City Council approves plans for new 24-hour gym

The operators behind plans for a 24-hour gym at Citypoint on Prospect Hill have been given the green light for the development, after revisions were made to their proposals.

Snap Fitness – which already has more than 2,000 fitness clubs around the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and India – has sought permission for a change of use of a retail unit at Citypoint (the building which also houses TK Maxx) to a gym.

The upper floors of the building are operated as holiday apartments by the nearby Western Hotel.

Australian investors Scott Paul Jones and Matthew Paul Quinn said the facility would be open to members only, with secure card access, and all members must undertake a club induction.

“The club induction covers all rules and regulations, including club security, noise control to ensure no members drop weights, and incident / complaint reporting,” the application reads.

The club is staffed for 60 hours per week, and outside of hours, managers are on call – duress alarms are also installed in case of medical emergency.

According to the application, the gym will have low volume background music, which is set and locked by the manager in the office.

“No loud bass beats typically associated with most gyms,” the application reads, adding that all equipment has TV screens used with headphones and rubber flooring mitigates potential noise.

“Snap Fitness is a globally recognised 24/7 brand. The ‘24/7’ element is recognised and the facility simply cannot operate without it. It reduces the traffic in the gym at peak times as customers are able to train when it most suits them; this in itself reduces the noise as attendance in any given hour is reduced,” the application reads.

The landlord, Calibrate Advisors – part of the UK-based Calibrate Partners investment fund – has consented to the unit being used as a gym.

The City Council noted the placing of the signage on the building was on an upper floor, and therefore “does not respect the scale of the existing shop front nor to it respect or complement the prevailing character of the street, which is located beside an area identified as the Eyre Square Architectural Conservation Area”.

They asked Snap Fitness to revise the signage, which was subsequently lowered by the applicants.

Planners approved the application following the revisions to the plans.