Football club gets a booster after temporary club house plan is passed

There were no public objections to the plans at Butler Sports Centre, at Bowens Field, Wem, and the town's council was all in favour of the replacement facility.

After running the rule over planning policies, Shropshire Council's officials rubber-stamped the plans.

They were told the idea is to have the temporary buildings for five years to give them a chance to fundraise for something more permanent again.

The planners were told that the previous Wem Sports & Social Club, which was a club house for the football team, was demolished in 2021.

Five modular buildings will be joined together to provide a building measuring approximately 9.8 metres wide by 15.3 metres long to a height of 3.2 metres.

It will have a large open-plan function room with bar, a small kitchen, toilets and a store. A decking area will be provided to the rear which will measure 9.8 metres wide by 7.5 metres deep.

Planners were told that the former Wem Sports & Social Club was built in the early 1970s in two parts, the original brick built structure which forms the changing rooms and toilets followed by a second phase to form a bar and function room. A link building was constructed which increased the size of the bar and formed an entrance to the building from the existing car park.

But concerns were raised regarding the structure in October 2020 and a structural engineer was engaged to assess the building.

"The conclusion was that the timber frame suffered significant decay and that the building represented a danger and should be taken out of use due to major structural defects," the planning report reads.

The function room and bar together with the link buildings and chair store were demolished but the changing rooms and toilets were kept.

And a pavilion for the Bowling Club that was erected against the south elevation of the function room has been retained.