The sort of planning approval we love – not only have we secured planning permission for a 24 hour gym in Camden, but in the process we helped our client avoid an unnecessary and costly Deed of Variation to a Section 106 Agreement by identifying an alternative route to planning success, which met the specific requirements of our client and this project.
Project background – to vary or not to vary… that is the question!
Approval for the gym had been previously secured via a S73. However, the opening hours were restricted via a planning condition. An attempt to extend the opening hours had been made previously but in order to do so, our client had been advised to undertake a Deed of Variation to the original S106, at great cost.
We reviewed the extensive planning history of the site, relevant local and London Plan policy and pertinent appeal decisions. Since the granting of the original permission, there had been a use class change, whereby classes D2 and A3 no longer existed and had been subsumed by Class E. We therefore sought full planning permission for the change in hours to reflect the nature of the land use, but stressed that we would not be seeking to vary the opening hours of other uses restricted by the Condition.
This application was supported by an Acoustic Design Review; Noise Impact Assessment; a full review of relevant plan policy both at local level and as part of the London Plan; data collected by our client for existing 24/7 gym operations which highlighted the restrictive nature of the conditioned opening hours and the need for their extension; and analysis of the wider benefits of providing such access to a high quality sports facility.
Furthermore, our context review provided the necessary evidence to show that there would be negligible impact on neighbouring amenity and we supported this with relevant appeal decisions.
The LPA agreed with our stance, acknowledging that the proposals would have no material effect in terms of impact on character and appearance of the host building, the surrounding streetscene or neighbouring amenity, and that the proposals were policy compliant.
Through our nuanced understanding of the planning system we have enabled our client to secure planning permission to help their business thrive and have saved them unnecessary expense in the process.
About us
We are Plainview Planning – a solutions orientated, experienced and knowledgeable team of planning consultants. If you need professional and informed planning support with your development project, then contact our team via enquiries@plainview.co.uk, to see how we can best assist you, providing the site address and a brief overview of your project. You can also submit your site via our Landmark Page. We value your privacy and any information which you provide will not be shared outside of our company and will only be used in relation to your enquiry.