Plans to turn former Sports Direct Fitness gym in Bury St Edmunds into builders' merchant recommended for approval despite concerns

Plans to turn a town's former gym into a builders' merchant have been recommended for approval by planners despite concerns.

K/S Cratfield's plans to turn the former Sports Direct Fitness site, on the Moreton Hall estate, into a national builders' merchant will be discussed on Wednesday by members of West Suffolk's development control committee.

The former gym closed in August 2023 after an application to turn it into a retail space was refused in January of the same year.

A planning statement from agent Wilson Wraight LLP said the site, in Easlea Road, would employ 25 people and have five zones - a yard, warehouse for large items, warehouse for small product store, a showroom and office.

But the plans have received some backlash with objections submitted by six residents as well as two ward members, Cllrs Birgitte Mager and Peter Armitage.

Residents said Moreton Hall was in 'desperate need of gym and swimming pool facilities' after the closure of the former gym, particularly after the announcement the new council leisure pool was no longer going ahead,

One resident said: "Moreton Hall is crying out for additional fitness facilities. The alternative gyms are overpriced and in danger of becoming over-subscribed."

Melanie Soanes, chairwoman of the Residents Association, submitted an objection on behalf of several members of the former gym, arguing there were enough retail spaces on Moreton Hall already.

She said the area needed more leisure facilities at a time when people in Bury St Edmunds lacked access to pools, which could lead to mental and physical health problems.

Bury St Edmunds Town Council recommended the plans for approval.

Though there was a conflict between the council's economic development team and the applicant on whether the new builders' merchant would be best classed as employment or retail use, planning officers concluded a marketing campaign over a year long demonstrated a lack of viable interest.

According to Wilson Wraight, national gym chains were approached to gauge interest for the site to be kept as a gym but all said the town and catchment was too small to justify it.

Officers concluded there were no 'policy-based reasons to resist the application' and recommended the plans for approval.