Planning
Thigh Day Will be Done
All Saints Church, Alexander Drive, Douglas closed as a church due to declining numbers and has since been sold.
Plans to convert a former church into a gym have been given the green light by planners.
All Saints Church, Alexander Drive, Douglas closed as a church due to declining numbers and has been sold.
Landscape Limited’s plans will see it converted into a gym with two sets of locker rooms, as well as weights and other resistance equipment on the ground floor.
The upper mezzanine level would be home to cardio equipment, a 3D body scanning room, a meeting room and a rest area.
As the former church is a registered building, it is intended to retain the existing hard floor and cover it with matting, while all lights and internal walls will be retained and improved to modern standards, all windows will be maintained.
The planning officer said the application was ‘considered to result in the appropriate use of a vacant place of worship, which would ensure the continued use, upkeep and maintenance of a Registered Building, without detriment to its character, architectural significance, or the character and appearance of the wider Conservation Area’.
As part of the approval, the company has agreed not to host organised exercise or fitness classes and that should it wish to introduce these, it would require further assessment given its location in a residential area.
The planning committee unanimously agreed to support the application. The ruling only becomes final 21 days after the decision to allow for any appeals.
You must be logged in to post a comment.