Plans have been submitted to demolish a leisure building in Hucknall to make way for updated facilities for the existing football club.
Applicant Robert Orgill, at Rolls Royce PLC, applied to Ashfield District Council on Tuesday (November 4) to demolish The Engine Rooms, a sports a leisure facility, at Watnall Road Aerodrome, Hucknall, to make way for a new facility for Hucknall Sports Youth Football Club.
The Engine Rooms, formerly Rolls-Royce Leisure, acted as a community venue for occasion bookings and included a gym. The fitness centre was permanently closed from July 22, 2024.
During World War One, an aerodrome was developed next to the site but this was partially sold off to a farmer after the war. RAF Hucknall occupied the area during World War Two.
Rolls-Royce took over part of the site for the testing and development of aircraft engines and made sports facilities for the workforce at the time – this later ended up being used more by the local community.
The football club uses the spot as their base after moving from Papplewick Green, with two 11v11 pitches, one 9v9 pitch, one 7v7 pitch and one 5v5 pitch at the site. It provides toilets and two small changing rooms for the club.
The planned demolition of The Engine Rooms comes as Rolls-Royce “no longer has a presence in the local area” and the need for the club to have new facilities, according to plans.
A planning document states the condition of the existing facilities is “basic” and it needs updating to “meet modern standards”.
The plan is to build a new single-storey ‘modular’ building that will offer changing spaces, toilets and support spaces for the football club.
Documents say Rolls-Royce has agreed to “assist in the long-term development” of the site by providing the initial single-storey building, which the club can go on to increase to meet the site’s capacity and needs.
They continue: “Further development of the site will be [next to] the proposed modular building and on the site of the previous sports building which will be dealt with separately.”
Plans will be decided by the council at a later stage.
