New super HQ for gymnastics club

PLANNING chiefs at have finally given the go-ahead for a super new headquarters for the award-winning Warrington Gymnastics Club.
Agreement has been reached between borough council planning officers and the club over parking arrangements at the new centre in Wharf Street, Warrington.
Cllr Sheila Woodyatt told the council’s planning committee: “I am sure we are all delighted to be able to approve this development for a club which will bring benefit to so many young people from Warrington and further afield.”
The development involves the conversion of four industrial units.
There will be no external alterations to the buildings, but inside, a large gymnasium will be provided, along with changing rooms, office and storage space, toilets and a café and waiting area on the ground floor and a dance studio and viewing gallery and toilets on the first floor.
The club – which currently operates from Evans House, off Orford Lane, will provide 25 part time jobs and will open seven days a week.
It has more than 300 members and a waiting list of more than 250 children.
Councillors were anxious to give consent for the scheme from the outset, but initially deferred a decision because of doubts about parking arrangements.
But a revised layout for the car park, enabling an extra five spaces to be created, together with staggered class times to ensure peak demand closely matches the available spaces, enabled the committee to approve the scheme.
The club, which can trace its origins to the late 1890s, has already secured £50,000 Olympic Legacy funding from Sport England towards the cost of converting the buildings.