WESTBURY planners have objected to a retrospective application by a frontline Covid-19 nurse to keep a gym created in a shipping container in her garden for physio after she was injured at work.
Councillors at a recent highways, planning and development meeting heard there had been a couple of online objections to the bid at 12 Mustang Close, and that the grey container could be seen from a passing public footpath.
Proposing objection, cllr Gordon King said, “To what extent if at all does this application distract from, reinforce or enhance [the close’s] sense of identity? The proposed development is large, bulky, unattractive and obtrusive visually.
“It’s difficult to visualise how this will contribute or be sympathetic to its surroundings. It’s potentially unsightly and quite possibly brutish.”
Cllr Jane Russ seconded and all members voted in favour of opposing the bid.
In a statement accompanying the application the nurse said, “Having suffered an accident at work, while attending to an emergency as the nurse in charge I dislocated my shoulder and injured surrounding muscles. I was in desperate need of the possibility of rehab/physio.
“I am a frontline Covid nurse, and with the pandemic and continued lockdowns I was unable to attend gym and physio, so we were desperate to find a way for me to do physio and rehab at home.
“We saw a shipping container advertised and the dimensions specced out perfectly, so we bought it and had it delivered.
“The home gym became my refuge from my daily struggle at work. Both my husband and I are frontline keyworkers and our mental health is suffering from knowing we are exposed to the potential risk of Covid-19 daily and the risk of bringing it home to our two young children.
“The gym is allowing us a break away from the worries, and we both know that being in shape can be beneficial to fighting Covid-19 should we get infected at work.
“Our girls are too young to benefit from the gym but I believe that if they grow up with me and my husband exercising then hopefully they will be keen to join in when they are older.
“I have been overweight my entire life, this is my chance to change this, and to fight my mental health problems by knowing I am doing something good for myself.”
