The Buller District Council is still trying to decide what to do with Reefton's tiny community gym

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

From local democracy reporter Lois Williams:

The small facility, tucked into a section of the community centre, was closed in autumn for safety reasons when the country went into Covid alert level 2, and has not reopened.

Inangahua Community Board member Rachel Fifield, whose husband runs a private gym in Reefton, told a board meeting earlier this year that the community gym did not meet current safety standards for the industry.

Unstaffed gyms should have non-slip floors and accessible panic buttons, in case someone exercising alone had an accident, she told the Greymouth Star.

Since then the council had been told the gym was unsafe and was seeking advice on that, community services manager Rachel Townrow said.

"We had some submissions in June and July that the gym didn't comply with health and safety standards for unmanned gyms, so we're continuing the temporary closure while we check that.

"It may be that it's still needed in the long-term -- no decision's been made yet."

Although the gym had few subscription-paying members last year, several Reefton people have told the Greymouth Star they used it on a casual basis and missed the convenience of being able to work out at any time of the day or night.

The equipment including steppers, cross trainers, exercise bikes and weights, was bought partly with council funds and partly through community donations, including business sponsorships, about 10 years ago.