By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
A huge new David Lloyd fitness centre near Cheltenham with gym, tennis courts and swimming pools have been approved amid concerns over foul odour from a nearby landfill site.
Proposals for the 6.2-acre site on land at Stoke Road in Bishop’s Cleeve were considered by Tewkesbury Borough Councillors on Tuesday (July 15).
The site will have a health, fitness and rackets club, including three weather protected tennis courts, six padel courts with canopies, one multi-use court.
The proposals also include a battle box facility, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a two-court sports hall, gym and studio facilities, internal spa facilities and external spa garden, child activity area, lounge and food and drink and terrace area.
The development will be served by 315 parking spaces, including 13 disabled spaces with direct access to the main entrance. Ahead of the meeting, Grundon the owner and the site operator at nearby Wingmoor Farm East raised concerns over the impact of odour on the site.
They said the close proximity of the waste use to the proposal, separated only by the width of the Stoke Road, means that the outdoor leisure facility has the potential to adversely impact the existing waste management operation.
They said this included the large number of lorry movements, potential odour from the residual waste transfer and the landfilling of the non-hazardous waste and the landfill gas or leachate emissions. “The air quality assessment has completely ignored the existing waste management uses,” they said in a letter of objection.
“The cumulative effects of odour from all existing waste facilities within the area needs to be fully considered. While assessing odour, special attention should also be given to the current landfill operations along with current and future landfill management requirements, particularly gas and leachate production/collection activities.”
An odour assessment commissioned by the developer considered that potential impacts from the Grundon Waste Site/Severn Trent Green Power anaerobic digester facility are unlikely to lead to the detriment of amenity for future users of the leisure site.
They said it was not significant in regard to odour and they considered that odour should not be viewed as a constraint to planning consent for the proposal.
Ian Anderson, the developer’s agent, told the planning committee there was no odour issue which would prevent them from opening a club there. He said they had worked with planners to deliver a sustainable development.
Mr Anderson said the proposals would provide around £24m of investment and create between 80 to 100 jobs for the site, 35 in the supply chain and 50 during the construction phase.
David Lewis, of Bishop’s Cleeve Parish Council, spoke at the meeting and called on the committee to approve it. He said many of the David Lloyd roles would provide much needed job opportunities for young people.
“A desired sports facility, an excellent job creation scheme, fewer HGVs on already crowded houses all supported by the residents pc and planning officers,” he said.
Councillor Richard Stanley (LD, Cleeve West) spoke in favour of the scheme. He said the overwhelming response of neighbouring residents is they prefer it to the warehouse proposals.
“Bishop’s Cleeve is set to become a leisure powerhouse,” he said.
During the debate, concerns were raised Cllr Matt Dimon-Brown (G, Tewkesbury South) about the use of gas to heat the site.
But Cllr Jim Mason (C, Winchcombe) said most would give their right arm for such a facility in their area. “It’s not all going to be electric,” he said. “We can’t insist on these things.
“To miss on a wonderful asset for the community of Bishop;s Cleeve which has seen massive amounts of growth, they really deserve something like that.”
Councillors voted to grant delegated permission.