New gym in Oswestry hoping to build 'supportive community' for fitness lovers

Proposals for the new venue, planned to be hosted in newly-built units at Mile House Farm in Oswestry, were submitted to Shropshire Council this week. 

If a change of use for the building is approved, four new jobs will be created by the venture, according to documents submitted with the application.

Unity4 Performance director Dan Sissons says the new gym, which is planned to open to the wider public in June this year, will focus on "small group and results driven training", with the aim of creating a community feel which could be lacking in other venues in the town.

"We saw a gap in Oswestry - there's a few gyms that offer essentially rent, you pay monthly and you rent their space and equipment. What we do differently is every session is coach-led, so we'll have a maximum of around ten people per session with a coach where everything is pre-planned and pre-programmed," he said.

"You don't need to know anything, you don't need any experience whatsoever, everything is coached and taken forward. We're trying to build a supportive community which is a bit more than a gym, just to bring people together in the love of fitness."

Former north Wales rugby player Dan had to retire from the sport after a knee injury, before moving into cross-fit competitions to continue his passion for training and competition.

"I originally came from rugby but I tore my ACL so I transitioned into weightlifting, but I still missed that community aspect of rugby. We wanted to bring that in because I think it's really important for people to work out and celebrate success together," he added.

"All three of us are British weightlifting coaches so that's where we come from - we all compete in CrossFit and have trained in CrossFit for ten years plus and we just wanted to set up our own space for community benefit and to get people off the couch."

The planning application can be viewed on the Shropshire Council planning portal using reference 25/01045/FUL.