A popular mobile sauna business at St Catherine’s Breakwater is once again facing an uncertain future due to “planning restrictions” that could force it to close for at least three months later this year.
Cole McLean, owner of Sauna Society, has warned that the planning process is putting his business at risk despite its popularity among islanders and tourists.
Since launching 18 months ago, Cole said the seaside sauna has welcomed over 5,000 visitors and gained recognition from Time Out Magazine and National Geographic as one of Jersey’s top activities.
Cole’s current planning permission allows him to operate at St Catherine’s until September 2025.
However, he will then be required to shut down for at least three months while the Planning Committee decides whether the sauna can return.
The entrepreneur has said this period of uncertainty will have a serious impact on his livelihood.
“I don’t understand what they think I should do during this time, with this being my sole income and my livelihood,” he wrote in a social media post earlier this week.
“This uncertainty threatens my ability to provide for our loyal customers, keep my business afloat, and hinders the opening of a second larger site in St Helier.”
Cole has criticised the decision-making process, arguing that planning officials have not visited his business and do not understand how a sea view is essential to the experience.
He believes moving the sauna to a nearby car park, as suggested by planners, would fundamentally change the offering.
“Placing the sauna in a nearby car park out of sight is simply not the same experience,” said Cole.
“These people [on the Planning Committee] don’t speak for the majority of islanders who visit us, and they simply have no rationale or moral compass when making these decisions.”
Cole has also questioned what he sees as inconsistencies in the planning system – pointing out that other beachside kiosks and trailers have been granted permission on a permanent basis.
“I don’t understand—after spending significant amounts of money on obtaining planning last year, I was only given 14 months, but other beachside kiosks and trailers have been given permission to stay indefinitely?” he said.
He has called for a “sensible solution” that would allow Sauna Society to remain open while he works on expanding into St Helier, where he hopes to create a second site this summer.
What other hurdles has the business faced?
The fitness enthusiast launched his business in the summer of 2023, with the unit first nestled in the car park south of the Watersplash.
As the chillier months arrived, Cole decided to look east instead, and offer people the chance to take an dip off St Catherine’s slip and reheat while looking out to sea – but setting up business at the Breakwater brought with it red tape and problems that threatened to see Sauna Society run out of steam.
Just two weeks after the move, Cole was told that he had to move the sauna from the top of the slip as the land was Government-owned and it required planning permission if he wanted to stay for more than 28 days.
The sauna was subsequently moved next to the canoe club building, with Cole describing the relocation as “a bit of an extra walk for our sea dips but not the end of the world”.
He was told that he had to submit a new planning application if he wanted to remain on the site, close to the Canoe Club on the widened area of pavement.
Cole submitted a planning application for this new location in December 2023, something he felt was unnecessary due to the high cost of compiling an application and the fact that the site is “only a trailer”.
However, the submission was refused in January 2024, with Planning stating that it lacked evidence and required a heritage impact assessment, transport statement and visual impact assessment to be undertaken and submitted.
The most recent application aimed to obtain permission to stay at the Canoe Club site for the second time, which he finally obtained in July following a long-running battle with the planning department.
During the process, Cole was buoyed by a huge swell of support, with social media posts and news articles generating hundreds of responses, ranging from other businesspeople working in different trades who feel similarly, keen sauna goers who want to see it thrive and other well-wishers.
Read Cole’s social media statement in full below…
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