A LEADING firm and the Borough Council are going for gold by selling Basingstoke as an attractive venue for teams who will be involved in the London Olympics in 2012.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and consultancy firm Scott Wilson have teamed up to get the message across to international sports teams around the globe that Basingstoke has all they could want for their training and accommodation needs in the run-up to the competition.

The partners are promoting Basingstoke as an ideal location for an Olympics base, since they say it has excellent sports facilities, is 45 minutes by train from London Waterloo, 40 miles from Heathrow airport and just 55 miles from the Olympic Village.

Gill Smith, environment manager at Scott Wilson, based at Basing View, said: "Basingstoke is ideal - you couldn't get any better in terms of location. It's the place to be."

She added that despite being so close to the Olympic Village, many competitors preferred not to stay there during their entire stay - apart from the night before they take part in the Games - as training and living alongside their competitors can affect their focus.

Mrs Smith hopes that encouraging teams to the town will have huge benefits for the economy, will create more interest in sports and bring a feelgood factor to the community.

"We want to get the momentum going and create a great sense of community involvement," she said. "We want to raise Basingstoke's profile and make it a better place."

She also said that Basingstoke has some of the best equestrian facilities in the world, is close to the rifle ranging event at Bisley and fills the training requirements for many of the teams competing in the Olympics.

Councillor Brian Gurden, deputy leader of the council, said building training and holding bases would not actually cost anything because their construction can coincide with the council's housing targets.

He said: "We know a stable number of houses are going to be built each year already, so let's make it so that in six years some can be used by the teams, then go into private ownership, for rent or housing associations."

Both organisations are working together to produce flyers, leaflets and a website showing all that Basingstoke has to offer, which they are hoping to complete early next year - but they also want more people to help.

Mrs Smith said: "We need everyone - companies, individuals, schools. Anyone who wants to advertise their company on the site, or who can translate languages on our leaflets, or who has any ideas on taking this forward and wants to join our meetings. I want to emphasise, it's not just about us - it's about the whole community."

Anyone wishing to be involved can contact Mrs Smith on gill.smith@scottwilson.com

First published: Monday, October 17, 2005