| Gym businessman vows to fight on in council battle |
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HEALTH-CONSCIOUS Dunblane residents and workers won't be able to take advantage of a proposed new fitness club unless council planners change their current hard-line approach. But Clark Hamilton of Target Health and Fitness, involved in pre-application talks with officials over a spa and gym suite at the proposed Barbush business park, has vowed to fight on.
The entrepreneur has been met with resistance for wanting to derogate from the site's original 'business only' status. Under Target's plan, officials would have to grant a change of use for 'leisure'. Despite him pointing to an earlier flexibility that allowed a care home to be built, Stirling Council has refused to regard that as a precedent for allowing other variations at Barbush. According to the local Tory councillor, failure to back the entrepreneur matches other applicants' feedback that 'the shutters are down at the very first step'. Callum Campbell said: ÒThe planning department should understand they provide a service to the residents and businesses in Stirling. "They should work more in partnership with applicants." He said planners should encourage Mr Hamilton and others to find ways around any issues. "Mr Hamilton could easily go to another council elsewhere," he added. Planning permission is expected to be granted shortly to Gladman Developments, who own the site, for the building of 17 self-contained office units. Mr Hamilton and partner Amanda Aitken would then want to lease one of the units for their fitness venture, including treatment rooms and a juice bar. Employing 15 people, they say they already have the backing of Gladman. And the community council are firmly on board, with chairman Terence O'Byrne saying the town's 10,000 people need a gym. But a council spokeswoman said that in respect of precedent, the care home circumstances were 'totally different' to those of the fitness club. She said each case had to be determined on its own merits, and that the care home was different as a need for the facility plus the high employment levels generated were material factors. Current studies indicated a very strong need for business use in the area, she added. Mr Hamilton referred to the 1999 local plan which had stated concern over a lack of leisure facilities and spoke of recreational provision at Barbush. The spokeswoman said that this simply meant playing fields and play areas, and that the Dunblane High School pitch had since been improved by Cala Homes. "There's no outstanding recreation requirement on the site," she said. Councillor Campbell said of the planning process: "While property professionals know their way through the 'maze', nine out of 10 applicants are new to it." "I think at the moment they're scared off," he said. "They are coming across a very negative approach from the council." But Mr Hamilton said: "It's full steam ahead. We definitely intend to go through the planning process. Ultimately it's the people in Dunblane that are looking for it."
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