0:00:00 > 0:00:01Now on BBC One, it's time for the news where you are.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18Good evening from BBC London News.
0:00:18 > 0:00:20"A catalogue of disasters" - the damning verdict of a report
0:00:20 > 0:00:22into the refurbishment of the Olympic Stadium,
0:00:22 > 0:00:27now the home of West Ham.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30The initial build for the Games cost around £400 million.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33Then there was the additional 323 million to convert it into a stadium
0:00:33 > 0:00:36suitable for football.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38Now, it's been revealed that the taxpayer could continue
0:00:38 > 0:00:40to lose up to £20 million a year.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44Our political editor, Tim Donovan, reports.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48It was the centrepiece of a successful sporting event,
0:00:48 > 0:00:52with high drama on the track and, at the time, few problems off it.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55Today, five years on, it is being used by a Premier
0:00:55 > 0:00:57League football club.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59A sporting legacy ensured.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03But the lucky tenants, West Ham, don't own the stadium.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06It was kept in public hands, with costs and liabilities
0:01:06 > 0:01:09borne by the taxpayer.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12The big headache was making athletics and football fit in one
0:01:12 > 0:01:19place, having seating you could put in and take out.
0:01:19 > 0:01:24It was Boris Johnson who sealed the West Ham deal,
0:01:24 > 0:01:28but what was first estimated to cost £190 million has
0:01:28 > 0:01:30actually cost 320 million, and the current Mayor
0:01:30 > 0:01:35blames his predecessor.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40It beggars belief, it's staggering, the numbers
0:01:40 > 0:01:42of bungled decisions made by the previous Mayor.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46A failure to properly understand the cost of transforming a stadium
0:01:46 > 0:01:48from an athletics stadium to a football stadium.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50Why should the London taxpayer be subsidising a Premier League club?
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Why should taxpayers around the country be subsidising -
0:01:53 > 0:01:55on an annual basis of up to £20 million -
0:01:55 > 0:01:56a multipurpose venue?
0:01:56 > 0:01:59That 20 million is the loss the stadium is heading for this year.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01Rather than a small annual profit promised.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03The accountants also say that West Ham should have been asked
0:02:03 > 0:02:06to pay more than the £2.5 million a year in rent.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10Their report says the former Mayor made things worse by insisting
0:02:10 > 0:02:13on Rugby World Cup games being staged here in 2015,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16delaying preparations of the stadium for football.
0:02:16 > 0:02:17Boris Johnson wouldn't say anything directly today,
0:02:17 > 0:02:20but a close ally said...
0:02:35 > 0:02:37Sentiments echoed by one of those who ran Boris Johnson's Olympic
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Legacy Organisation for a while.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42Of course the costs have been higher, but has anybody
0:02:42 > 0:02:44behaved badly about this?
0:02:44 > 0:02:45No.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47What they've tried to do, and what Boris tried to do,
0:02:47 > 0:02:49was rescue a bad situation.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53And actually, when you look at it, the turnout, the outturn of it all,
0:02:53 > 0:02:55is a very successful stadium that attracts lots of people
0:02:55 > 0:02:57and is very well used.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02With the Mayor taking over full control now,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Newham Council will not be getting back £40 million they invested.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10Of course it's regrettable that we've lost some of that money
0:03:10 > 0:03:11and we aren't getting it back.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14But actually, we always planned that this was going to be
0:03:14 > 0:03:16a regeneration project and we've got a fantastic stadium
0:03:16 > 0:03:17and a fantastic park.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19There is a visible legacy taking shape, but some
0:03:19 > 0:03:25decisions are now looking dubious, with hindsight.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27A situation, some argue, where no deal for a bit longer might
0:03:27 > 0:03:29have been better than a bad deal.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31Tim Donovan, BBC London News.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34A retired window cleaner who failed to repay nearly £300,000
0:03:34 > 0:03:36he inherited from an elderly customer has been sentenced
0:03:36 > 0:03:46to 12 months in prison.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Albert Pearce, who's 83, from Finchley, befriended
0:03:49 > 0:03:50the woman in her final years.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53A court ordered him to repay all he'd received,
0:03:53 > 0:03:54but he failed to do so.
