Work Begins On 2014 Games Venue

Construction work is set to begin on the Barry Buddon site in preparation for next year's Commonwealth Games, Glasgow 2014 has confirmed.

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) and the Glasgow 2014 Organising Committee are working together to ensure that Barry Buddon in Carnoustie will host Shooting at the Games.The venue in Carnoustie would host all elements of the Shooting competition, including clay target, full bore, pistol and small bore events.

DIO is the property and services provider of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and manages Barry Buddon Training Centre; and it is understood that how the site is to be used before, during and after the games period, will take into account the MOD's operational requirements and the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) status. The site is an EU Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a Special Protection Area (SPA) for birds under the European Birds Directive.

In a statement, Glasgow 2014 described the Barry Buddon site as covering 2,600 acres (950 hectares) and is primarily an infantry training area, consisting of accommodation for 500 persons, 21 ranges capable of supporting small arms, heavy machine gun and medium mortars. Earlier this year, a planning application to create additional temporary ranges at Barry Buddon was approved by Angus Council. These ranges will remain fully operational to military users until much closer to the Games.

Commenting on the news, Glasgow 2014 Chief Executive, David Grevemberg, said: "We are pleased to have concluded negotiations for the use of Barry Buddon and are grateful to the Ministry of Defence for their support of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

"Barry Buddon will be a world-class venue for the Shooting competition at the Games and represents an opportunity for those outside of Glasgow to be part of the celebrations."

Maj (Retd) Kim Torp-Petersen, Deputy Commander DIO Ops Training Scotland added: "DIO's priority is to support our Armed Forces as they prepare for operations. In parallel with our day-to-day Defence work, it has taken a lot of hard work for the DIO Ops Training team and the LMS team here in Scotland to reach this point.

"We're proud to be able to offer our facilities to support the 2014 Commonwealth Games and we look forward to welcoming the competitors to Barry Buddon.

"There is a lot of work to be done between now and the summer to get the site ready for the Games but we're confident that working together with Glasgow 2014 we will achieve our target."

(JP/CD)