The Bondi fitness scene is in turmoil! In a move that’s got the locals fired up, Waverley Council stripped all the weights from the popular Bondi Park Fitness Station at the north end of the beach, citing concerns over “public safety” and general poor gym etiquette.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the council cited “concerns the site had become a public liability risk”, thanks to free weights doing a bit too much roaming off-leash.
That decision has left regulars absolutely gobsmacked, especially those who treated the outdoor gym as a proper Bondi institution. “How can you have a gym without gym equipment?” asked long-time user Joey Pamment, summing up the community’s collective disbelief to the SMH.
For locals it seems that the station was never just about showing off who could lift heavier, it was about community — a rare space where all sorts worked out side by side.
Another user of the outdoor gym Jake Blundell told Today, “They’re just lovely people and people love training, I see the same people there all the time helping each other, chatting, lapping up the sun, just loving that Bondi life.”
But not everyone’s buying the pitch.
Local fitness trainer Vix Erber told the SMH that the gym’s mojo dojo casa vibes were a major deterrent: “It’s really just a bro area and full of testosterone and that’s why so many women train in gyms instead – unless you wanted to pick up a bloke, it’s not a space you’d ever consider using.”
Waverley Council insists this isn’t about hating on gains. “Waverley Council [was] contacted by the community with different views regarding the hand-held free weights and equipment being left on the ground or stored in the gardens at the outdoor gym and Bondi Beach,” a spokesperson told PEDESTRIAN.TV via a statement.
However, it seems a compromise has been reached, with the council approving the use of a limited number of weights at a meeting this month — provided those weights are contained to the gym area itself (and not, like, left in a nearby garden bed).
“Council will now amend the signage to give clear guidance to the community on this,” the spokesperson continued.
Mayor Will Nemesh told P.TV that he has “achieved a balance” based on input from gym users and the wider community.
“Bondi Beach is an important public space enjoyed by residents and visitors for a wide range of activities. We want to facilitate the use of the beach and park as far as possible as well as promote health and fitness,” he said.
“In the July Council motion, we have achieved a balance in the needs and concerns of both gym users and the general public.”
So it seems that Bondi’s gym bros and locals can finally breathe and lift in harmony.
Lead image: Getty
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