A new gym will open in the centre of Stonehaven – but only if owners can keep the noise down.
Impact Fitness has been given permission to transform the former KeyStore on Allardice Street into a fitness facility.
All going well, it could be open as soon as next month.
But Aberdeenshire Council’s approval this week came despite the protests of one neighbour.
Bruce McKay fears the sound of clanging dumb-bells and adrenaline-pumping anthems could disturb the peace at his home on the floor above.
Mr McKay, in a letter published on the council’s planning database, said he needed assurances that the place would be suitably noise-proofed.
‘It is essential new Stonehaven gym is not noisy’
He wrote: “We live directly above the property in question, and conduct our business from home.
“One of us works entirely from home and it is essential that the gym is not noisy.
“Our business involves online events, including meditation etc.
“If there is a constant noise from below this will cause a lot of problems for us.”
Strict rules imposed on volume at new Stonehaven gym
Council planners conceded the proposal would lead to the loss of a “small but established” retail unit.
But they noted the gym would “generate footfall and support an active and viable town centre”.
However, in rubber-stamping the plans for the former grocery shop, the council has imposed a series of rules on noise levels.
A string of measures outlined in a study conducted at the end of November will need to be implemented.
This is to “ensure that noise from the development does not result in undue
loss of amenity for surrounding properties”.
Amplified music will need to be controlled through noise limiters, and restricted to between 9am and 9pm from Monday to Friday and from 10am to 7pm at the weekend.
Impact Fitness wasting no time
The large empty unit, just across from the town’s Market Square, has been lying vacant for about 18 months.
Floor plans show that the ground floor will be converted into a gym space with class areas and a studio room.
Changing facilities will be on the first floor while toilets, storage space, staff facilities and a physio room would be on the second floor.
The new venue would provide five new jobs with space for up to 30 gym users and five in the physio area.
In a statement online this afternoon, Impact Fitness vowed to get started “straight away” by hiring joiners to revamp the ground floor.
The new Stonehaven gym will feature cardio and weight machines, dumbbells, squat racks and weight benches.
A number of fitness classes will also be available including circuits, boxercise and kettlebells.
You can see the plans fore yourself here.
