Welcome to our weekly update of planning applications reviewed by Moray Council.
Proposals to install a storage container at King Charles’s former school will go ahead.
An outdoor nursery will get temporary sheds to shelter youngsters, while their expansion project is delayed.
Let’s start with plans for gym giants to breathe new life into a vacant unit at Elgin Retail Park.
Learn more about each of these applications below.
SUBMITTED: Elgin move for gym giants
PureGym wants to move into an empty unit at Elgin Retail Park.
A change of use application has been lodged for unit 8 at the retail park on Edgar Road.
Last month we revealed the health company, which runs more than 330 facilities across the UK hopes to open the new gym in early 2024.
Why choose the Elgin Retail Park?
The gym will help fill the need for a 24-hour gym in the town. Anytime Fitness gym closed in 2021 in the retail park.
A PureGym spokeswoman said: “When opening a new PureGym club, we look for sites that are conveniently located for members, user friendly and spacious enough for plenty of high quality equipment and space to work out.
“In our experience, large ground floor units are very well suited to fulfilling our requirements, which is why we chose to occupy unit 8 at Elgin Retail Park.”
APPROVED: Temporary sheds for outdoor nursery
Stramash Elgin will have temporary timber buildings to provide shelter for the nursery’s youngsters.
The plan has been approved to put them on agricultural land near Spynie Village Hall.
These sheds will help the operation of the nursery until they can afford to build new premises.
What’s the delay?
Last March, planning chiefs approved the construction of a new nursery facility for Scotland’s largest provider of outdoor nurseries.
The project has become subject to major delays due to issues of affordability.
It comes as a result of the rising cost of materials and decreasing availability of contractors to deliver the build.
Meanwhile, the company has successfully applied to Moray Council to allow the use of a compost toilet in a non-domestic setting.
Once the permanent facility is ready, the sheds can be dismantled and reused.
They will be reused elsewhere on the Spynie site, at another Stramash site or can be sold.
APPROVED: Cabin for former school with links to current king
A storage cabin will be built at a private school with strong links to the royal family.
The container near the tennis courts at Gordonstoun School will be used to store equipment.
This school is named after the 150-acre estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus.
It is located in Duffus to the north-west of Elgin.
CM Design represented the school in the application.
Royal and celebrity connections
Generations of British royalty were educated at Gordonstoun, including Prince Philip and his son King Charles.
For years, there has been speculation about King Charles’s experience at the Moray school. He famously referred to it as “Colditz in kilts”.
Rock musician David Bowie sent his son Duncan Jones to Gordonstoun, and Jason Connery, son of actor Sir Sean Connery, also attended.
Further planning applications can be viewed using Moray Council’s portal.
Spotted any plans you think we should know about? Get in touch at north@ajl.co.uk
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