Gymnastics centre and cafe plan for Shrewsbury warehouse which has stood empty for five years

Darwin Gymnastics and Dance Ltd has applied for a change of use for 31 Lancaster Road in Shrewsbury, which it says will help it grow its membership.

The building was last used by kitchen installation firm Howdens in 2020, but has been vacant for the past five years.

Now, new plans submitted to Shropshire Council could see the building converted into a gymnastics centre featuring a full-sized competition floor, soft play facilities and a cafe.

The company currently runs from Castle Business Park near Greenfields in Shrewsbury, and offers a "wide range of classes suited to all abilities" in competitive gymnastics and dance.

"We want to put our already established gymnastics and dance facility into the unit to be able grow our membership and class schedule, that we cannot already offer where we are - including being the only site in Shropshire to accommodate disabilities so we will be fully accessable for all," said a statement submitted with the plans.

"We will be aiming our classes at recreational [users] across many types of gymnastics including SEN, rhythmic, tumbling, girls and boys rec, all types of dance, trampolining, free style, adults, soft play and so much more. We also want to include a larger cafe area than we currently offer to our members and non-members."

Works proposed for the outside of the building include repainting the frontage, security improvements and repainting of the car park.

According to an operating schedule submitted with the proposals, the group plans to open the building from 9am to 9pm during the week, and from 10am to 5pm on weekends.

The application will be decided by Shropshire Council at the end of the consultation period this month.

The application can be viewed online at the authority's planning portal via reference 25/01894/FUL.