0:03:54 > 0:03:56London's parks are increasingly hiring themselves out for private
0:03:56 > 0:03:58events like music festivals and food markets.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00And whilst that brings in much-needed revenue for councils,
0:04:00 > 0:04:05it can be frustrating for people who want to use their local park.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07We asked boroughs how often this is happening.
0:04:07 > 0:04:15Tolu Adayoye has the details.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18Well, what happens here is the massive stage is constructed.
0:04:18 > 0:04:19You can still see the damage caused.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Some of the damage the Friends of Finsbury Park have blamed
0:04:22 > 0:04:25on the staging of the Wireless music festival on the grounds.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28This is supposed to be a park path, but actually, what it's
0:04:28 > 0:04:30for is for the big trucks to bring the stage here.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33They've lost their second legal fight seeking to ban it,
0:04:33 > 0:04:35in what's been seen as a test case.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38These were the scenes two years ago which sparked some
0:04:38 > 0:04:44of the objections to the festival.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46The group say they will keep fighting to save
0:04:46 > 0:04:48the park from damage and preserve it for local people.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51There's a massive commercialisation of public parks.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53That means park-users, residents, people who normally use
0:04:53 > 0:04:59the park are pushed out.
0:04:59 > 0:05:04It's the disruption, the noise, the actual damage to the park,
0:05:04 > 0:05:07a whole range of issues that really, people say - enough is enough.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10And the number of private events in London parks is on the rise.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12It was recently announced that a brand-new festival will take place
0:05:12 > 0:05:17here in Victoria Park over two weekends next year.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21And in the years '16-'17, London parks were hired out
0:05:21 > 0:05:24for nearly 6,000 days for private events, generating more
0:05:24 > 0:05:25than £1.6 million for our councils.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27That's a rise of 200% over five years.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29The council that made the most was Haringey,
0:05:29 > 0:05:34the home of Wireless Festival.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36Is this all about making money for the council?
0:05:36 > 0:05:38Absolutely not.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41The festivals generate revenue, which is great for us,
0:05:41 > 0:05:44we get to plough money back into the park.
0:05:44 > 0:05:49But it's also one of the biggest urban
0:05:49 > 0:05:52But it's also one of the biggest urban festivals in London and it's
0:05:52 > 0:05:54great that we have a festival like this
0:05:54 > 0:05:55in the heart of our borough.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58It's fine, as long as the profits can be invested into
0:05:58 > 0:05:59the children's playground.
0:05:59 > 0:06:05If it's away from residential areas, fine.
0:06:05 > 0:06:06But not presidential areas.
0:06:06 > 0:06:07But not presidential areas.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10I can understand they bring in a lot of money but it's
0:06:10 > 0:06:12a lot of disruption, noise and mess and it
0:06:12 > 0:06:13gets overrun sometimes.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16If the money is invested in the park, a couple
0:06:16 > 0:06:17of weekends is not too bad.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19Wireless has applied to stage the festival again
0:06:19 > 0:06:20in Finsbury Park next year.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23As the number of events in parks rises, the debate over how many
0:06:23 > 0:06:29is too many looks set to continue.
0:06:29 > 0:06:30Time for me to say goodnight.
0:06:30 > 0:06:31And I'll hand you over to Sarah Keith-Lucas
0:06:35 > 0:06:39It is looking a little less cold than it has been recently. Wintry
0:06:39 > 0:06:44sunshine today, this is how we ended the day as the sun set in Colston.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48Red chilli, things turn a bit amount and there will be some sunshine on
0:06:48 > 0:06:54offer. Chilly out there. Clear spells overnight and most places
0:06:54 > 0:06:59should stay dry and it could be isolated light rain showers.
0:06:59 > 0:07:04Temperatures just above freezing in urban areas. In the countryside,
0:07:04 > 0:07:10below freezing. Frost, even the light patch of ice, as possible.
0:07:10 > 0:07:16Slightly cloudier on Saturday, and temperatures between 5-7d. Through
0:07:16 > 0:07:21the second half the weekend, a cloudy and stamps start, that cloud
0:07:21 > 0:07:24clears away towards the south leaving sunny spells by the
0:07:24 > 0:07:27afternoon and temperatures back into double figures, something we have
0:07:27 > 0:07:31not seen in a while. I will leave you with an outbreak of the weather
0:07:31 > 0:07:33in the capital and I will pursue to