The Rolls Park pavilion, used by West Essex Sports Club, has been closed since September 2020 owing to subsidence concerns, reports Marco Marcelline

Rolls Park sports pavilion, Credit: West Essex Sports Club

Waltham Forest Council has announced it is to fund the promised rebuild of a sinking clubhouse in Rolls Park – nearly six years after it was first shut.

In a joint statement released on social media, councillors Rosalind Doré and Ahsan Khan said funds had been secured from the council’s capital programme combined with an insurance settlement from the previous facility.

The Rolls Park pavilion, used by West Essex Sports Club, has been closed since September 2020 owing to subsidence concerns.

Through sucking up moisture in the soil, nearby trees had made the soil beneath the building’s foundation unstable, causing it to sink into the ground.

In late 2023, the council announced it would use a £1.17m insurance award payout to tear down and replace the sports pavilion.

At the time, the council had aimed to deliver the new pavilion before 2025, with work starting on the site in June 2024.

However, the project was delayed and then scaled down to just a third of its original size after the council ran into build cost-inflation and identified difficult geological conditions and a Thames Water main near the pavilion.

The move prompted harsh criticism from the West Essex Sports Club who were dismayed by the delay, saying the lack of a proper clubhouse was severely limiting the club’s appeal to new members.

But in a surprise announcement this week, Cllr Doré and Cllr Khan said the council had committed fresh funding to the project.

They said: “The clubhouse will serve the hundreds of members of the West Essex Cricket and Football Club, based in Rolls Park, and the project will be developed in close collaboration with club members.

“This work will build on the council’s successful opening of the neighbouring Rolls Park Sports Ground in 2025, a government-funded project which added a new Airhall, allowing tennis to be played year-round, and six resurfaced tennis courts as the council continues to invest in improving sports and leisure facilities in the area.

“Once the programme of works has been created, a timeline for development of the project will be published.”

Management committee chair Tony McNally told the Echo that the committee was “delighted” that the council had “finally” found funds to rebuild the clubhouse.

He said: “We have been offering sport to Waltham Forest residents for over 100 years and look forward to working with the council to deliver a facility that will allow us to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.”

While updated design plans have not yet been revealed, previously promised plans for the clubhouse included a new club room, the introduction of disabled access toilets and changing facilities for men and women, and the allocation of use of the building for community activities and events.

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