Derelict RAF officers' mess to be demolished

A derelict hall that has lain empty for more than 15 years on an RAF base will be knocked down.

The building at RAF Syerston, which is off the A46 between Bingham and Newark-on-Trent in Nottingham, was once used as an officers' mess.

Councillors on Rushcliffe Borough Council’s planning committee gave permission for the building to be demolished on Thursday.

A planning application has already been submitted to build 114 homes on the site, but the project is waiting approval.

The building was later converted into an Islamic Institute boarding school before it closed in 2007, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Committee member councillor Rowan Bird said the once “wonderful building” had “become a wreck over the years”.

“This is a very sad story,” he said. “I’m probably the only one here to have attended events in the officers’ mess back in 1969.

“The parish council regularly raise problems with police – it was damaged over and over, and caused many problems.

“It needs to go and something be put in its place. There’s likely to be housing in the future. But it needs getting rid of.”

Development had been delayed by the presence of bats in the building, although a bat barn was fitted last year to provide new roosts, the LDRS said.

RAF Syerston opened in 1940 and was used to train crews for bombing runs during World War Two.

The site, which is still an active airfield and became a training base post-war, is now home to the RAF Central Gliding School.

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