary feats at this summer’s Games.”

Simon Clegg, Chief Executive of the British Olympic Association said his body were “delighted” by news of the parade, which he described as “a fitting tribute to the outstanding achievements of the whole team, who have collectively so far delivered Team GB’s most successful Olympic Games since Antwerp 1920.”

Phil Lane, ParalympicsGB Chief Executive said: “We’re delighted to hear that Britain’s Paralympians will be recognised for their achievements in Beijing by being part of this parade alongside Britain’s Olympic athletes.”

Dan Epstein, ODA Head of Sustainable Development and Regeneration said: “We have exceeded our target for reclaiming materials from the demolition and clearing of the site, much of which has been used to create the correct land levels and roads within the Olympic Park.”

“As we move into the construction phase, we have set ourselves another incredibly ambitious target to recover and reuse or recycle 90 per cent of the construction waste. This is unprecedented for a development of this size, scale and complexity.”

The ODA has also developed a new integrated Environment and Sustainability Management System which has been certified to the international standard for environmental management systems, a move it says is a first for a project of this size.

Commenting on the accreditation Epstein said it would “give the assurance that our ambitions for sustainability and environmental management are monitored, audited and delivered.”

Veolia Environmental Services has been awarded the contract for waste management for the project and will establish a centralised waste management service and a waste consolidation centre on the site. ODA officials say all waste created by the construction activities will be recovered and reused or recycled and diverted away from landfill.

The agreement ensures that Londoners will not be forced to pay any cost overruns for the games and caps the contribution made by Council Tax payers.

Asked about the document on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme Mayor Johnson said “I rather doubt that it exists” prompting officials at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to point out the document can be found on its website.

A revised Memorandum dated June 2007 states:

“a) The Mayor will provide a maximum of £625 million from the Olympic
precept, as provided for in the original Memorandum of Understanding.

b) The
amount to be raised through the council tax precept for the 2012 Games
will be no more that £20 a year for a Band D council tax household and
will be spread over the period 2006-07 to 2016-17.”

Although there is a provision for the Mayor to provide an additional £300m the agreement makes clear that “it will not be found from either an increase in the Council Tax precept or an increase in Fares.”

Interviewed on the programme Livingstone said “I think the idea that he has been mayor and he has not yet bothered to find the memorandum of understanding and brief himself on it before he goes on your programme is bizarre.”

Johnson has frequently appeared under briefed, at his first Mayor’s Question Time he denied delegating his planning powers before being shown a letter claiming he had an in a recent interview with Andrew Marr he denied City Hall’s own stated claims for the costs of his transition team.

Responding to a question from Marr Johnson said “don’t think we’ve spent half a million so far. I think that may be the total of their annual salaries, something like that” however a report to the London Assembly business management and administration committee put the costs of the team at £425,000 and the Evening Standard reported that “When the Mayor’s office was presented with this figure, they revised it upwards to £465,000, but insisted that was actually quite reasonable for consultancy fees.”

SME’s working on the project are more likely to be acting as subcontractors with many being matched with larger companies through the ‘CompeteFor’ service - described by organisers as “a business ‘dating agency’ that matches companies to opportunities supplying London 2012 contractors”.

London 2012 Organising Committee Chief Executive Paul Deighton said: ‘We are impressed with the UK business response to the London 2012 Business Network since its launch in January this year. The hard work of the London 2012 procurement teams and our business development partners in the three devolved nations and each English region is truly paying off.”

However although more than 10% of companies conducting work are located in the ‘Olympic Park Host Boroughs’ almost half of all companies gaining work are based outside the capital leading to a significant amount of the cash spent on the project leaving the capital.

In February 2007 the ODA admitted to the London Assembly that many small businesses wanting to tender for Olympic contracts were being hampered by complex European Union procurement rules.

Sponsorship opportunities for small business are virtually non-existent.

A former Minister for Sport, Ms Hoey’s role will be focussed on increasing grass roots sport participation. City Hall says she will work closely with the London Development Agency on the London Legacy Plan for Sport but will not represent the Mayor on the Board of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games.

Mayor Johnson said he was “absolutely delighted to be able to announce that Kate is going to be helping me to rebuild sport provision in London. She made it perfectly clear that she cares deeply about providing young people in London with access to good sports facilities.”

Ms Hoey said “Londoners deserve the best sporting facilities possible and opportunities for all to participate. I am particularly keen to see that the  power of sport be used to change the lives of our young people. Sport crosses all political divides and I happy to play my part.”