Yet another poorly informed debate on Radio London this morning. Wouldn't mind if they had done their research, they could have then been critical. The view of Jo Good is that we are a nation of fatties who don't want to be fit. Well hello, the most obese country in the world must be the US, but with a population of around four times ours, they win 20 times the number of gold medals.

The Games are about regeneration, improved infrastructure, involving the youth (arts, sports, culture), jobs and skills, business of course, making the UK more inclusive, and .... winning a few more medals than normal). The costs is dwarfed by the Thames Valley Gateway regeneration (of which this is a small part) and probably what was lost on the stock exchange today amongst high street retailers.

So perhaps we could have some interesting debate on the Games means to SE23. Beyond the improved link to the Jubillee line and Stratford (a real grotty place at present).

BD - never afraid to raise difficult subjects

Although not strictly SE23 I'm hoping for a revamp of the Crstal Palace athletics stadium, and facilities. I understand that several countries already have an eye on this as a training base leading up to the games.

I hape to have retired by 2012 and have registered as interested in "helping out" at events - but then I expect millions have.

What shouldn't be understimated is what the feel good factor does for both individuals and an economy.

The cost of hosting the Olympics should be outweighed by the tourist money coming into London in 2012 and for a good few years beyond. It is great PR for the city and will directly benefit the economy in terms of actual money coming in from tourists, regeneration putting money into the economy and bringing new workers to the capital, as well as the feel good factor mentioned by John.

For residents of FH who are not sports fans and fancy getting away from it all, renting out houses over the Olympic period could be a direct source of income from the Olympics, or at least fund a nice holiday almost anywhere else in the world.

Would there be a market for renting out our houses and flats in SE23 to needy athletes or rich Olympic tourists? I know a few people Syndey who did that and it worked out pretty well.

Also I wonder if Forest Hill has anything planned to for the town centre that is related to the 2012 Games?

FH town centre can't even manage to successfuly put on a one day event at Christmas. But at least they're got a few years to get some practice before 2012.

I at least hope that the build-up to the games will put further pressure on the council to renovate / rebuild and re-open the swimming pool ASAP. That would be good.

Let's have some ideas if we do want something in the town centre. there is plenty of time to organise things that people want to see, but what would you like to see?

We should respect our local history and boycott all this athleticism. Forest Hill has traditionally based its indusry on catering for the more sedentary sportsman: the dartsman and the world's top snooker players. We should mark the games by hosting their antidote. A tournament of traditional pub games perhaps. A good start would be getting the bar billiards table back in the Dartmouth Arms.

'A town centre'?

You'd like to see a town centre? There's one near the pub with the bar billiards.

I at least hope that the build-up to the games will put further pressure on the council to renovate / rebuild and re-open the swimming pool ASAP. That would be good.

HEAR HEAR - I used to love going to ladies only swimming on a Saturday - pop into Sainsbury's to stock up on food then go home. I felt virtuous and thoroughly refreshed. I have not been swimming for ages now - none of the other local pools do ladies only at any sensible time and without a car it is difficult to get anywhere else.

http://www.foresthillsociety.com/2010/03...-2012.html

'Landmark London' pin badges which will go on sale later this month including Horniman Museum to represent Lewisham.


Is this good for Forest Hill? Yes it is.

Firstly i would like to say that i am not against the Olympics, it is a great tradition, that really gives sportsmen and women a chance to shine in their fields. I am also not against Olympics in London, it will undoubtedly provide regeneration to the host boroughs (Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest - sadly not lewisham!) through improvement of facilities and mid term employment.

However, in honour of this being an informed discussion, i wanted to reply to Michael about London tourism in 2012. I work for one of the large tourism associations, and i wanted to add comment that in fact the UK tourism industry is very worried about the effect the Olympics will have. 65% of accomodation has already been booked out by the organisors. This is because the olympics involves hundreds of athletes. each of those athletes is expected to bring a large party of trainers, managers, family etc. Also there will be a lot of press staying in London for the course of the games. These rooms are booked out already, and so far the organisors will only commit to releasing unused rooms last minute. This is something the tourism associations are lobbying against, as tour operators, who plan two years in advance, are sadly taking London out of their repertoire for that summer, as there will be nowhere for visitors to stay. By association other destination cities such as Stratford and York will also be taken out of programming.

Of course, there will be a big influx of people who are directly here for the olympics, and they will stay in those rooms, and eat in restaurants, but studies show that they do not make use of the host cities other attractions, which generate the largest tourism income.

It is a big issue that tourism associations such as ETOA, Visit London and Visit Britain, and parliament members, are working on to find ways of creating displacement, but for now it remains unsolved.

for a few more statistics have a look here http://www.morethanthegames.co.uk/summer...ct-tourism

While I agree that tourism traditionally falls during the course of the games, I would be interested to know of any statistics for the ongoing effects. I would suspect that showcasing London will generate greater tourism in future years

News from up Brockley way is that you can now register for tickets in 2011.

http://www.tickets.london2012.com

Offer only open to holders of Visa cards.

Fail.

Registration does not require any payment or visa card.
All payments to the Olympics apparently have to be by Visa rather than any other card, which seems a bit anti-competitive for the Olympics.

Pin is now available at the Horniman http://twitter.com/HornimanMuseum

That's incredible

To clarify the some of the points maderegard Olympic Tickets:

1. Registering an interest for tickets - will not guarantee you a ticket but effectively puts you on a mailing list for further information.

2. Paying for tickets - whilst the only credit, Debit and pre-paid cards accepted is Visa ("In recognition of Visa's support of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games"). You can also pay by cheque or cash.

Further details are available by the registration site, which includes a pretty good FAQ section: http://www.tickets.london2012.com