Thumping bass from local gym frustrating residents

Loud music can motivate people to exercise, but the noise that blasts from Functional Fitness Te Awamutu (formerly CrossFit Waipa¯) is a nightmare for nearby resident Kerry Bowler.

However, Waipa¯ District Council and the owner of Functional Fitness say the noise is not an issue.

Kerry and her mother live on Park Rd and their house backs onto Rickit Rd, a few doors down from Functional Fitness.

For the last year Kerry has been woken up at 6am most days by the thudding bass coming from the building during its morning CrossFit sessions.

CrossFit is a strength and conditioning programme consisting mainly of a mix of aerobic exercise, body weight exercises, and Olympic weightlifting.

There are 24 Crossfit sessions per week at Functional Fitness, the first at 6am Monday to Friday. On Saturdays there is an 8.30am session and on Sundays there are sessions at 3pm and 4.30pm.

Kerry has had enough of the music that plays during the workouts.

“The bass gets through the walls and inside the house, even to my bedroom on the far side of the house,” she says.

“Our house is fully insulated, double glazed and we don’t have windows open at that time of the morning.

“It wakes me up and it’s impossible to get back to sleep.”

Kerry’s first move was to approach the gym.

“I went down and said ‘hey, we live nearby and would you mind turning the bass down in the mornings?’

“I was told ‘no, that’s not happening — we don’t have to’. I thought the way they dealt with it was quite rude.”

“In the summer it’s also very annoying in the evening because we can’t sit outside and enjoy dinner on our patio with the thumping bass.

“All I ask is that the bass gets turned down in the morning — just for the one morning session. It’s a bit excessive.”

Kerry is a law student at the University of Waikato and also works part-time.

“My time to deal with this issue is very restricted — and moving out of the house isn’t really an option. I really need my sleep — what I can get of it.”

Kerry also approached Waipa¯ District Council.

“We tried to lodge noise complaints but sometimes they don’t bother turning up and other times they do.

“Because of the time of the morning, the complaint has to go to Hamilton and it can take over an hour before someone arrives.”

By then the morning Crossfit session has finished and the gym has emptied out.

“Some months ago the council did go down and speak to the gym. That had no effect so I talked to them again and found they’d actually gone to another gym — not the one that was causing the issues.

“They did eventually go and speak to the right gym, Functional Fitness Te Awamutu, and they did agree to turn it down.”

“For a few weeks that was okay, but then they just carried on with their music as usual.”

Council confirmed it had received five calls from one complainant regarding the premise since March this year and each complaint was assessed immediately.

Environmental services team leader Karl Tutty says the gym and the complainant’s property are in the commercial zone where noise must not exceed 55 decibels.

“Council is required to respond to all noise complaints to assess whether the noise is ‘excessive’ or ‘unreasonable’. Where this is found to be the case, a range of action can be taken.

“Council has already taken action in this case. Council officers responded to the noise complaints and visited the gym to raise the issue with the correct operator on two occasions.

“Officers have not found the noise to be excessive, so no formal action has been taken. They have judged the noise to be acceptable in the commercial zone.”