A GYM has been given permission to extend its opening hours following a years-long planning battle.

Transform Together Fitness, on Longueville Road, will now be able to open from 6am to 8pm Monday to Friday – extending its previous permitted hours of 6.45am to 6.45pm.

It has also been given permission to open from 8am to 4pm on bank holidays, in line with its Saturday opening hours.

The decision comes after previous attempts to extend the gym’s opening hours were refused amid concerns about noise and disturbance to nearby residents.

Co-founder Cameron Elliott said the new hours would allow members to train earlier before work and later in the evening.

“We’re trying to build something that will better the community,” he explained.

Transform Together has been seeking permission to extend its opening hours for several years.

The gym was first reported for breaching its permitted opening hours in November 2021 and was advised that it could be subject to formal enforcement action.

It applied to extend its hours in January 2022, but the application was rejected.

The gym was reported again in February 2023 and served with a Breach of Condition Notice on 2 May that year. An appeal was subsequently dismissed.

Another application was refused in 2023 on the grounds that the extended hours would “cause unreasonable harm by virtue of increased noise, nuisance and disturbance”.

Residents had opposed the plans, saying they could hear loud music and weights being dropped early in the morning.

However, Transform Together submitted another application earlier this year, arguing that extending its hours would help the business clear more than £180,000 of debt.

Planning documents said 6am and 7pm were peak times for its clientele, particularly working parents, and estimated that adding two daily sessions could generate an extra £8,656 a month.

The gym also said it had introduced measures to address previous noise concerns, including acoustic flooring, double-glazed soundproof windows, repositioned equipment to reduce vibration and restrictions on music levels.

Approving the latest application, planning officer Rebecca Hampson said: “The gym is in a built up area with commercial businesses nearby, these are operating at these times. Some noise and disturbance should be expected in a mixed use business / warehouse / residential area.”

Mr Elliott welcomed the decision after what he described as a “pretty negative experience”, although he acknowledged that the gym had not helped its case by previously breaching its permitted hours.

He said he was pleased with the approach taken by the Planning Department in reaching its latest decision, saying it was “actually trying to help businesses” by removing “red-tape”.