Seaside sauna is compelled to shut after neighbours complained bare individuals have been seen from their properties

A seaside sauna is being forced to close after neighbours complained naked people were visible from their homes. 

The Scandinavian-style sauna, which overlooks Caswell Bay Beach in South Wales, applied for planning permission after operating from a detached house without official consent.

Bosses of the sauna lodged a back-dated application to keep it open, but it was rejected by planners following complaints from neighbours about ‘naked and semi-naked people being visible’.

The Halsa Sauna has been operating since 2023 and promotes itself as ‘beachside bliss where sauna meets the sea’.

Boss Gareth Davies said he he created a high-quality tourist business which was shielded from wider public viewing points.

Swansea Council’s tourism board advertised Halsa Sauna on their website before realising it did not have the right permissions. 

An application was then made retrospectively on Mr Davies’ behalf, which said the sauna was ‘located in a secluded location along the Wales National Coastal Path’. 

‘The site is shielded from wider public vantage points and is within the residential curtilage of the property,’ the application said. 

It said up to eight sauna customers could attend at any one time, although four was the average number.

Alongside the sauna were three cold water barrels, a steam room, showers and a changing area surrounded by a fence.

It also said ‘arrivals and departures are carefully managed to ensure no conflict’ between bookings.

Bird and bat boxes would also be added to build on the biodiversity. 

But complainants highlighted that the customers had to park hundreds of metres away and walk along the road to the sauna where there is no pavement along some parts.

Council officers turned down the application in the end on nine grounds, including concerns around noise and privacy issues.

Swansea council received 43 objections, raising numerous concerns such as naked and semi-naked customers being visible and shouting and screaming coming from the business.

Other complaints were made over its lack of toilets, parking issues and claims that cold barrel wastewater had been emptied down the embankment outside.

One objector wrote: ‘Visitors to the sauna do not understand the private parking arrangement and often occupy spaces belonging to residents and bona fide holidaymakers resulting in conflict and stress for managers of Redcliffe Apartments.’ 

These complaints fell out of their jurisdiction, planning officers reportedly said, with a lack of toilets not deemed a material planning consideration as well as anti-social behaviour and access and parking related to civil matters.

Among the reasons for refusal, the planning report said: ‘The development, by reason of its elevated nature, scale and prominent siting within a countryside setting, appears visually intrusive and overly dominant and forms a discordant feature within this sensitive location.

‘The type and intensity of noise and disturbance associated with the facility are not considered appropriate within a location in close proximity to residential uses and within a designated countryside setting.’ 

There were also privacy concerns with warnings that the external staircase could overlook neighbours’ homes. 

The report added the sauna and three cold water barrels failed ‘to conserve or enhance the natural beauty of the Gower Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty resulting in harm to the visual amenities of the area.’

Drainage issues were also raised about the showers and barrels, however Mr Davies clarified in an update from 2025 that the barrel wastewater was disposed of by the foul sewer and that there was also a main sewers connection.

The Daily Mail contacted Halsa Sauna for comment but they did not respond.