Part of a Victorian building in Whitby’s town centre could be converted into a gym if plans are approved by the council.
The lower ground-floor of the Church House Centre, in Flowergate in Whitby, could become a gym as part of plans submitted by Mike Smith of Untitled Properties Ltd.
The proposed change of use would provide a further community use to promote health and wellbeing in the community, in addition to services already provided by the community centre.
Membership of the gym would be capped at around 150 members, and measures would be put in place to minimise potential disruption from noise and vibrations.
Last year, the same applicant proposed converting the vacant office space to provide specialist respite care for vulnerable people.
However, the plans to provide assisted living/respite/emergency accommodation to vulnerable local user groups were scrapped following more than a dozen objections from residents.
The gym would be a community-centred facility to help locals improve fitness and mental and physical well-being.
It would also create new employment opportunities, including staff roles for supervision, training, and maintenance, the plans state.
At peak times, no more than 15–20 members are expected to be present and “most visits will be short in duration from 30–60 minutes, further reducing parking and congestion pressure”.
Documents submitted to North Yorkshire Council state that sessions will primarily be pre-booked through an online system.
No external alterations have been proposed to the Victorian building, although bicycle storage would be provided, while gym users arriving by car would be directed to use a nearby short-stay car park.
The gym’s proposed opening hours would be from 7am – 10pm on weekdays, 8am – 6pm on Saturdays, and 9am – 4pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
“We are committed to minimising any potential noise impact on neighbours and have included the following controls, including rubberised floors, a strict ‘no dropping weights’ policy displayed and enforced by staff, and music limited to a background level only,” the applicant said.
North Yorkshire Council has not set a date for deciding on the application, which is currently open to representations from members of the public.
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