Will the Mayor of London back Bisley for the Olympics?
Shooters are hoping Boris Johnson’s announcement – that he intends to set up an Olympic legacy quango – could lead to a review of the current controversial Olympic shooting venue.
Last week, the Mayor of London criticised London Olympics chiefs for failing to come up with a ‘legacy masterplan’ for the 2012 Games and condemned senior figures for not considering all the available options.
Britain’s shooting community is dismayed the Olympic shooting events are currently scheduled to be held at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, which will leave little lasting legacy for the sport.
As a result, shooters have been lobbying for it to be moved to the better suited 2002 Commonwealth Games facilities at the National Shooting Centre, at Bisley, in Surrey.
“There’s no point in sinking all of this money into East London unless it is going to produce a long-term return,” Mr Johnson said last week, speaking ahead of an imminent report by his Olympics adviser David Ross, which will examine the budget for the Games.
He added: “What we need is to have a complete overview of what we are trying to achieve on the Olympic site and what, in the long term, this is really all about. So far, there’s absolutely no sign of what you call a legacy masterplan. There’s no sign of anybody who has looked at this and said, “Right, this is going to be London’s Hyde Park of the East, this is going to be a university site. No-one has taken it and said this is the future.”
To add your name to the e-petition against siting the Olympic shooting events at Woolwich, visit http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/OlympicShooting/
The rest of this article appears in 19 June issue of Shooting Times.
