The five-bay golf simulator at Multipark Burntwood, refused in September, was approved on 22 October after two years of marketing evidence. It is already open.

The indoor golf simulator at Multipark Burntwood has planning permission. Lichfield District Council approved it on 22 October, after refusing the same use of the same unit in September.

The centre is already running. The officer’s report says the use “has already commenced”, so the permission is retrospective (Lichfield District Council planning register, 26/01134/COU).

The quick answer

  • Approved: change of use of Unit B2, Multipark Burntwood, Cannel Road, from warehouse to indoor golf simulation, decided by officers on 22 October 2026.
  • What changed: the landlord sent evidence that the unit had been marketed for more than two years with no warehouse or industrial tenant.
  • Objections: none from residents; Burntwood Town Council did not object.

What changed since September

The first application was refused in September because the unit sits in a designated employment area. Local plan policy only allows a non-employment use there if the owner shows the unit cannot be let for employment. That means at least 12 months of marketing, or a financial appraisal. The council found insufficient evidence of either in the first application. Our September story set out that refusal in full.

The landlord, LCP Properties Limited, applied again on 14 September. This time it included a statement from its letting agents, Andrew Dixon and Company. The officer’s report quotes it:

  • the estate was finished in August 2024 and Unit B2 has been empty since then
  • it has been marketed since June 2024, with boards on the unit and at the estate entrance, a brochure, and listings on LoopNet, Rightmove and Zoopla
  • the neighbouring units B1 and B3 did not let straight away either, taking until November 2024 and March 2025
  • enquiries for Unit B2 “were typically leisure or sui generis uses”, with none active from traditional employment users

The agents also said the occupier intends to hire “10+ local staff”. In their view, that is more than a warehouse or workshop of that size would employ.

The planning officer checked the agent’s account independently. Street imagery from September 2025 shows the unit with a “to let” sign, and the landlord’s online brochure dates from about September 2024. The report concludes that comprehensive marketing “for at least 12 months” had been shown, and that there is “currently no demand for any employment generating use” (officer’s report).

The officer also accepted a sequential test from the applicant’s planners. It found no town-centre or edge-of-centre building that could take the scheme: 275 square metres, at least 6.5 metres high, with eight parking spaces.

What the permission allows

The plans described in the officer’s report are unchanged from the first bid:

  • five simulator bays, each for four or five people
  • a bar and reception, a cafĂ©, a shop and changing rooms
  • open 10am to 10pm every day
  • 13 staff in total, with four on site at any one time: two golf professionals and two general staff
  • around 30 customers a day on average
  • eight parking spaces, one for disabled drivers and one with an electric vehicle charger

The decision notice carries a single condition: the unit must be kept in line with the approved plans (decision notice).

No residents wrote in about the second application. The site notice expired on 15 October. Staffordshire County Council’s highways team sent no new comments; on the first bid it had raised no objection, as long as the parking spaces were kept.

What it means for you

  • The golf centre can carry on trading lawfully from Unit B2.
  • The case shows how the employment-land rule works in practice. On estates like Multipark, a leisure or gym use needs evidence that warehouse and workshop tenants have been sought and not found.
  • The decision was made by officers under delegated powers. There is no third-party right of appeal against an approval.

More on applications across the district is on our Lichfield planning news page.

Sources