Green light to plans for new martial arts gym in Rhyl

The proposals concern the rear of 97 Vale Road, and were given the green light by Denbighshire County Council’s planning committee on October 29.

This was despite neighbours raising several objections to the plans, including inadequate parking and noise levels.

But extracts from a planning statement read: “Given that the site may currently be operated as a retail unit, it is unlikely that the proposed change of use would significantly increase parking demand greater than the existing use and surrounding properties currently generates.

“The application site benefits from off-street parking, unlike many of the other stores in close proximity, and there is a considerable amount of off-site parking available which would accommodate visitors to all of the premises in proximity.

“The hours of use would result in total operation time of 10 hours per week, with the weekday hours occurring when some of the neighbouring businesses will be closed, reducing the amount of visitors to the area.

“The sessions run for one hour at a time and would have a maximum of 15 people per class.”

The proposed hours of operation were 6-8pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10am-12pm on Saturdays, and 9-11am on Sundays.

The planning statement added: “These proposed hours of operation are less than would be expected from the current retail use and would see less visitors per day.”

A green infrastructure statement submitted to the council said that there no plans to remove any trees or hedges on site to accommodate the plans, while a multi-species bird nest box will be installed.

In approving the application, the council’s planning committee attached a number of conditions to the development.

These include keeping all doors and windows during class to prevent noise breakout, using the property for nothing other than a martial arts gymnasium, and restricting opening times to 4-8pm on weekdays, and 10am-12pm on Saturday, Sundays and bank holidays.