Café can become gym after plans approved

A former café can be turned into a community gym after planning permission was granted.

The FMG Project is expected to take over the former Velo café building, in Rose Walk, at The Level, to use as a gym after Brighton and Hove City Council granted consent.

The plans, approved yesterday (Tuesday 17 February), included installing insulated timber stud walls that match the existing wood cladding in place of five glazed double doors on the north side.

Two other doors will be filled in and one will be replaced with a new window.

On the south side, a further five doors will go, with three filled in and two replaced with windows.

Infill panels and new windows will be required to match the existing building materials.

In the planning application, the FMG Project said that the gym would “reintroduce a thriving, positive presence at the centre of The Level, supporting both the park environment and the wider community”.

The FMG Project was set up in 2021 by the Friday Media Group and operates two free gym-based coaching programmes for young people.

The youth charity, based in Kensington Street, in the North Laine area of Brighton, plans to expand to “provide affordable inclusive access to exercise”.

The organisation works with young people who are not engaged with mainstream education and training, who may have mental health issues, learning difficulties, low income or a criminal record.

The café building opened as Velo and has since operated as Tomato Dolce, Salato and, most recently, The Level Café, which closed in 2021.

Since the £1 million building opened in 2013, it has had to have its eco-roof replaced – and was then forced to close when water came up through the floor.

Flooding at The Level was partly a result of damage caused to the Victorian brick drainage system when the skate park was built there.