Welsh sauna reopens in fight against planning refusal

Jules Millward

The owner of a popular sauna has reopened a location and plans to appeal after retrospective planning permission for the site was rejected by the local council.

Hikitalo owner William Jenkins asked residents of Rest Bay to “come together” in an appeal on Instagram and launched a petition to save the popular wood-fired sauna, which already has over 1800 signatures.

In the heartfelt video, he said: “It’s been as clear as day that our community feels just as sad about [the closure] as we do. It was never our intention to close this sauna… what we want is for us to all come together and voice our opinions.”

Hikitalo is a community wellbeing space with another location in Sandy Bay, Porthcawl. They recently announced they are also opening a ‘first of its kind’ sauna village in Cardiff.

Hikitalo was born through Jenkins’ time spent abroad, and his experience with mental health issues. His journey started in 2019 with cold exposure, which eventually led him to discover the power of heat and the sauna community.

Bridgend County Borough Council’s main reason for refusal for the Rest Bay site was due to the application being outside the settlement area, and a failure to meet (one of 14) specific criteria.

Jenkins said: “We are deeply disappointed by Bridgend Council’s decision to refuse our application for Rest Bay Sauna.

“As requested, we commissioned independent ecologists, landscape architects and planning consultants, all of whom confirmed that our sauna poses no meaningful harm to the environment or the landscape. Natural Resources Wales raised no objection.

“Porthcawl Town Council raised no objection. It’s important to note that where the sauna is situated is common land but privately owned and we have had the approval from the landowner to be there.

“We also want to be clear on something that has caused significant confusion online. The land where Rest Bay Sauna sits is privately owned common land. It is not council owned. We have had the full knowledge and permission of the landowner from day one. We have never operated without that permission and we never would.

“What makes this particularly frustrating is that Bridgend County Borough Council has ambitious regeneration plans for Porthcawl and Sandy Bay, with tourism, leisure and wellbeing at the very heart of that vision.

“We are exactly the kind of business those plans describe. We have welcomed over 30,000 visitors, we support local employment, and we have become a genuinely vital part of this community’s mental and physical health.

“Over the past year we have extended open invitations to councillors to come and see what we do, meet our community and hear directly from the people whose lives have been changed by this place. With the exception of MP Chris Elmore, not a single councillor has taken us up on that invitation.

“We believe the grounds for refusal are weak and we therefore intend to appeal.”

Protected landscape

A Bridgend County Borough Council spokesperson said: “All planning applications are assessed against national and local planning policies and this particular retrospective application relates to a site within a protected landscape at Rest Bay.

“It’s important to note that land ownership does not determine whether planning permission is granted or not. Decisions are generally based on land use policies and not who owns the land. Whether the land is privately owned, public, common land or agricultural, this is unlikely to determine if planning permission is required or not and it’s not unusual for the Local Planning Authority to receive applications involving all different types of land.

“Reasons for this application’s refusal include highway safety concerns, not being able to ensure that the integrity of the countryside would be conserved and enhanced, and that the design of the facility is considered out of character for a protected landscape.”

They added: “The proposal also attracted a number of objections, and the applicant was encouraged to seek pre-application advice, particularly due to the development’s sensitive location. In this case, it had previously been made clear that planning permission would be required and that developments of this nature within a protected landscape would be unlikely to be supported.

“The decision was made following a full assessment of material planning considerations and similar proposals at this location have also been refused previously.”

You can sign the petition to save the Rest Bay sauna here.