North Shropshire homeowner plans to build 'home leisure centre' complete with swimming pool

Proposals have been revealed for an existing garden building to be demolished and replaced by a ’home leisure centre’ at New House Farm in Sleap, north of Shrewsbury.

The building would include an indoor exercise pool, gym facility, snooker room and toilet. Also included in the plan is to create a dedicated brewery washroom with water pump and cellar to ‘facilitate the client’s beer brewing hobby’.

“The proposal seeks to create a home leisure centre with health and fitness and recreation area for the client and his family to enjoy,” says a planning statement.

“The proposal supports a strong, vibrant and healthy community by its purpose of being a sport and leisure area that supports the health, social and cultural wellbeing of the current and future users.

“It is an environmentally sustainable proposal as the client will not have to drive his car to external fitness facilities further afield in Shrewsbury or Whitchurch and can relax with his family to swim or play pool.

“The brewing area supports growth, innovation and improved productivity by allowing the client to produce beer, experiment with ingredients and perhaps create a personal craft beer.”

The building will incorporate a ‘metal profiled roof’ with timber boarding walls. The applicant says that the proposed building is ‘appropriate to the existing small holding’ in scale, density, pattern and design and ‘reflects the local context and character’ of the rural area.

They state that the single-storey building would be ‘modest in size’ and would have no detriment upon the visual character and appearance of the local rural landscape.

The applicant added that the two-storey host building would overlook the development and would be the ‘dominant building’.

“The building will contribute to local character and the landscape as it will improve and tidy up the existing site by replacing existing random and dilapidated buildings,” the applicant concluded.

“The proposed use of the building will contribute to the health and well-being of the users and create recreational facilities for the applicant resulting in a direct improvement on quality of life.

“The proposal is sustainable as the applicant and his family members will not have to drive to get to leisure facilities. The building will not be seen from the road and there are no near neighbours.”

The application can be viewed on the Shropshire Council website, application number: 23/04749/FUL.