A fitness firm is opening a new gym in Ellon – even though councillors voted to refuse permission.
Arena Strength and Fitness Gym lodged plans last year to create the facility inside an area of unused storage space to the rear of the Greens of Ellon grocery shop.
The proposal went before the Aberdeenshire Council in January.
Amid fears about parking and road safety, elected members voted to throw it out.
So why is gym opening now?
But after a council systems blunder, the gym owners were issued with an “approval notice” giving them carte blanche to press ahead.
Since then, work on the Schoolhill Road gym has been taking place.
And Aberdeenshire Council has been left scrambling to correct the record.
The matter has now gone to the Scottish Government, with the local authority asking ministers to step in to revoke the permission.
But despite this, the gym is scheduled to welcome its first fitness fans on Monday, May 1.
And it will open its doors this weekend to give residents a sneak peek of the new facility.
Why is gym opening anyway?
Prior to being voted on by elected members, the council’s planning department had recommended the scheme be approved.
This makes the gym’s owners “confident” the decision will not be overturned by the government.
Eben van Wyk of Arena Strength and Fitness Gym said: “We have been issued with a revocation order, which we appealed.
“The council’s reasons for refusal are possible noise and increase in traffic, but both were addressed in the material evidence and ignored.
“The Environmental Health officer has visited the site and was satisfied with the noise reduction measures we have taken.
“The roads development department also had no issue with our application as per their report.
“However, should the reporter decide to support the revocation order, we can still appeal the council’s decision which we will do should that be the case.”
Aberdeenshire Council admits system blunder to blame
An Aberdeenshire Council spokeswoman confirmed the approval notice had been sent by mistake.
She said: “The planning application for a gym on Schoolhill Road in Ellon was rejected by the Formartine Area Committee.
“However subsequently, due to a systems error, the applicants were issued with an approval notice.”
The spokeswoman added: “The council has now applied to the Scottish Government for a revocation of the planning permission and we await further communication from the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division, as decision maker, to progress.”
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