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The devoted members of an east Auckland fitness centre are rejoicing at the news the Howick Local Board has voted to extend its property lease for three more years.
The issue of whether to extend Auckland Council’s lease of Marina Fitness, located at Half Moon Bay Marina, came before the board at its most recent business meeting.
Marina Fitness is the only pool and leisure facility in the council’s network where the council does not own the building.
Its lease was extended for a period of 12 months from August last year pending the outcome of a value for money process.
The council currently pays an annual rent of $141,560 plus GST for the lease, under the one-year renewal term commencing August 17 last year and ending on August 16 this year.
Marina Fitness has 755 active members and in the first half of the 2024/2025 financial year it had 29,253 visits from members and casual users. It has a customer satisfaction score of 97 per cent.
Three options presented to the board at a workshop in April were to renew the lease for three years, explore outsourcing to one of the two council service providers, or choose not to enter a new lease.
The recommendation put to the board at its business meeting was to approve the execution of a right-of-renewal clause, thereby continuing the lease for a further three years.
More than 50 Marina Fitness members packed into the board’s meeting room at the Pakuranga Library building to hear what decision it would make.
Prior to the vote being held, about half a dozen of the centre’s members addressed the board’s members to share their views.
They spoke about the convenience of having a fitness centre at that location, the high level of safety at the wider marina complex, how exercising at the centre helped them heal from injuries, the friendliness of the staff, and the more relaxed atmosphere than would be found at a for-profit fitness centre.
Dr Colleen Rigby and Glenn Ross spoke on behalf of the Marina Fitness Community Member Representation Group.
“Marina Fitness is a seven-star performer as a gym,” Ross said.
“It is profitable, albeit it has struggled over Covid times like a lot of businesses.
“It is a quality, gold-tier gym. It has a growing membership and we’ve seen it grow since Covid times.
“The potential growth, with housing density in our catchment area growing considerably, we see more opportunity for more members to join the gym.
“Customer satisfaction is extremely high. The gym provides long-term health benefits to this community.”
Rigby said the group sees the gym as the community hub for its five surrounding suburbs.
“It’s a place of social connection and I think that’s as important as the physical component of the gym.
“Members tend to gravitate straight from the gym to cafes across the way, and that’s a very healthy and handy opportunity for people to get that social connection.
“We see in the literature that social connection is as important as physical connection and there are very few gyms where we can gravitate from one to the other.”
Rigby said another thing that makes Marina Fitness special for its members is the sense of community they get from it.
“The gym members have undertaken a range of community projects.
“One of them is Pink Ribbon. In the last few weeks one group alone raised $2000-plus, and we had a lunch for 30 people, all of them gym members, and that happens consistently.
“Christmas functions, mid-winter Christmas, so it’s more than a gym.
“It’s actually a community that exists in this particular area.”
The board voted to approve the execution of the right-of-renewal clause, continuing the lease for a further three years.
It also voted to note a further three-year right of renewal clause remains available and may be exercised in 2028, should the board wish to continue the lease at that time.
Board member David Collings moved a resolution, which was carried, for the board to also allow staff to enter into a six-year lease if it were beneficial.
