Over the last few years, commercial fitness groups have increasingly used Dublin city parks for classes and workouts. In response, Dublin City Council introduced a permit system in 2009 to regulate these groups. However, complaints increased about the large numbers of people and impact on park capacity. So in 2010, the Council planned to reduce group sizes, designate activity areas, and introduce fees of €2-€3 per person to encourage off-peak use and reflect the commercial nature of the businesses. The fees would help manage park usage and maintenance from the increasing commercial activity.

1. Report to Arts, Culture, Leisure & Youth Affairs SPC
19th May 2010
Item No. 6
Use of Dublin City Council parks by commercial fitness groups
In response to a motion from Cllr. Eoghan Murphy at the South East Area Committee
Meeting held in April 2010, it was agreed that a report would be presented to May meeting of
the Arts, Culture, Leisure and Youth Affairs SPC. in relation to the use of city parks by
commercial fitness groups.
Over the last number of years ‘fitness groups’ have been using city parks as fitness/training
areas. Initially, the number of groups involved was small, with a small number of participants
in each group. However, in more recent years, the numbers increased.
In the Summer of 2009, the Parks & Landscape Division Dublin City Council recognised the
need to regulate the use of public parks by these commercial groups, with the issuing of
permits to these groups with compliance of strict terms and conditions and the levying of a
charge in keeping with that paid by local amateur sports groups.
The fitness groups range from strenuous military style work out groups e.g. Bootcamp
Ireland and Fitsquad; team based activities e.g. Tag Rugby; to more passive activities like
pilates and yoga. However, all groups are commercial organisations who charge their
participants to attend their classes.
Subsequently, there has been a large increase in the number of fitness groups requesting
the use of parks, particularly of the larger south city parks namely Bushy and Herbert Parks.
For example, last year on a typical Thursday evening during the Summer, over 130 people
were involved in fitness groups in Herbert Park alone. Furthermore parks like Bushy and
Herbert Park are extremely popular parks and are already intensively used by a myriad of
users for both active and passive recreational activities. It is considered that such parks
have reached their peak regarding their capacity to absorb additional active recreation.
In February of this year, a review took place of the groups using parks during Summer
months in 2009. Following assessment of the use by these commercial fitness groups on a
city wide basis, the complaints received from the public in regard to nuisances associated
with some of the larger groups particularly and the increased level of activity leading to
problems of overuse of areas in the parks, it was considered that more active management
and regulation of these groups should be put in place and also a more appropriate charge
to reflect the commercial nature of these businesses.
Officials from this Department met with the user groups last February and informed them
that the following changes would be introduced for groups using parks during Summer 2010.
Item No. 6 Page 1 of 2

2. o Reduction in the number of sports groups using parks, particularly high demand parks
such as Herbert & Bushy Park and a ‘cap’ on the numbers participating in each session
o Fitness groups could have their number of classes reduced in the interest of fairness and
equity
o Specific areas would be designated by parks management for use by the various groups
in each park
o A charging mechanism would be introduced to reflect the commercial nature of the
business
The rationale for the increased charges is to encourage the use of other parks and off-peak
use to minimise the impact on the enjoyment of other park users in high demand parks; in
the interests of proper management and to spread the wear and tear on parks and to cover
some of the administrative costs involved in facilitating these commercial groups. There is
no charge for non-commercial fitness groups using public parks.
Charges:
High demand parks:
o During periods of high demand i.e. evenings and weekends usage, a charge of €3
per person per class would apply
o Outside periods of high demand i.e. day-time usage, a reduction in the charge to €2
per person per class would apply
Low demand parks:
o A charge of €2 per person per class for daytime, evening and weekend use would
apply
For team sports such as tag rugby a charge of €15.00 per team will be levied. (Seven
members per team for .45 minutes per match).
The revenue generated from these fees will be used to fund ongoing maintenance and
improvements to local parks.
Gráinne Kelly
Administrative Officer
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