Olympics minister to review shooting venues

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Olympics minister, Tessa Jowel,l has announced a top-level review of the current proposed Olympic venue for shooting at Woolwich Barracks.

By Selena Masson, Shooting Times

Wednesday, 03 September 2008

Following the Beijing Games, Tessa Jowell has commissioned a top-level report investigating the feasibility of holding the Olympic shooting at Woolwich Barracks.

Two weeks after the end of the Beijing Games, the Olympics minister Tessa Jowell has announced a top-level review of three controversial Olympic venues, including the proposed shooting venue, at the Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich, and the equestrian venue at Greenwich Park.

Shooters hope this will lead to a better legacy for the sport by switching the venue to the National Shooting Centre at Bisley.

Ms Jowell told the Evening Standard the review is expected to last several months: "We have commissioned KPMG to do a report on the equestrian, shooting and basketball venues, looking at whether the Olympic experience and the legacy they will provide represents value for money."

Ms Jowell added: "When you take the costs for these venues, it seems like a lot of money to a lot of people. It is a sort of testing-to-destruction to see whether that spending can be justified."

This news comes as a petition launched last December, calling for a change to the shooting venue, has attracted more than 11,000 signatories.

“This news is extremely welcome, but it is early days,” said petition organiser, Nicola Heron, a member of the British Helice team.

She added: “Bisley should be looked at again. It is, after all, where the press states that many of the shooting athletes will train when based at Aldershot."

The rest of this article appears in 4 September issue of Shooting Times.