A new gym has been planned at a mansion used to film Doctor Who in Chalfont St Giles after a previous proposal for the facility was refused permission.

Elmswell Ltd has revised its plans in a new application, which seeks to extend the existing swimming pool house to form a gym at Elmswell House, Nightingales Lane.

Elmswell was used as a location in the ‘Paradise Towers’ episode of Doctor Who in 1987 and neighbours Noel Gallagher’s former luxury pad ‘the Sheiling’.

Following advice from council planning officers, the applicant’s revised plans have been designed to better replicate the existing appearance, materials and design of the property and include a flat rather than pitched roof, to keep the height of the extension to a minimum.

Refusing the previous plans, planners wrote: “The resultant dwelling would be significantly larger than the original dwelling on the site which has been previously extended.

“As such, the proposed works cannot be considered to be subordinate to the size and scale of the original dwellinghouse and constitute inappropriate development within the Green Belt.”

Officers also complained that the applicant had failed to submit a preliminary ecological survey or any bat surveys for the property, which is located near to an ancient woodland.

In its new plans, the applicant confirmed that whilst the site is in close proximity to a woodland, ‘there are no bat roosts or breeding bird nests within the pool house or any of the buildings within the zone of influence’.