Sydney Councils increase fees for personal trainers using parks and beaches

Personal trainers in Sydney look likely to be hit with a rise in Council fees for outdoor classes at beaches and in parks.

The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that Randwick City Council last week voted to scrap its flat fee for using parks and beaches and will now charge trainers $2 per session for a fitness group of one to five people and $6 for a group of six to ten.

The newspaper quoted Maroubra-based with Step into Life trainer Matthew Lucas saying that the fees he pays Randwick Council would now rise from $1,390 to almost $4,000 a year.

"The residents are already paying for the upkeep of the park, why are they having to pay for it a second time?" Lucas asked, feeling that the fees were particularly unfair given there was no guarantee of the use of the space.

"If I showed up to do a session and there was someone playing a game of soccer then that's just bad luck, I would have to either cancel my session or find somewhere else to do it."

Randwick Mayor Murray Matson said the "user pays" system was the most equitable way to charge trainers who were running commercial businesses in public space, telling the Sydney Morning Herald  "the beaches in Randwick are some of the most heavily used in the eastern suburbs.

"Residents will always feel competition from someone making a commercial profit out of the area that they know their rates go towards upkeeping.

"We have to be able to justify to them allowing the person to use that park, for often quite considerable periods of time."

Councils are increasingly asking personal trainers to pay for running sessions in council-controlled parks and beaches, though the rates vary considerably. Randwick Council's rise in fees is expected to be followed by other Sydney Councils.

Waverley Council charges an annual fee of between $550 and $2,040, depending on the size of the class, for trainers wanting to use popular beachfront parks, while Manly Council charges between $335 and $2,551.50.

By contrast Mosman Council requires trainers to pay a $70 annual licence fee while Woollahra Council charges $235 for a two-year permit. 

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