Wembley (Hansard, 18 January 2001)

§ Mr. Gardiner
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions he has had about securing the land for a warm up track at Wembley. [145836]

§ Mr. Chris Smith
Neither the Minister for Sport nor I have had any discussions about securing land for a warm-up track at Wembley. My officials recently asked the secretariat of the Wembley Task Force to update the assessment they made in 1999 on the feasibility of a warm-up facility adjacent to the stadium. WNSL have now concluded that Wembley cannot accommodate the 2005 world athletics championships.

§ Mr. Gardiner
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what discussions his Department has had with(a) Sport England and (b) Brent council about establishing a regional sports facility around the warm up track to be built for the 2005 world athletics championships at Wembley; [145742]
(2) if his discussions with Rodney Walker on 10 January included discussion of Government funding of (a) the National Stadium and (b) developments associated with it. [145832]

§ Mr. Chris Smith
The Minister for Sport and I met Sir Rodney Walker, Chairman of Wembley National Stadium Ltd., on 10 January to receive a verbal report on the progress of WNSL's review of the Wembley stadium project. At that meeting, Sir Rodney updated us on the discussions he has had with UK Athletics, Sport England, the London borough of Brent and other interested parties.340W My Department has had no discussions with Sport England, or Brent council about establishing a regional sports facility around any warm-up track were such a track to be built at Wembley.
The Government welcome WNSL's announcement ruling out the possibility of athletics returning to Wembley for the 2005 world athletics championships. This decision should bring certainty to both projects, and accords with the long-standing view of both UK athletics and the Government that Lee Valley is by far the best option for the 2005 world athletics championships and for ensuring athletics has a long-term legacy stadium and a new centre of excellence to develop future generations of world-class athletes.