Aberystwyth Gymnastics Club has again been denied its ambitious plans to transform an unused unit on Glanyrafon Industrial Estate into a permanent home.

The club submitted fresh plans for a change of use for the vacant Unit A on the site – previously a plumbing business - that would see it developed into a dedicated centre for the 24 year old club, which has seen numbers swell over the past two decades.

The plan, however, was refused by Ceredigion council planners this week, a year after a similar scheme was also rejected.

The club currently run evening and weekend sessions at Penglais Sports Hall, but were hoping that a dedicated space for members will allow the club to grow further with many children on a “huge waiting lists that is only increasing.”

Aberystwyth Gymnastic Club has been running since January 2000, and documents said the club now has seven fully qualified coaches and 260 gymnasts.

The club felt that membership could expand to over 500 in the new venue and said that “with a sport specific facility available, the possibilities for growth are endless.”

The club hoped that the plan would help Aberystwyth become “the Centre of Excellence for the sport of tumbling in west Wales.”

While the club were hopeful the plan would get the green light, a similar application for a change of use to leisure activities was refused in March last year after planners ruled that the “proposed development if approved would undermine the role and function of the Glanyrafon industrial estate as land allocated for economic development.”

Planner said on that occasion that “the application has failed to demonstrate why the needs of the gymnastics club cannot be met at existing facilities.”

The club then resubmitted plans in September, before those were withdrawn, with the latest application put forward later in October.

The gymnastics club said the venue would also “be offered on a commercial basis for hire”, as well as providing opportunities for other activities such as yoga classes for adults.

In documents, the club argued that because the building has been vacant and not leased, chaging its use to a gym should be approved as its “present use class is no longer viable.”

The club said it had “supplied additional information” to planners” to show full compliance with policies” and was hopeful the new plan would be approved.

However Ceredigion County Council planning officers rejected the plans again.

In a decision report, council planning officers said that “the application has failed to demonstrate how the development could be implemented without giving rise to an unacceptable adverse impact on highway safety and movement” and that the scheme “if approved would undermine the role and function of the Glanyrafon industrial estate.”

Planning officers said the application “has failed to demonstrate why the needs of the gymnastics club cannot be met through existing consents” and “insufficient information has been provided detailing the expected level of participation/visitor numbers and requisite parking provision during Gymnastic Competitions.”