Legacy benefits to Gold Coast of 2018 Commonwealth Games will be huge, says city’s Mayor

 (IDG) - Gold Coast mayor Ron Clarke is emphasising the potential legacy benefits to the Australian city of hosting the 2018 Commonwealth Games, with less than a month to go until the vote on where the competition is to be staged.

The Gold Coast is bidding against Hambantota, in Sri Lanka, for the right to stage the event and the 71 Commonwealth nations and territories will cast their votes at the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) General Assembly, in St Kitts and Nevis, on 11 November.

Hambantota was praised earlier this year by the CGF evaluation commission for being “visionary, exciting and unique” because they have put major emphasis on legacy.

They are planning to build a futuristic Sports City for the competition in what would be one of the most compact Commonwealth Games concept designs ever developed.

Namal Rajapaksa, MP for the Hambantota district and son of Sri Lanka’s President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, claimed the Games could generate up to $8 billion (£5 billion) for the economy and create around 100,000 jobs in the region.

However, the Gold Coast Mayor says CGF delegates must remember there would also be huge legacy benefits for his city if it was to host the 2018 Games.