A man who uses a personal training studio at his parent’s home has been granted retrospective planning permission to continue this use.

Ross Colbourne, a fitness instructor who recently moved out from his parent’s house but returns to work from the fitness studio, discovered he had to apply for a change of use planning permission because he no longer lived there.

The planning committee of Fareham Borough Council heard that the studio in the garden of a home in Lansdowne Avenue in Portchester was where his work as a personal trainer was based from 2020. 

A planning document said, “We feel it offers [Mr Colbourne’s] clients in the local community a good alternative for fitness, when they are not comfortable in going to a busy public gym.”

Mr Colbourne had since moved out of his parents home but went back there to use it for work.

He had been unaware he needed to apply for a change of use at the site because he no longer lived there.

The committee approved a change of use to a flexible use at the site so it can be used as a mixture of residential and a personal training business or returned to being used solely as a home once the business was moved. 

Members were told that the permission to use it solely as residential once the business ceased was necessary to do it now as part of this application.

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It meant the applicant would not have to go through the applying for reverting use back to a home later.

The business operating hours will be Monday to Friday only, 7am to 7pm and not at weekends or public holidays.

The personal training business is allowed a maximum of five clients per day and no more than two clients on site at any one time that are training together.

The officer’s report said there had been 19 letters of representations received by the council: seven objecting and ten supporting the application. They raised concerns that included: parking and noise issues and one said: “Clients sometimes cause the dogs to bark”. 

The planning chiefs unanimously approved the application on June 18.