York: Plans for new gym at Monks Cross Shopping Park approved – BBC News

Plans for a new gym at York’s Monks Cross Shopping Park have been approved.

Everlast Gym is set to move into a unit which has been vacant since 2018 and was previously home to H&M and Evans.

The proposals to install a mezzanine floor in units 12A and 12B were greenlit by York City Council’s planning committee on Thursday.

The gym will cover a total area of about 23,000 sq ft (2,136 sq m) across two floors.

Committee member Keith Orrell said the plans would see vacant units brought back into use, to provide a new facility for people in York and beyond.

A council report said attracting new tenants to the unit had proved difficult, after it was unsuccessfully marketed for more than two years.

It would open from 08:00 to 18:00 at weekends.

Councillors heard planning officers were satisfied that there were no other suitable alternative locations in the city centre.

One unit in Davygate, measuring about 6,000 sq ft (556 sq m), was considered too small by the applicant.

The other, the three-floor former Topman in St Mary’s Square, Coppergate, was too large for the gym.

There are almost 60 Everlast Gyms nationally and each one has an average of about 3,000 members.

One recently opened in Rotherham and there are also Everlast Gyms in Leeds, Barnsley, Sheffield and Hull.

The American boxing company launched its UK chain of gyms in 2021, offering personal training sessions and instructor-led group classes.

Mr Orrell said the gym would also benefit from great transport links.

He said: “It’s great that an empty unit is going to be used in this area.”