Vox pop – The 2012 Olympics: good for Cardiff?

Opinions from the public: 

Bastian Christ:

“I’d say any event of such a scale can only have a positive benefit and the chance of getting mentioned on national, and of course international, news is fantastic. It’s important to fill that blank spot, to associate something positive and something memorable with Cardiff, so, definitely, fantastic.”

Zara, 50, from Lancaster, studying for a doctorate in Cardiff:

“I think it’ll bring in money. It’ll also bring in international people. That might be economically quite viable for Cardiff. [It could mean] recognition of where Cardiff actually is! You ask anybody abroad where Cardiff is and it’s “where’s Wales?” so it…puts it on the map a little bit.

Keith Jones, retired:

“It might do a bit for Cardiff, but on the whole for Wales I don’t think it’s going to do anything. With all the money that’s required for public health, schools, things like that, I think it should be spent more…where it’ll do good. I know sport is good, but I think health and schools come first. I think the money would be better spent on everyday life rather than sport.” 

Shelley, 27, psychologist from Cardiff, and Sarah, 28, also a psychologist:

Shelly: “I think it would probably bring in quite a bit of tourism, especially down to the Bay. We might a few more new restaurants, new hotels…”

Sarah: “I think the traffic will probably get worse; it’s already quite bad going back over the bridge.”

Shelly: “I don’t know if it will hugely impact it, we’ve already held quite a few big games in the stadium.”

Sarah: “I bet bars will whack up prices- drinking will be more expensive.” 

Rob Hopes, retired, from the West Country:

“It’ll help a lot with tourism. You’re bound to get people coming to watch whatever events they’re going to stage in Cardiff, that’ll all help, so it’ll bring money into the area. [And it] makes employment.”

John Pearce:

“I’m disappointed that it isn’t going to have a bigger impact, I mean it’s great that we’ve got the women’s football in the Millennium Stadium, it’ll be great for the city, but it’s just a shame that this obsession with the Olympics being city-based just stops the opportunity for the regeneration opportunities to be nationwide. We could be contributing just so much more and getting so much more out of it.”

Idris Harries, retired, from Pen-Y-Lan:

“I would rather have seen the men’s football played there as well. With all due respect to the ladies, there’s not much interest I wouldn’t have thought. I thought we would have had one of the top events, with the Millennium Stadium and everything, the new white water rafting thing over the Bay, and we had the ladies’ football. I feel we’re let down. But there we are, one day our turn’ll come and we’ll let the English have the ladies’ football! At Wembley!”