Barking Rugby club is to be used as a camp site during the Olympics

Campsite at Barking Rugby Club will welcome Olympics visitors

Sukran Sahin, Senior Reporter Tuesday, May 29, 2012
2:19 PM

Temporary camping pitches will offer cheap accommodation for Olympic visitors this summer while raising funds for a rugby club.

Barking Rugby Club in Gale Street will provide 300 tent pitches for 500 to 700 volunteers or sports enthusiasts who wish to attend the Games but cannot afford inflated hotel prices.

The club teamed up with outdoor leisure company Camping at the Games, which unveiled the plan last week, announcing that Barking was the tenth site in and around the capital.

Terry Marner, club chairman, said: “Though we are a professional club, we still rely heavily on fundraising events like this.

“We are all very excited about the forthcoming Games and welcome the opportunity to get even more involved and to invite ticket holders and volunteers to our clubhouse.

“We have a huge youth and grassroots set up and plan to continue this legacy for English rugby and the local community for years to come.”

It is not only Games ticket holders who will be able to camp at the site. Visitors to London who may not have been able to find affordable accommodation during the Games in July and August will also be welcome.

Unlike the Westlands Playing Fields site, which is being turned in to an Olympic campsite across the border in Havering, it is not situated near residential buildings and proximity to the A13 eases concerns about traffic congestion.

Last year the Post reported how residents from both Havering and Barking and Dagenham vented their anger at Havering Council’s decision to allow a camping site at a school playing field at London Road in Romford without consulting residents who could be affected by noise and traffic congestion.

More than 400 residents signed a petition opposing the plans, which Dagenham and Rainham MP Jon Cruddas called “ill thought-out”.

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