New yoga studio and café could be coming to Chichester

A new yoga studio and yoga café could be coming to Chichester city centre.
Yoga poses stock imageYoga poses stock image
Yoga poses stock image

The proposal to adapt two units of Gordon House at Church Square, Eastgate has been submitted to Chichester District Council.

The units were previously home to the popular Forum café, which closed last year.

The units at Gordon House, Church Square. Photo from the planning applicationThe units at Gordon House, Church Square. Photo from the planning application
The units at Gordon House, Church Square. Photo from the planning application
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One of the units would be transformed into a small yoga studio while the other would become a connected café, with the two spaces divided by an acoustic curtain.

Chichester is currently ‘desperately underserved’ for yoga studios, despite the growing popularity of the activity, according to the Heritage Statement submitted as part of the application.

None of the four existing studios in the city offer ‘a membership-free, dedicated drop-in yoga studio offering an array of classes to benefit both local residents and those who work nearby’, the document states.

A yoga studio at this location could help ‘bolster the struggling retail industry’, according to the document, which notes that a café alone is unlikely to be sustainable.

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The document states: “Forum, the most recent tenant, was well-loved and attended, but current business rates make it difficult for independent companies to survive.”

A service based local business which is a ‘specific destination’ is more likely to succeed than simply another food and drink option, the applicant concluded.

Planning permission to convert one of the units from an A1/A3 use to D2 use is being sought.

To see the application in full, search reference 19/02171/FUL on Chichester District Council’s planning website.