The Victorian-era Stoke Newington Pumping House is already home to an indoor climbing centre and could soon get a sauna cabin in its grounds
A new sauna has been tipped to come to Hackney as a non-profit organisation seeks the council’s permission to install facilities next door to a local climbing centre.
Community Sauna CIC has chosen the Grade II* listed Stoke Newington Pumping Station, commonly known as the ‘Castle’ after its medieval-style architecture, as the next destination for a dry heated hut in the borough, joining its existing site at the Hackney Bath House.
The proposed development includes a timber cabin for up to 16 people atop a concrete slab at the southern boundary of the climbing centre’s grounds, and will include two cold showers – but no cold plunge pool.
At a planning meeting on Wednesday (September 2), Stephen Moorhouse, on behalf of the CIC, said: “Our vision is quite simple: to bring communities together around an activity that improves wellbeing and to make that experience accessible to as many people as possible.”
But the plans received 12 formal objections from neighbouring residents who raised several concerns, including that the new facilities could be too noisy and over-develop a site for community gardening – though the council said this adjacent land would not be disturbed.
The opponents also argued that proposed LED lighting would glare into neighbouring homes and the facility could become so popular that customers would cram and block the nearby footpaths.
However, planning officers have already given broad support for the development. They judged that there would be no significant rise in foot traffic, and the proposed cabin was small enough not to compromise neighbours’ light and privacy.
Town hall planners have recommended that the council approve the sauna for a temporary fixed term of five years. The latest development follows the establishment of several sauna complexes across Hackney, Newham, Southwark and Waltham Forest.
There is also a sauna located in Canary Wharf at the Sea Lanes lido.
A final planning decision is expected within five working days of Wednesday’s committee hearing.
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