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Councillor Buston (by reason of a client of his company having a similar operation as the proposed application) declared a non-pecuniary interest pursuant to the provisions of Meetings General Procedure Rule 7(5).
The Committee considered an application for the change of use from existing A1 use to a mixed A1 and D2 use to form a Gymnasium at Unit B1, Peartree Road, Stanway, Colchester. The application had been referred to the Committee because it was classed as a Major application and had attracted objections. The Committee had before it a report and amendment sheet in which all the information was set out. The Committee made a site visit in order to assess the impact of the proposal upon the locality and the suitability of the proposal for the site.
Carl Allen, Planning Officer, presented the report and assisted the Committee in its deliberations.
Russell Valler addressed the Committee pursuant to the provisions of Planning Committee Procedure Rule 8 in opposition to the application. He explained that he was the owner of Anytime Fitness which was situated in the vicinity of the application site. He questioned the viability of the proposed gymnasium given the current population of Stanway and he was of the view that, if approved it would de-stabilise the other existing gymnasiums in the area. He considered that it might also lead to closure of other businesses. He was also of the view that the proposal was for a budget style gymnasium which would attract younger customers which may lead to problems of relating to the mis-use of the parking area which had been experienced in the area previously. He referred to the numbers of people directly employed at his own gymnasium and was concerned that the proposal would involve the use of freelance workers.
The Planning Officer explained that issues relating to potential viability of a business, methods of trading and contracts of employment were not material considerations in planning terms and, in his view, were not matters which could be taken into account by the Committee.
Certain members of the Committee were of the view that the area was a busy mixed use area which had experienced parking problems in the past and, as such the car parking issue needed to be considered carefully. One member considered that the proposed 24 hour operation may have a detrimental impact on residents. Others Committee members considered the occupation of the unit was to be welcomed, the impact on the surrounding parking area was not likely to be significant as the peak use of the gymnasium would be in the evenings and there would be no detrimental impact on residents as the location was an existing mixed use commercial area with nearest residential dwellings situated some distance away.
In response to specific issues raised the Planning Officer confirmed the extent of the shared parking in the area and that the proposal complied with the Essex County Council parking standards for this type development which had been adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document by the Council. He also confirmed that Anytime Fitness currently operated on a 24 hour basis and that there was no residential development in the vicinity of the application site.
RESOLVED (TEN voted FOR and TWO ABSTAINED) that the planning application be approved subject to the conditions set out in the report.