Rushmere Shopping Centre, Craigavon: gym and cafe plans for former Sainsbury's store 'will create around 73 jobs'

A new doorway and access to the gymnasium will be provided as well.

The new cafés, gymnasium and office will be part of a wider redevelopment of the former supermarket.

In all, eight individual units have been created within the store, six of which have direct access from the street – including the three cafés – while the gymnasium and office will be accessed internally from within the shopping centre.

ABC Planning officers note in their report: “The subject site was formerly occupied by Sainsbury’s as one of the anchor units. They operated a supermarket on the ground floor with an in-store café, ancillary office space and warehouse/storage area. The unit comprises 5,170m2 gross floorspace.

“The units have been finished in glass and brick to the front to create a modern shop frontage similar to the facelift some of the units within Rushmere have seen in recent months.

“A new entrance pod will be provided on the northern elevation to serve the gym. A glazed panel will be inserted into the north-west corner of the building to maximise its natural lighting.

“New glazing will be installed along the east facing façade to ensure that the office is naturally lit.

“Access to it will be achieved through an existing doorway on the northern elevation and internal corridor through the reconfigured space.

“In the officer’s opinion, the proposed leisure development (gym) will by its very purpose improve the health and wellbeing of local communities and help build a shared and strong society.

“In addition, it will protect and enhance diversity in the range of town centre uses appropriate to their role and function, such as leisure facilities.

“Although gymnasiums, cafés, coffee shops and restaurants are sui generis and do not fall within any specific planning use class, the established planning practice is that they should be treated as a form of leisure, and so general retailing and town centre policies apply to them.

“Collectively they introduce diversity to the mix of existing land uses and provide additional reasons for shoppers and others to be attracted to the area, increase their time within the centre and spend more money, which in turn can be reinvested into the area through jobs, other trading partnerships and improvements to the physical building and associated services.

“The proposed units will visually read with the existing shopping centre, and the modern redesign of the building allows for a warmer, more welcoming frontage.

“The proposal will represent a total investment of £1.8 million into the area and will create jobs for approximately 73 members of staff. The proposal will have a positive effect on the local economy.”