woolich to host shooting events

The UK shooting community reacted angrily to the announcement on 19 March that the shooting events for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will remain at the Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich, in south-east London.

The Board agreed that feasibility work would continue into Barking Reach but only as a reserve option.

The Royal Artillery Barracks at Woolwich was the choice of venue as stated in the Candidate File during the Bid phase. Hosting the event at Woolwich allows London 2012 to deliver a “compact“ Games close to the Olympic Village. Approval has been obtained from the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the venue. A significant amount of design and detailed site assessment and consultation has been undertaken at Woolwich, and this detailed feasibility work will now continue in close cooperation with the Ministry of Defence.

The Board ruled out the choice of Bisley as the Shooting venue because of the cost, operational complexity and time risks associated with the proposals. Specific issues were:

Cost
 

• None of the existing ranges at Bisley are suitable for Olympic and Paralympic competition thus requiring new ranges to be built;
• The facilities at Bisley would require additional athlete and officials’ accommodation with the possibility of building a satellite village;

Operational complexity

• Land ownership at Bisley Camp is complex and separate agreements would need to be made with the different gun clubs who are based on the site for exclusive usage at Games-time;

Time risks

• The Bisley site lies within a greenbelt area adjacent to housing and is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and securing planning consent for this was a significant risk.

Published 4th July 2009