HAVERING is the seventh London area to be granted official Olympic borough status - following a two-year campaign by a local businessman.
The deal was sealed on Thursday afternoon (January 14), after Havering Council submitted proposals to the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG).
Paul Harris, owner of Harefield Manor, in Main Road, Romford, spearheaded the campaign said it would “put Havering on the map” in time for the Games in 2012.
“This is massive,” added Paul. “There will be 10-12 million visitors from all over the world and we hope to attract them to our borough – to shop, stay and relax.
“We are seven minutes from Stratford by fast train; we are one of the greenest boroughs in the capital and we have three great shopping areas – it makes sense for us to have closer affiliation with the Olympics.”
The campaign – backed by Harefield Manor Hotel, the Romford Recorder, McDonalds, Havering Council and Lloyds TSB – next hopes to attract a foreign team to train in the borough.
The other Olympic boroughs are: Barking and Dagenham, Hackney, Newham, Waltham Forest, Greenwich and Tower Hamlets.
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