Gym plan turned down by Blackpool planners

The scheme sought to use an industrial building on Faraday Way, Bispham, but the council ruled the site was needed for its designated employment uses.

The application, which had received nine letters of support from people keen to use the gym, was refused using delegated powers.

A council report said the building is immediately south of Blackpool Technology Park and has only recently been constructed, meaning not enough time has been given to finding an industrial use which would create jobs.

The report says there is a “general shortage of employment land within the borough and the pressing need to safeguard appropriate land for employment purposes.”

It adds: “The north Blackpool technology park area is the newest employmentestate in the north of the borough and therefore one of the most attractive to new investment and development.

!It is therefore imperative that land and buildings are not lost to non-employment uses within this area without a very robust and over-riding justification.”

The report says while the proposed use of the building as a gym would promote health and wellbeing, it should be considered a town centre use.

It says: “In the absence of appropriate justification, the proposed developmentwould compromise the council’s efforts of ensuring the vitality and regeneration of its town centre and local / district centres. ”

Those supporting the scheme had argued the facility would be used by residents and people who worked in the area, reducing travel times to alternative gyms.