West Ham will prevent Olympic Stadium becoming a 'dust bowl' - Mayor Boris Johnson happy to approve Hammers bid

Posted Friday, March 04, 2011 by Dailystar.co.uk

West Ham will prevent Olympic Stadium becoming a 'dust bowl' - Mayor Boris Johnson happy to approve Hammers bid
Approving the bid: London Mayor Boris Johnson

Local government minister Bob Neill confirmed that he and sports/Olympics minister Hugh Robertson had both approved the recommendation.
Neill said: 'This completes the first stage of this process and means that the Olympic Park Legacy Company are now able to enter into negotiations with the consortium comprising West Ham and the London Borough of Newham to agree a lease for the Olympic Stadium site on terms that are acceptable to Government and the Mayor of London and provide value for money to the public sector.

'We are delighted with the progress that has been made and very pleased we have reached this very significant milestone in determining the long-term legacy for the Olympic Park following the Games.'

Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn insisted the approval puts his club 'out of business.'

He told talkSPORT: 'It's savage news, very disappointing. No one, in or outside the government, has asked one single question about how this will affect Leyton Orient. The news that they’ve rubber stamped it without asking anything is staggering to me.

'I don’t think that the due process has been followed. There is a Premier League rule and a football league rule in black and white, which says quite clearly that they will not a sanction the move of a club nearer to another club if it has an adverse effect on the resident club. I think this puts us out of business.'

Hearn added that he would seriously consider legal action. He said: 'We have to take legal action. We have to defend ourselves. I’ve got to consider both judicial review and legal action against the Premier League. We’ve got the top judicial review lawyers in the country and if they recommend a judicial review then we have no choice.'

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