Plans for David Lloyd Leisure facility at Marham Park in Bury St Edmunds approved

Proposals for a huge health club on the edge of Bury St Edmunds have been appproved.

David Lloyd Leisure Ltd has been granted permission from West Suffolk Council for a reserved matters application for the facility on a 2.01 hectare site fronting Sandlands Drive at Marham Park, after plans were submitted in February.

A design and access statement, submitted to the authority, said the site would include a three court tennis inflatable air-dome enclosure, three padel courts, a multi-use court and a Battle Box facility.

For swimming, there would be a five lane, 20m pool inside, a 400/800mm deep learner pool, an outdoor leisure pool and an outdoor children's splash play zone.

Other features listed are a three court sports hall, 100 to 120 station gym, four studio spaces for spin, blaze, high impact as well as mind and body studios, a children's soft play and activity space.

There would also be an inside spa and an outside spa garden. The plans feature 225 car parking spaces and 20 cycle spaces.

The Bury St Edmunds Society supported the proposal for a health and fitness centre on that area of Marham Park because it said it reverted to the original plan instead of the recently withdrawn planning application for 76 homes.

It said: “The proposed sports facilities will make necessary provision for the residents of Marham Park and also for people in surrounding areas.”

Fornham St Martin cum St Genevieve Parish Council supported the application.

A West Suffolk Council planning officer report said the proposed buildings were of the scale expected and were larger than the surrounding residential development.

It said: “However, they are sufficiently distant from all the neighbouring dwellings to ensure that they would not be overbearing nor harmful to their outlook.

“Overall, it is considered that the development has been designed as sensitively as possible within the constraints of the site and the nature of the use.

“The development would not adversely affect the character of the area, in what was always intended to be a mixed-use development and would not adversely affect visual amenity.”

Last week, SuffolkNews reported how the applicant had addressed concerns over drainage at the proposed health club.

The council’s environment officer objected to the proposals as they failed to provide a detailed energy statement and did not comply to be BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology) excellent.

The report said the application was for reserved matters and only those matters can be considered as part of the application.

It added: “Any requirements relating to BREEAM, and energy efficiency would need to have been secured on the outline permission by condition, and it is not possible to require this in a reserved matters application.

“The applicant has advised that they would be building to the equivalent to a good rating for BREEAM.”