Batcheller Monkhouse have worked with the new owners of Knowle Grange Health Club on several proposals to upgrade and expand their facilities.
Christine Dadswell from our Tunbridge Wells Planning Team built on a previous permission she had obtained for the Health Club. This granted permission for a purpose built gym facility as well as the refurbishment and upgrading of the spa facilities. The health club wanted to look to increase their membership levels to maintain its viability.
The new entrance at Knowle Grange Health Club
Advice was obtained from a transport consultant to assess whether the site could support the additional vehicular activity associated with an increased membership level. The advice was that this could be supported. It was decided to proceed with an application to increase the membership limits imposed by previous planning approvals. As part of this application the owners wanted to look at improving the parking and access arrangements for the site.
Originally, the site had two access points, one of which had poor visibility. Batcheller Monkhouse worked with the transport consultant to explore options for improving site access and optimising the car park layout. It was concluded that a new access would be proposed and that both existing accesses would be blocked off. This would enable a central access point, allowing the space dedicated to the parking area to be maximised.
Knowle Grange Health Club
Batcheller Monkhouse then worked with the transport and tree consultants to agree the optimum position for this new access point. A planning application was submitted for the proposals to increase the membership levels and new access point. As part of the process, negotiations took place regarding off-site highway improvements to enhance public transport connections to the site. Following these discussions, the scheme was approved under delegated powers. In addition to the transport consultant’s input on vehicular traffic associated with the proposed membership increase, Batcheller Monkhouse conducted research on membership limits at other local health clubs and gyms. We then put forward evidence that even with the proposed increase the health club would have a significantly lower membership level than town centre gym facilities. Based on this evidence, the proposed membership level was therefore considered to be appropriate for a smaller bespoke health club arrangement.
Further site improvements included dedicated changing rooms for the outdoor swimming pool and a cover to enable year-round use. All permitted schemes have been implemented and the health club is now operating with new and expanded facilities.
