The Olympic Board confirmed at its meeting today (19th March) that Shooting for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will remain at the Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich, south-east London.
As announced last year, following the publication of a feasibility report, over the last three months the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has been carrying out feasibility work on the National Shooting Centre in Bisley to consider it as a possible alternative site.
The ODA has also carried out feasibility work looking at Barking Reach, vacant land that was formally the site of Barking Reach Power Station in east London.
This work is now completed and the Olympic Board discussed the results today. The Board decided that Shooting should remain at Woolwich and a planning application will be submitted for the venue.
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.
Tessa Jowell, Minister for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, said: 'Today’s decision confirms that the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Shooting events will take place at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, allowing us to deliver the compact Games that we promised in 2005. I would like to thank the teams from Barking and Bisley for their cooperation throughout the review process.'
Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee said: 'The ODA has conducted a thorough review process of all three locations. However, the Board still feels that Woolwich is the best choice of venue. It is an iconic venue close to the Olympic Village, with a strong Shooting heritage, and is one of the Greenwich cluster of Olympic and Paralympic venues. We will now work closely with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and all interested parties to ensure all arrangements are in place for a first class venue for Shooting.'
Horst Schreiber, Secretary General of the ISSF said: 'We are delighted that Woolwich has been selected as the Shooting venue for 2012. The ISSF is in full support of the selected venue and we believe that the Royal Artillery Barracks will host a stunning event. It is a more appropriate venue than Bisley that meets all our requirements and allows our athletes to stay in the Olympic Village, reducing their travel time each day and bringing together athletes from all sports. We look forward to working with LOCOG and all parties in developing detailed plans.'
An Army spokesman said, 'Woolwich Barracks is an historic Defence location and the MoD is working closely with the London 2012 Olympic organisers to enable the shooting events to take place there. We are confident that together we can provide a first class venue with minimal disruption to military duties, Army personnel and their families.'
– Ends –
Note to Editors:
The Olympic Board is made up of Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell, Mayor of London Boris Johnson, London 2012 Organising Committee Chairman Sebastian Coe and British Olympic Association Chairman Colin Moynihan
Shooting event facts
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As it heads towards its £2bn budget for staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games, LOCOG now has seven domestic Tier One Partners - adidas, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF Energy, Lloyds TSB and Nortel. There are three domestic Tier Two Supporters – Adecco, Cadbury and Deloitte. There are five domestic Tier Three Suppliers and Providers – Airwave, Atkins, Boston Consulting Group, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP and Trident.
The Worldwide Olympic Partners already signed up for 2012 are Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos Origin, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Samsung and Visa.
