Gunnell shocked at NIMBY response to Olympic caravan club

[divingbrit]

Sally Gunnell's Olympic plans met with firm resistance from neighbours

Sally Gunnell, the 1992 Olympic 400 metres hurdles champion, says she has been saddened by the furious backlash from her former Essex neighbours that forced her to shelve plans to turn her parents’ farm in Chigwell into a temporary caravan site during the London Olympics.

Gunnell had teamed up with the Caravan Club to open the farm up to 1,300 caravans for the duration of the Games, offering fans and volunteers a cheap accommodation option in an ideal location just six miles from the Olympic Park in Stratford.

But the plans provoked an angry outcry from residents, with 600 letters of protest being received by the local council and threats of legal action being taken against the Caravan Club on the grounds of noise and increased traffic.

Gunnell, who now lives in Sussex but whose parents still run the farm, said she was staggered that what was only intended to be a temporary site had caused such fury among locals. She had intended to live on-site herself during the Games.

“What was really sad was that most of the people who had already booked were all the volunteers for the Games. It was only temporary. That’s what I couldn’t work out,” she said.

“They [local residents] said they didn’t want it because they were going on about the noise and they thought it was going to get travellers in and they thought we were gong to do it again, even though it was just a one-off.”

The Caravan Club, which is still looking for an alternative site, said it had never encountered such fierce opposition in its 104-year history.

In a statement, it said: “The Club wanted to enable its members to be close to the venues, to visit the Games and to celebrate this once-in-a-lifetime event. It was never an intention to repeat this exercise and host future temporary sites on the venue.

“It became apparent that many Chigwell residents were in opposition to the plans for the temporary site. It was never the intention of the Club to cause such concern to residents and the Club was surprised and saddened by the depth of sentiment.”

Following the protests at the recent Olympic equestrian test event by members of NOGOE (No To Greenwich Olympic Equestrian Events), it would seem London 2012 is fast tuning into the NIMBY Games.

Telegraph.co.uk (blog)