A five-bay golf simulator at Multipark Burntwood was refused on 4 September. The landlord applied again ten days later, and the council decides by 10 November.

Plans for an indoor golf simulator centre on a Burntwood industrial estate have been refused. Ten days later, the landlord applied again.

Lichfield District Council refused permission on 4 September to turn Unit B2 at Multipark Burntwood, on Cannel Road, into indoor recreation space with five simulator bays. The new application was received on 14 September. The council’s consultation on it runs to 6 October, and its deadline for a decision is 10 November (refused application 26/00838/COU; new application 26/01134/COU).

The unit may already be getting ready. When a planning officer visited on 2 September, a sign advertising “Drive In Golf” had gone up, and the unit appeared to be being fitted out for that use. That is recorded in the officer’s report.

What was planned

The application was made by LCP Properties Limited, which owns the estate. The officer’s report describes the scheme as:

  • five golf simulator bays, with four to five people per bay
  • a bar and reception area, a café, a shop and changing rooms
  • opening from 10am to 10pm every day
  • 13 staff in total, with four on site at any one time
  • an average of 30 customers a day
  • eight parking spaces, including one disabled bay and one electric vehicle charging point

The unit is 275 square metres, the middle unit of a steel-framed block. No external changes were proposed.

Why it was refused

Nobody objected. Burntwood Town Council raised no objection, and neither did Staffordshire County Council’s highways team or the district’s environmental health officers. The site notice drew no public responses.

The officer also accepted that no better site existed in or near Burntwood town centre, so the scheme passed what planners call the sequential test.

The refusal turned on one policy. Multipark Burntwood is a designated employment area. Under Policy EMP1 of the district’s Local Plan Allocations document, a non-industrial use is only supported there if the applicant shows two things:

  • comprehensive marketing of the site for at least 12 months
  • a financial appraisal showing any employment use is unviable

The council’s decision notice says insufficient evidence of either was provided.

The officer’s report adds two points. The applicant’s planning statement relied on a policy, EMP2, that is no longer part of the development plan, having been replaced by the Local Plan documents of 2015 and 2019. And the estate was only granted permission in 2023, with every other unit taken up. In the officer’s view, that “suggests that the Unit is unlikely to demonstrate that it is unviable for employment uses” (officer’s report; decision notice).

What the landlord says now

The new application adds a letter from LCP Properties, dated 8 September, aimed at exactly those two gaps. Its main claims:

  • the unit has been marketed since June 2024, jointly with agents Andrew Dixon & Co, before building work finished in August 2024
  • it has been empty for two years, and the few enquiries were mostly for leisure or other non-industrial uses
  • demand for small industrial units under 5,000 sq ft has “dropped dramatically over the past 18 months”
  • the golf centre would employ more people than a typical industrial tenant of a unit this size

The letter also sets out what the empty unit costs. LCP puts lost rent at £37,000 a year, with a £3,500 service charge shortfall, £1,500 of insurance and £12,000 of business rates. It says letting for industrial use would need “a substantial reduction in the rent” and long rent-free periods.

LCP says the estate already has other leisure tenants that were granted a change of use: a children’s soft play, a mixed martial arts academy, a trampoline and gymnastics club and, most recently, a padel club (LCP Properties letter, 8 September 2026).

Whether a letter meets a policy that asks for marketing details and a financial appraisal is for the council to judge. The refused scheme and the new one describe the same use of the same unit.

What it means for you

  • If you want to comment, the new application is 26/01134/COU on the council’s planning register, and it is open for comments. The consultation period ends on 6 October.
  • If you were hoping to book a bay, there is no planning permission for the use yet. The council’s deadline for deciding is 10 November.
  • If the second bid fails, the applicant can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. For the first refusal, that window is six months from the decision notice.

Getting there without a car is possible. The officer’s report notes a bus stop by Morrisons, about 420 metres away, served by the number 61 to Lichfield.

Our planning news page tracks the district’s bigger schemes, including the Local Plan 2046 consultation, which sets out how much employment land the district will need.

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