The Rolls Park pavilion rebuild is allegedly ‘no closer’ to fruition despite being promised since 2021 as ‘disappointed’ cricket club fears it is losing players, reports Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter

The Rolls Park pavilion, Credit: West Essex Sports Club

A Highams Park sports club has expressed fears over its long-term ability to retain players as it awaits a long-promised rebuild of its clubhouse.

The Rolls Park pavilion, used by West Essex Sports Club, has been closed since September 2020, after issues with heave and subsidence were identified.

The ground is still used for football and cricket matches, but there is no communal area for players and families.

The club is run entirely by volunteers, who rent the facility from Waltham Forest Council.

The council secured an insurance settlement of almost £1.2million in late 2023 – two years after the insurers confirmed it would be demolished and rebuilt. That figure far exceeded the insured amount of £502,393, the council says.

A preliminary timetable indicated the rebuild would take six months, from June until December 2024, but the council has since proposed a much smaller clubhouse after identifying a Thames Water main.

The new clubhouse is around a third of the size that was previously agreed, which has led to disappointment and concern from club officials and opposition councillors.

Management committee chair Tony McNally said it had been a “long-winded, frustrating and arduous” process.

He said the club had been “delighted” the insurers’ offer for a like-for-like rebuild. However, the newly proposed 133sqm venue will not meet the club’s needs, he said.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “The real sad thing is that a community club has now seen something like six years of players without a home or proper changing facilities or toilets.

“We’ve started to lose players, because they’re going places where there are better facilities.”

Conservative councillor John Moss said the group was “very worried” that one of the borough’s oldest sports clubs “could be in danger of closing due to the actions of the council”.

The Labour-run council says “significant issues” with cost inflation, among other factors, means the agreed plans would exceed the original budget.

It is now undertaking a cost review, Rosalind Doré, the cabinet member for sports, added.

Around 500 people attend the club every weekend, with about 300 youngsters taking part. The maximum footfall used to be around 700 for football matches, and 300 for cricket.

The vast majority of members live within two miles of the ground, which means local children and adults are “being deprived of an opportunity to enjoy sport and everything that goes with it,” Tony added.

Additionally, being unable to sell teas and coffees meant the club could not “progress further,” he said.

Cllr Doré said it would “engage closely” with the club to “bring forward a viable new pavilion”.

She continued: “Unfortunately, increased costs caused by significant issues with the geological conditions, nearby public utilities and build cost inflation have exceeded the existing budget of the proposed new pavilion design as agreed by the club.

“The council is undertaking a cost review and will continue to work closely with stakeholders in finding a solution.”

In the meantime, the club had been given access to other on-site changing rooms and toilets. Tony said it “got us out of a hole” but was “not ideal”.

Cllr Moss said: “The council was too quick to agree a final settlement from the insurers. Then they spent too much on an inappropriate design, without consulting the people who use it, and which they now cannot build.

“The design is now a third of the original size and yet it is still over-budget and double the estimate for the larger building.”

He added that the Tories had asked numerous questions of the council but had been “stonewalled at every turn”.

No date has been put forward for when the new clubhouse could be built.

Editor’s Note (27/03): This article was updated to include a new headline and opening paragraph that better reflects concerns expressed by the sports club.

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