Multi-million-pound Wolverhampton gym facelift approved with ‘worst ever’ football pitches set to be replaced

The new facilities will see the former Chris Jewkes Fitness Centre in Tettenhall re-open as part of £6million work by Hamilton Leisure after a major renovation was backed by City of Wolverhampton Council. 

The former gym in Danescourt Road, which closed 18 months ago, will be given a major facelift and re-open alongside a new 3G floodlit football pitch and changing rooms. The new gym would include a studio, cafe, physiotherapy rooms and a bigger car park. 

The artificial pitch would replace two existing football pitches which are regularly waterlogged often leaving local club Old Wulfrunians Juniors FC without somewhere to play.

Old Wulfrunians FC, in a letter of support for the new facilities, said the all-weather pitch would help in its bid to surpass 50 youth teams and become the region’s leading girls club. 

The club said concerns over the loss of two football pitches would be justified if they were not in such bad condition – calling them “probably the worst [they] had seen” – which led to the site having a “poor reputation in the community” and doing more harm than good.

The club said it was regularly having to postpone, cancel or relocate games because of flooding. The poor facilities at the site have also put off other local clubs forcing them to relocate, the application by Hamilton Leisure had said.

“Unfortunately, although the field looks to be in adequate condition, it is actually in very poor condition and in need of significant investment to bring it to a standard where it can be used on a regular basis,” the letter from Old Wulfrunians FC said. “As a result, the majority of home games from October onwards – two weeks into the season – have been postponed due either the pitch being waterlogged or due to the damage that will occur if we did attempt to play. 

“Our teams have had to reverse games or find alternative locations to play which causes unnecessary work for our volunteers.”

Despite the gym and facilities being built on the same site more than 40 years ago, the redevelopment was at risk of breaching the council’s policies on building on protected green belt land. While the new 3G pitch would be supported, the gym would be considered “inappropriate” as it “harmed” the openness and character of the green belt. However, the council agreed with applicant Hamilton Leisure that “very special circumstnaces” – a prerequisite for building on protected green belt – had been shown which made the planning application acceptable.

Hamilton Leisure said the new facilities would be a “community asset” replacing outdated buildings and “low-quality” pitches that would secure the long-term future of the site.

Sport England, the government body responsible for protecting playing fields, objected to the work.

“It is acknowledged that these issues mean the facility may fall short of ideal Football Federation standards for artificial pitches for use by the football league,” planners at City of Wolverhampton Council said when making the decision. “However, in weighing this against the benefits of providing an enhanced community facility, through purely private investment, these issues do not create sufficient harm to justify a refusal on this occasion.”

Danescourt Road is also home to the popular Express and Star Bowls Club and Little Earth yoga retreat – both of which will remain in place.

The existing building on site is the original Express and Star Sports and Social Club which dates back to the 1980s. Chris Jewkes Fitness Centre closed in April 2023 after 14 years. Hamilton’s Leisure bought the site in January 2023.