A PLANNING application has been filed to build a 24-hour gym in the heart of Christchurch.

Anytime Fitness are proposing to open their gym where Priory Sports used to be based in Saxon Square.

The site has been vacant since September 2016, but the proposed application will affect the setting of a Conservation Area.

If successful, the application would change from use of the building from an A1 (retail) and A3 (restaurant) to a D2 building (assembly and leisure).

The site is 586 square metres and the application has sent consultations to several shops in the area.

Also consulted are Highways England, the Christchurch and East Dorset Conservation Officer and Christchurch and East Dorset Environmental Health.

A Heritage statement has been submitted in the plans. It confirms that the premises is not a listed building.

The statement also assures that the proposal is in keeping with the look and feel of the Conservation Area.

The shopping centre is considered to be part of the Conservation Area as the Old Town Hall, which is a grade II listed buildings, stands at the entrance to the Square. Therefore, the buildings in the shopping centre are part of the site and setting of the mid-19th Century building.

The Heritage statement adds: "This proposal will make a positive contribution to the local character and distinctiveness of the conservation area, by preserving the look of a building that fits the character of the area. It will also bring a vacant unit back into use which will contribute to the vitality of the area. The work to take place will be almost exclusively internal."

Jasdeep Thandi, a Director at Anytime Fitness, has proposed the application and members of the public have until July 12 to submit representations relating to it.

You can submit these representations by going onto the planning application online, or by email on: planningadmin@christchurchandeastdorset.gov.uk. You can also submit via post to the Civic Offices in Christchurch.

Due to his role on the planning committee, Cllr Peter Hall was unable to comment on the plans.