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There have been mixed reactions to the news. The costs are high, there's no guarantee of winning, and perhaps most importantly, what will the long term effects be? On the other hand, redevelopment of East London is long overdue.

But does UK construction have the confidence to carry this off? The Wembley stadium project has come in for huge amounts of criticism already, and it's only a hole in the ground. Overpriced, badly planned, unwanted. It's the sort of project that gives developers (and anyone else involved) nightmares.

It isn't as though UK construction can't ever get this kind of landmark project right. Look at Manchester Stadium. Well designed and well executed, the stadium won great pr for the city and organisations involved in its creation. What lessons can we learn from past projects and carry into our Olympic bid?

Firstly the level of commitment needs to be high, and it needs to spread all the way down to grass roots level. In Manchester, the City Council has been determined to reinvent itself from grim northern town into a thriving city. And local residents have been carried along enthusiastically on this mission.

The other major point is that the Manchester stadium had a purpose beyond the few weeks of the Commonwealth Games. Its future use as a new home to Manchester City football club was assured, and was in fact designed in from the start.

If we don't want to be lumbered with another Millennium Dome, thinking beyond the Olympic Games will be crucial. Once the athletes have packed up their running shoes and gone home, will the site become a focus for Londoners, or another expensive wasteland?

So Tony and Co had better be on their toes here. No vague promises and half-hearted talk of Olympic ambitions. If the construction industry isn't to get lumbered with bad press yet again, we need to hear long term plans with a clear vision of what happens after 2012. Bidding for the Olympics isn't a sprint, it's a marathon.