Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

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Irons_Irons
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Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by Irons_Irons »

Press Release: Hold public inquiry into West Ham & LLDC deal for rental of Olympic Stadium
8/20/2015

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Today, an unprecedented coalition of London football club supporters have come together to call for a full public inquiry into the deal agreed between West Ham United and the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) for the rental of the Olympic Stadium. This call comes in the wake of the recent BBC documentary which exposed the level of taxpayer subsidy being provided to West Ham United to occupy the stadium, and the subsequent calls for a public inquiry made by MP’s Chris Bryant and David Lammy.
We believe this deal, many of the details of which remain secret even after a Freedom of Information Act request, raises serious questions about the level of taxpayer subsidy given to a private company. We are also deeply concerned about the competitive advantage given to one club over others through this taxpayer subsidy.

A spokesperson for the coalition said: “The fact that so many supporter groups have come together to call for this inquiry shows that the issues raised go beyond football tribalism. As football fans and as taxpayers, we want to see the preservation of fair competition and full transparency in public finances. This shady deal is not in the interests of the game of football and does little to promote public confidence in the way our money is being spent.”

The organisations supporting this call are:
- Arsenal Supporters’ Trust
- Charlton Athletic Supporters’ Trust
- Chelsea Supporters’ Trust
- Crystal Palace Supporters’ Trust
- Fulham Supporters’ Trust
- Leyton Orient Fans’ Trust
- QPR1st Supporters’ Trust
- Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust

A petition has been launched on the UK Government and Parliament site. A link to the petition can be found here.

Petition background:
Launch a full public inquiry into the deal agreed between West Ham United and the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) for the rental of the Olympic Stadium

We believe public money should be used responsibly, fairly, and in a way which does not distort the competitiveness of independent sports bodies and businesses. Yet, West Ham has only contributed £15m towards the £272m conversion costs of the Olympic Stadium, with the taxpayer footing the rest of the bill. The club has been allowed to keep the entire proceeds of the sale of their current stadium, last valued in their own accounts at £71m. Rental is said to be £2.5m per annum, dropping by half to £1.25m should West Ham be relegated, but recent revelations show that the taxpayer will also be picking up the costs of stadium utilities, security, maintaining the pitch, and even the goalposts and corner flags - estimated to be worth between £1.4m and £2.5m a year. Considering the cost to the taxpayer, and the effect of this taxpayer subsidy on competition between clubs, a full public inquiry into the deal is needed.


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eastsider
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by eastsider »

Not again surely??????????????????
:asleep:
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LOS
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by LOS »

No millwall petition though. I quite like that.

It aint going away this groundswell of 'waste of public money' is it ? I don't like that.
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by Antwerp_Lad »

Maybe they could have done this when we got the stadium, instead of less than a full season before the move.

Like anyone is going to kill this deal now and leave themselves open to massive litigation from West Ham.
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by WHU_Del »

They all had the option of placing a bid. If they had been successful, they would have all been able to take advantage of the same setup.
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Rays Rock
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by Rays Rock »

If this infringes anything like state aid, why is it only the supporters trusts of these clubs that are concerned and not the Parent clubs themselves ? !
Strikes me that a few people seem to have fallen into the trap that the BBC London has willfully created.
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by frankiemac »

they can all f*** off

absolute tossers the lot of them...watch them all queue up to get tickets when were actually in the place as well

sick of this **** now

spurs, orient and seb coe are all to blame...if seb had let us be involved from the start we would have paid half towards a fit for purpose stadium....if spurs and orient hadn't piped up, we would have been owners and not tenants and would have had to foot the bill for the re-work
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by Claretdave »

For the last time......

We don't own the stadium, we lease the stadium and have the right to play our home matches there.

We don't get the benefit of other events that are held at the stadium.

We are one of a number of stakeholders in the Olympic Stadium.

What precedent is there as to a fair "rent" for a football ground?
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by AlfieG »

Funny that, when I searched for this on google, it came up with this result....

The tottenham hotspuds supporters trust..... :asleep:

Anyone with an IQ over 10 will realise that this is just opposition football fans trying to shyte stir at our expense.

It shows they are just envious of the deal and are now starting to realise that it will help kick start our move on to bigger and better things......

Tough eh!
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Mr P
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by Mr P »

Morons moaning about wasting taxpayers money.

Who do they think would pay for the public enquiry??

