Forest of Dean planners have waded into a planning dispute with a coldwater swimming business by insisting it applies for permission to provide hot food and drink at a café which was originally set up by the site's previous tenant.

Despite recently granting funds to help the business get started, the planning authority has taken issue with Court Farm Lakes at Woolaston for the facility's café and attached decking area which overlooks the water at the site which is just off the A48 and three miles east of Lydney. 

The lakes were previously used for fishing, but are now the focus for open water swimming gatherings, paddleboarding and floating 'SUP yoga' sessions.

Acting for Court Farm Lakes, which now runs the Fika Café within its retail offer under the slogan "Swim - Exercise - Socialise", Bristol-based Spratley and Partners have submitted a screenshot from Facebook which substantiates claims that the previous business was serving food at the café in November 2016.

The business's Instagram page shows it has built a following of more than 1,000 people and is proving to be a popular venue, being open from Wednesday to Sunday for options that include night swimming and occasional sauna sessions. 

Regular events include a celebration of the autumn equinox tomorrow (September 25). SUP Yoga is also offered as a regular session, which is a form of yoga practised while balancing on a paddleboard.

Nix Barnaville, director, told Punchline-Gloucester.com: "We never set up to be a big business, it's been all community-driven and we feel saddened to have to go through this application, which all came about because we asked for pre-application advice for a safari tent and woodburner for yoga and wellbeing events, as well as community use."

She added: "We're currently raising funds for floating wheelchairs and we have always been focused on helping people with additional needs. Our food supplies are sourced locally, supporting local producers and we also work with the Forest of Dean Food Hub, who provide all our vegetables for the café."

In its statement, Spratley Partners told Forest of Dean District Council: "This application seeks to regularise the historic development and use of the café building and its associated decking. This includes a small area of decking added recently, following a council grant, to the east of the café building itself."

The planning consultants added that before its client took on the tenancy in December 2023, the lakes were used as recreational fishing lakes, with a "portable office building" being approved some 23 years ago. Since then, the building had been replaced by a larger, permanent timber construction unit which had "been in use as a café serving hot and cold food to customers since at least 2010 as part of the fishing lakes."

Furthermore, aerial photographs submitted showed that the building has been in situ with associated decking since at least December 2009.

The agent added that a biodiversity self assessment has been completed to accompany the retrospective application. They said: "We understand that there is no impact on the surrounding flora and fauna due to the fact this is an unchanged historic development."

Citing distinct social and health benefits, wild and cold water swimming has seen a dramatic rise in popularity in the UK since the Pandemic.

The website WildOpenWater said: "One of the key factors driving the growth of wild swimming is its many health benefits. Swimming in natural bodies of water can help to reduce stress, improve circulation, and boost your mood. The cold water can also provide a natural form of pain relief, while the exercise itself can improve muscle tone, flexibility, and endurance", while the British Medical Journal suggests that people who swim in cold water experience a "significant reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression".

● Last month, British Marine, the trade association for the UK leisure, superyacht and small commercial marine industry, said that three million Brits took part in paddleboarding at least one or two times in 2022.