Publication of the planning application for Greenwich  Park’s Olympic equestrian facilities finally reveals that  a major hurdle remains to be jumped, despite the “final” endorsements of the site by KPMG et seq last year . 

LOCOG executives Tim Hadaway and David Luckes made light of the Borough planning process at last month’s General Assembly of the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) in Copenhagen, and saw no need to be drawn into discussing alternatives, should the application fail.

However, the document now available on-line belies such easy dismissal. The weight virtual tome indicates that, not surprisingly, a major consultation exercise has already been untaken to make the project as palatable as possible. Even the consultees that LOCOG  feels happy to quote  seem to hedge their bets. English Heritage is only “unlikely” to oppose the application subject to ongoing dialogue.

Planning controls can be waived for facilities that are only in place for 28 days. However, although the equestrian infrastructure will be stripped out immediately after the Games, some of it has to service the test event in 2011 and  the later Paralympic Games. Thus the application theoretically should be considered against Council policy for permanent development and in many regards - accessibility to open space and generation of local employment - there is huge conflict. 

There’s the rub. Borough planners and councillors probably feel overwhelming pressure to wagon this application through,  but what price could they pay? In future residents seeking consent for controversial developments could cheerfully cite ample precedent for breaching the “Unitary Development Plan.”

Received wisdom is that Olympics are a special case, but a former planning guru with significant experience of major equine build  told me its not that simple. Exceptions should only be made if there is a planning reason, a completely separate can of worms to “lawful” usages that have exercised opponents thus far.

"Anything involving the Olympics tends to seduce otherwise sensible people," he told me."And the Council might think that the kudos of having an Olympic venue would be worth overriding policy. I don’t think that would be a good enough reason –‘material considerations’ have to be relevant to planning."

In any other circumstance such a project might  warrant a call-in by the Secretary of State – but even those who have criticised to Greenwich on grounds of physical legacy (there is none) and  space (not enough) know such a delay would imperil attempts to mobilise any "Plan B," never mind the venue of  choice.

Proximity to the Olympic Village was a prime reason for selecting Greenwich. It was also critical to calm IOC angst about the inordinate cost of staging equestrianism which is why London pursued the "temporary" option. The British Equestrian Federation’s feasibility study in 2003 suggested a modest budget of £6 million. The cost has now soared to a level LOCOG won’t discuss and no-one was baulking when guesstimates of £23 million did the rounds earlier this year.

It is true that wanton overspend in Athens made both the IOC and subsequent host cities twitchy. The Greeks lavished more than £120 million on a permanent horse park with two stadia and marble everywhere. Afterwards some of it was absorbed by the adjacent racecourse, but it never had a chance of paying its way in a country with a domestic horse population of 1,500  (Britain has  over 800,000).

However, those who cite the Athens as an argument against a London purpose-build  forget that  Sydney got theirs for £40 million, and it remains in active use.

Britain is one of the few horse nations that would have justified such a physical legacy. Some would dispute the requirement, given the history of private benefactors in providing the jewels of the UK calendar. But many venues in the supporting tier could have been transformed for a droplet of the tens of millions being squandered on Greenwich.

It’s always easier to waste money when you haven’t had to generate it yourself but it’s is now far too late to build somewhere brand new. So what are the options if planning hits a snag?

Badminton and Burghley tend to be championed by non-equestrians who don’t realise that these annual three-day events also function using “temporary” infrastructure. They are no more suited to hosting an Olympic Park – which caters for multiple equestrian disciplines over a much longer time span - than Glastonbury is equipped to take on the concert schedule of the O2. Neither were considered at bid stage, being too far from London.

This leaves two do-able fallbacks.  Windsor, with a Castle backdrop, hosted two of Olympic disciplines – dressage and show jumping – at European level this year.  The event was a financial disaster for reasons not associated with its superb horse facilities. The Queen's back garden is annually used for Royal Windsor Horse Show and the show site was relocated four years ago to enable the installation of permanent “Ecotrack” riding surfaces  – planning permission was  a consideration here, too. Some find it hard to believe that all this expense was entertained merely for an annual five-day show and military Tattoo.

On the down side, the three-day event in Windsor Great Park went bust years ago. Riders disliked the footing and if Windsor is on secret standby for 2012, tomorrow is not soon enough to apply some TLC to any cross-country route.

There  would be huge public support for the use of Hickstead, all the more so because its visionary founder Douglas Bunn died in June.  Bunn was often at odds with the equestrian Establishment – people who makes things happen usually are - but he subsidised British show jumping for the best part of 50 years and it would be a fitting reward.

It will be a leviathan task to make an informed decision by March – with only a year and a bit before the test event to go.

Families of Greenwich councillors will do well to omit the latest Dan Brown from their Christmas stockings. They have some altogether more serious reading to do.

Pippa Cuckson is the equestrian correspondent of The Daily Telegraph and one of the most respected commentators on equestrian sport. She was the deputy editor of Horse & Hound for many years and now regularly contributes to Chronicle of the Horse, Horse International and Country Life.