I am getting a little annoyed at the Brisbane City Council and other Brisbane park authorities who seem to have a bee in their bonnet about personal trainers training their clients in some popular parks.
Not only now do we have to pay a monthly permit to use popular parklands but they are hot on my heels at Baby Boot Camp saying we are conducting unlawful activity in the parklands at New Farm. Wanting to know what times we will be in and out of the venues, with what equipment, group numbers and where we are going to be within the parklands at all times.
At Kangaroo Point I have been instructed to take down my ring rows and crank it system that I have been hanging over a very sturdy metal beam. They said to me that we could pull it over. Impossible…you could hang 600 people off it before it moved. This is such a shame as I actually thought it was an ingenious structure that was purpose built for fitness trainers.
We’ve been instructed to move off stairs in particular parklands and that we can’t use them to run up and down.
At a park in Moorooka they instructed one of my trainers to move out of the rotunda there. She was told she could be on the grassed area 20 metres away but not in the rotunda.
At New Farm no exercise can be done in the rotunda area as it is heritage listed. I understand that they don’t want us standing on the painted seats, but we can’t even box in there, or use it as a bit of shelter during wet weather. I have had to argue the point about holding seminars / meet and greets in the rotunda area for Baby Boot Camp, this they have allowed so long as we are seated and not doing any exercise.
The piazza at Southbank is also off limits. During wet weather we used to transfer our mums & bubs over to the piazza but now they are roping it off. I can understand they do get events, but if it is not being used for events then why can’t they allow members of the community to use it? No doubt it has something to do with public liability as they probably don’t want anyone slipping over.
This is the tip of the iceberg of recent “run ins” all within the space of 2 months.
It appears as though parklands in Brisbane are just for viewing purposes & walking only these days.
I have explained to council representatives that this is a shame as my business is simply trying to get people moving and that we do not operate in gyms as many people prefer the great outdoors and that we are simply trying to offer our clients interesting and creative workouts using our natural surrounds.
The services we offer at MissFit should be encouraged not discouraged by the council. We are not causing a nuisance and we always leave the parklands in a perfect condition. Members of the public are always interested in our Baby Boot Camp classes, as are tourists to Brisbane. I am not going to let these recent “run ins” scare me off, but instead I am going to battle on in 2012 and continue to offer an outdoor fitness solution to women in Brisbane.