Steve Lawrence, who helped mastermind the build of the Olympic Stadium, is unveiled as the anonymous source who blocked the Hammers ownership proposal
Olympic Stadium architect Steve Lawrence has confessed that he was the man that ended West Ham's controversial proposal to occupy the venue.The government had originally granted West Ham tenancy of the stadium, but this was opposed by both Tottenham and Leyton Orient on the grounds that it would damage them financially.
The deal later collapsed after an anonymous complaint was made to the government, an objection now revealed to have been made by Lawrence.
He claimed to have been frustrated with how the situation was being dealt with and feels that the government used his complaint as a way to get themselves out of a difficult position.
Lawrence said: "I identified the problem very early on at the beginning of 2011. If it had been dealt with properly and had they listened I wouldn't have needed to make the complaint because they would have been dealing with the issue.
"My feeling is that they used the complaint as an excuse for pulling out in advance of the judicial review (with Spurs and Leyton Orient) as they knew they (the government) were going to lose."
However, Lawrence stressed that he was not against the stadium being used as a football ground and wanted there to be a legacy after the Olympic Games.
He added: "I felt that this [the procedure] could bring about great change and I saw this process turning into a debacle.
"My recommendation is to take a step back, take a good look at it and then I think we can wind up with a genuine legacy."
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