Glasgow's miles cleaner
It can't shock many that the budget for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow is on the way north, by £81 million.
Big ticket budgets in the public sector have a nasty habit of slipping, and by a long way.
The question for Glasgow, as for the London Olympics, is what the legacy will be after the athletes have gone home.
The plan is for a regenerated area of each city's east end, just as Manchester benefited.
That's why the athletes' village in Glasgow is being planned with a view to transforming it into permanent use as a new housing estate.
The designer specification is for flats and houses that can suit both purposes. And I'm told that the main difference between an athlete's needs and those of the average Glaswegian is their bathing requirements.
According to one of those at the heart of the plan, the village will have an unusually high number of showers in each new home.
Further comment, from me at least, is probably unwise.
Hullo, I'm Douglas Fraser, and I'm business and economy editor at ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scotland. Welcome to my blog, where you can read my take on money matters, viewed from a Scottish perspective.
Comment number 1.
At 17th Nov 2009, kaybraes wrote:If Glasgow city council run true to form, the athletes' village will be used to create a brand new slum where any of the benefit army will be proud to reside.
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Comment number 2.
At 17th Nov 2009, talkinmince wrote:I stayed in Manchester at the time of the games and as far as I can see there was no lasting legacy for the people of the city just a lot of painted billboards covering up unwanted eyesores Glasgow has to make sure that they deliver the promises they made at the beginning.
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Comment number 3.
At 17th Nov 2009, RMcGeddon wrote:The only hope for the athletes village after the games would be to sell the accomodation off to private buyers. Any use for social housing will turn it into a Gaza lookalike within weeks. The more we pander to the underclass the worse they get.
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