There are plans to bring a gym and saunas to a popular Valleys country park. A planning application has been submitted for a proposed gym facility and a proposed sauna facility at Dare Valley Country Park in the Cynon Valley. There is currently a gym marquee and cafe area and an open grassed area on the site. The surrounding area also includes parkland, woodland, leisure facilities, parking, and footpaths. A design and access statement attached to the application says the proposal is intended to provide
health, fitness, and wellbeing facilities that complement the surrounding recreational and leisure uses of the area. Stay in the know by making sure you’re receiving our daily newsletter It states the proposal has been designed to respond to the landscape character of the area and minimise visual impact. Existing trees and vegetation will be kept where possible and the plan is for new planting to “soften the development, screen views, and enhance biodiversity”. Paths and external seating areas will be included within the landscape design.
Access to the site will be from the existing access road and car park. Parking will be available for visitors and staff in accordance with local standards, the application says. Safe pedestrian routes will connect parking areas, the gym entrance, and the sauna pods. The statement says the proposal has been designed with inclusive access principles in mind and so the gym entrance will be step-free with accessible routes, door widths, and internal circulation spaces suitable for wheelchair users. At least one sauna pod and
associated facilities will be designed to be accessible where practicable. Emergency and service access will be maintained through the site via the primary access route. The development includes energy-efficient construction, high levels of insulation, low-energy lighting, and water-saving fixtures. The design and access statement says opportunities for renewable energy generation will be considered at the detailed design stage. It also says the gym building is designed as a low-rise structure with a simple contemporary form and the sauna pods are small-scale structures that sit discreetly
within the landscape with their scale deliberately limited to avoid dominating the site.
Dare Valley Country Park, Cynon Valley, planning application, gym facility, sauna pods, inclusive access, landscaping, biodiversity, energy-efficient construction, renewable energy