Disused Wigan gym could become HMO and apartments

The building on Warrington Lane, close to the town centre, is the former headquarters of the Sea Cadets, but has more recently been used as a gym and physiotherapy hub as JB Fitness.

Plans would see the building converted into two residential units comprising seven beds each, and a separate area for six flats – two one-bed and four two-bed.

The HMO would be accessed separately off Warrington Lane with the apartments having their own individual entrances.

Applicant Csc Property Development Ltd wants to replace some windows, and open up other previously blocked-up windows, with new window frames and insert several roof lights.

Its statement says that all apartments would "meet or exceed” national space standards with room sizes which are “compliant and usable”.

“The redevelopment of the building to provide residential accommodation should be supported by the council in principle,” it adds.

“This development is providing new housing in a sustainable brownfield location involving the reuse of an existing vacant building.

“It is also bringing the building back into use, as well as helping to increase surveillance and limit the potential for anti-social behaviour.”

Meanwhile, plans have also been submitted for a semi-detached property new-build to be used as an HMO for seven people in Smallbrook Lane, Leigh.

The applicant is Jonathan Unsworth, of Chorley Road, Standish.

Protests have been held against several previous HMO plans in Wigan, objectors saying that they sometimes lead to increases in anti-social behaviour.

One at the Crispin Arms in Scholes was rejected after a protest last month, while another – at the “higher end of the market” – is planned for the former Tudor House Hotel on New Market Street.