Not a single one of those clubs wouldn't have done the same deal if offered.
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by Over 50 »

I am an Orient fan and like a lot of orient fans, i don't understand why this is still going on. You were lucky enough to get the stadium and good luck to you. And as for Spurs joining in on this. Have they forgotten that they were let off 18 million they should have paid towards infrastructure changes needed when they build their new stadium. They were let off this to placate them after losing the bid. I am more upset with that than with you winning the bid, as we got nothing at all for our failed bid.
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by orient slacker »

I think many of the fans of the likes of Charlton (the prime movers behind this) and us are concerned about the potential knock-on effect of those extra seats WHU have got to fill. The Trusts, at best critical friends of their own clubs owners, have a different agenda here.

Nobody expects the OS move to be stopped, but the various parties hiding behind commercial sensitivity arguments for not releasing deal details are on a sticky wicket here. And with the EU showing interest in various Europe-wide football club state subsidies, I can see this rumbling on until the details are released.

I realise all fans can get tribally defensive of their clubs, but what seems to be a fantastic deal for your club's owners isnt necessarily the best one for you as WHU fans, the local community, or taxpayers. Just being told "this is a good deal for the public purse" by the likes of Boris without giving numbers away isnt going to stop the questions from various sources both inside and out of football.

What happened to the Irons Trust, btw: Like bubbles, did it just fade and die?
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AlfieG
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by AlfieG »

orient slacker wrote:
I realise all fans can get tribally defensive of their clubs, but what seems to be a fantastic deal for your club's owners isnt necessarily the best one for you as WHU fans, the local community, or taxpayers. Just being told "this is a good deal for the public purse" by the likes of Boris without giving numbers away isnt going to stop the questions from various sources both inside and out of football.
So how do you suggest the best interest of the taxpayers could have been served better then??

Im all ears.....
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by orient slacker »

I cant answer that without knowing the details of the deal.

Maybe this from the Addicks Trust might be a good start to understand why they are persisting with this, and gettng support from other Trusts and outfits like the Taxpayers Alliance to do so:

http://www.castrust.org/wp-content/uplo ... tract.docx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There really isnt some kind of crusade against West Ham. If the taxpayer was asked to pay £272m up front to modify a public asset for a private organisation to multiply their turnover an estimated 3-4 times, the same demands for disclosure would exist.
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by Georgee Paris »

What a load of bull****. No one really cares where are taxes go.
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by 919er »

This is not about taxpayers money.

It is about jealousy from other fans and political game playing by the BBC and the oppo Labour Bryant. - end of.
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by Pamadice »

The taxpayer was asked no such thing. West Ham won the original bid to take over the OS , the conversion cost wasn't part of that agreement. LLDC were challenged legally in European Court and that agreement had to be scrapped. The sourgrapes whingeing has has ended up costing the taxpayer extra . Self interest groups will only dig a bigger hole for the taxpayer if their demands for a PUBLICLY FUNDED enquiry are entertained.
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by trick88 »

Georgee Paris wrote:What a load of bull****. No one really cares where are taxes go.
This.

Because a rival team have been mentioned they all want to make their piss.

It will come of nothing and as they will reach their 10,000 signatures needed they will be taught a lesson on how to build a petition and lose so quickly.

Good luck to them, idiots.

(oh and most of those supporters clubs could not give a flying fudge if we get it or not!) :clap:
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by Rays Rock »

orient slacker wrote: If the taxpayer was asked to pay £272m up front to modify a public asset for a private organisation to multiply their turnover an estimated 3-4 times, the same demands for disclosure would exist.
£272m sounds like a hell of a lot of dough doesn't it, and it is ! But it really is a drop in the ocean for governmental wastage in terms of subsidisation. Consider something like the private railway companies who try turn a decent profit but require a decent amount of public subsidy on a yearly basis. This is all on top of ever increasing rail fares. I very seldom use the railways these days but my money still gets ploughed into it whether I like it or not. I'm afraid that's just one of many many examples.

I say if we're going to investigate contracts like those issued by LLDC then we should certainly take a look in the direction of the railways, the energy companies, the NHS and telecoms aswell. Pretty sure a one off £272 m used for future profit will be seen as comparatively sensible after that lot have been sifted through.
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Re: Petition from London clubs for a new public enquiry...

Post by Claretdave »

Irons_Irons wrote: As football fans and as taxpayers, we want to see the preservation of fair competition and full transparency in public finances.”

- Chelsea Supporters’ Trust
:lol:

RIP irony. You had a great life, but this moment can never be topped.
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