A campaign group is calling for London’s first organic golf course to help declining numbers of bees in place of a proposed camping site.

Save Lea Marshes (SLM)want Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA) to turn the WaterWorks site into a chemical-free course rather than the campsite they have planned which targets visitors to the Olympic Park.

The campsite is to be on the site of the out-of-use pitch and putt golf course.

The group claims the area, adjacent to Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, can be maintained as an affordable golfing venue and at the same time improve the area’s green credentials.

Caroline Day of SLM said: “It has been really wonderful to walk round the former golf course and see such biodiversity.

“In setting up a 9-hole affordable golf course the LVRPA have the opportunity to protect the openness of the Metropolitan Open Land, offer local people affordable sporting activity and make use of the land without harming its importance for plant species and as a wildlife corridor along the River Lea.

“We need to encourage bee-friendly flowers and this can easily be done as part of a successful organic golf course.”

A group spokeswoman said cars, caravans and trailers will cover the 20 acre site and LVRPA plan to build shower and toilet blocks as well as other built facilities to be used by visitors from outside the area.

She added that since its closure as a golfing destination the area has been popular with walkers who have appreciated the wildflowers and wildlife that have sprung up in the absence of the usual mowing regime and pesticide treatment.

Charlie Charman of SLM said: “The present peaceful grassland site will be damaged by hundreds of vehicles and intensive camping occupation.”

The alternative plan is supported by a number of nature organisations including River of Flowers, Pesticides Action Network, Waltham Forest Friends of the Earth and Project Maya.

Nick Mole from Pesticides Action Network said: “Here is a great opportunity for the LVRPA to adopt a really forward thinking plan that will establish habitat for bees and other pollinator species that are facing sharp declines throughout the UK.

“By creating an organic golf course the LVRPA will be able to claim with justification that it takes London’s wild spaces and biodiversity protection seriously.”

The council’s planning committee is set to meet on July 2.