Sally Gunnell speaks of sadness over scuppered caravan park plans

by Chris Jefferies
Former Olympic hurdler Sally Gunnell has spoken of her disappointment at the decision by the Caravan Club to drop her plans for a giant Olympic caravan park in Chigwell.
Sally had planned to set up a temporary site for the London Olympics on land owned by her parents, but despite a stipulation that the land would only be used for six weeks, she faced stern opposition from local residents.
“They 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 going to do it again, even though it was just a one-off,” the former athlete told the Daily Telegraph.
The Caravan Club took the decision to drop its support for the project in May after the local council received 600 letters of objection. The Club said that it had never seen such vociferous opposition to a caravan park in its 104-year history.
Sally added that it was “very sad” that the plans had fallen through, saying that many of the people who had expressed an interest in staying on the site were Olympics volunteers.
Meanwhile, the Caravan Club has said that it will be continuing its search for a suitable site close to the Olympic Park at Stratford, so its members can hitch up close to the action.