NEIGHBOURS of a campsite being set up during the Olympics are fighting plans for alcohol to be sold to visitors there.
Tickets are on sale for the site near Theydon Bois station and organisers about 150 tents will be pitched by Games spectators and staff.
Organisers have now made a bid to sell alcohol at the site, which is on Green Belt across the railway line from the village, from 8am to 10pm, which has led to fears that campers will be noisy and would mean the campsite would not benefit nearby businesses.
Frank Sparks, 68, of Forest Drive, near the campsite, said: “I would think drink would lead to disturbance, because there will be late-night drinking and loud music.
“I just feel it would lead to partying and noise.”
Jennifer Cresswell, 70, of Forest Drive, said: “We’ve got pubs here. If they want to camp here, they should join the community. “That would be good for business as well and would allow the campers to intermingle.”
Her neighbour John Crawley, 66, said: “People won’t come into Theydon Bois if they can get drink there.”
The Theydon Bois Action Group urged residents to write to MP Eleanor Laing when details of the campsite first emerged and plan to write to Epping Forest District Council objecting to the sale of alcohol there.
Chairman Dave McKelvey said the fact that portable buildings were still on the Green Belt land more than three years after an enforcement notice was issued against its owner, Parkeng Ltd, and occupier, James Harris, was worrying.
“Alcohol is a worry - we don't know what they want to do on that land,” he added. “There's an awful lot of concern.”
George Dilloway, one of the campsite’s organisers, who submitted plans for a car park on the land in 2009, denied the sale of alcohol would cause more noise.
“It’s just for an amenity, rather than big parties,” he added. “The majority of the people staying there – about 70 per cent – are people working at the Games.”
He added that vouchers for the bakery, The Bull pub and the laundrette in the village would be given to campers to encourage them to use local businesses.
He said the alcohol would be sold from a temporary shop inside a gazebo, to cater for the 150 or so campers expected.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article