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After 2 years since being contacted by the City of Yarra in May 2008 about whether Fitstyler was conducting Boot camps on the war memorial in Barkley Gardens in Richmond we now have resolution.

In what started as a highly restrictive policy against fitness trainers in the City of Yarra has ended in a more amicable policy “Commercial Fitness Activity Personal Trainers Policy and Permit System” that balances the needs of the local community, park users, commercial fitness operators and the long term sustainability of open space infrastructure.

With the growing popularity of outdoor fitness training, we needed a policy that addresses not only the current but future usage of parks and gardens. More importantly it gives the public confidence in knowing that any fitness trainer undertaking exercise classes will need to have Public Liability Insurance of $10,000,000 and Public Indemnity of $5,000,000 together with appropriate qualifications.

A big thank you to the commercial fitness operators, Kinect Australia, The Age and the City of Yarra officers, in particular Mark Dornau, Greg Anders, Stuart Grant, Jenny O’Brien and Caitlin Ryan. Without their support and belief in the benefits of providing accessible exercise programs to the public, none of this would have been possible.

No doubt there will be similar challenges in the future with councils who have not formally addressed the regulation of their parks and gardens. I can only hope that the process, documentation and outcomes from the City of Yarra can form the foundations and direction for future councils to adopt.

Like I always like to say, persistence overrides resistance, whether it’s trying to lose weight to changing a proposed by-law:))

Yarra Council has introduces a new Personal Trainer Local Law for commercial fitness operators operating in parks across Abbotsford, Clifton Hill, Fairfield, Fitzroy North, Fitzroy, Richmond, Carlton North and Richmond.
Further details can be viewed in our Yarra Council personal trainer permit update.

It’s great to see that after getting an exceptional response from the public, the media and commercial fitness operators we now have a much need local law for any personal Trainer or commercial fitness operators in the City of Yarra.

The local law will not include restrictions on the number of permit applications or charges. These will be reviewed during the 6 month trial and introduced at the conclusion of the trial.

The parks that are sanctioned for commercial fitness activities have been revised from the original draft document

Well after a solid 3 months of campaigning Yarra City Council have revised their proposed permit structure.

It was very comforting to bask in the knowledge that the sum of many voices can bring about change.

With a few outstanding issues to be resolved, we are geting closer to a permit structure that will provide a sustainable future for all commercial fitness operators.

Once we have received a summary from Yarra council, we will publish the minutes of the meeting as well as the revised permit structure.

There are only 2 Bootcamp companies that conduct Group fitness classes at Edinburgh Gardens and one fitness trainer who does one on one training….a very small footprint on one of the largest parks in the City of Yarra!

On averarge 10-12 people attend with numbers dwidling to less than 8 during the depths of winter.
These 2 small businesses will be totally banned based on the proposed policy.

There are no objections to paying a licence fee for the commercial use of the park.
The fee should reflect the costs of administering the permit system, maintenance, wear and tear on park infra structure.
Unrealistic fees prohibit businesses from being commercial viable while necessitating the need to increase session costs that are absorbed by the client.

The average amount of sessions clients attend is 2-3 times a week to get maximum results and lose weight/get fit. Once a week will never achieve the results they desire.

Similairly can a business be commercially viable conducting one session a week at the rate of $38 per session at one of only 4 parks deemed appropriate for group training.

Both companies utlise the whole park without concentrating on any one area.
Secondly sessions are conducted in off peak times being at 6-7am, 6.30-7.30pm Monday – Friday and before 10am on Saturdays.

People have the right to train outdoors in our beautiful parks as rate payers.
Group fitness offers affordable exercise that is easilly accessible to the local community.

Edinburgh Gardens, is one of the largest parks in the City of Yarra and the council proposed policy is not allowing any group fitness classes that train over 6 people, therefore eliminating those existing business from the park.