Plans to turn gym into flats back on the table

Plans to turn a town's former gym into flats are due to be discussed again after planners recommended a £250,000 contribution should be waived.

Ipswich councillors unanimously backed proposals to turn the former Gym & Trim Health Club building, in Lower Orwell Street, into 16 new flats back in June.

The approval included a list of 15 conditions, alongside the requirement for a legally-binding contribution of more than £250,000 from the developers for services around education, libraries and open space.

However, Aspen Build's plans will be back on the table on Wednesday after its financial viability assessment deemed the scheme unviable as approved.

The gym has been shut for a number of years on Lower Orwell Street

The assessment concluded the applicant would stand to profit around 10% of the development's total value, well below the government's suitability guidance of between 15 and 20%.

An independent consultant was hired to look at the assessment and found the picture could even be worse than the applicant suggested, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Planners have recommended the plans should once again be approved by councillors, waiving the £250,000 contribution and requiring only £2,334 to compensate for their impact on a special protection area.

This would bring the profit margin to around 16%.

The site has been vacant for several years and, although it received planning permission for student accommodation in 2008, the plans were never completed.

Back in June, councillors welcomed the plans and said they would be a "massive improvement" on what had become a "blot in the neighbourhood".