Nerang F45 gym causing sleep deprivation among elderly residents

ELDERLY residents at a complex on the Gold Coast have been deprived of sleep for months ever since a gym opened next door, with the bass so deep residents cannot sleep.

Donna Hunter says the noise is unbearable. Picture Mike Batterham

ELDERLY residents are being woken at 5am and kept awake until 10pm everyday thanks to a noisy gym next door to their homes.

Nerang residents bordering the F45 gym on Tibbing Street say they are sleep-deprived after months of hearing ‘doof, doof’ for up to nine hours each day.

Donna Hunter, whose townhouse is just metres away from the new gym, has been keeping records of the excessive noise since April when it first began.

Donna Hunter (brown shirt) and her neighbours L-R David Holmberg, Colin Paterson, Beryl Crewlson, Glennis Furness, Betty Whittaker and Jen Johnston who are sick and tired of being kept awake due to the thumping from the music in a gym recently opened beside their townhouses. Picture Mike Batterham

“I can hear it through the double brick (walls),” Ms Hunter said of the thumping.

“I have to keep the windows and doors closed.”

Ms Hunter said the F45 gym ran classes from 5am in the morning until 9am in the morning, before starting afternoon sessions from 5pm until 10pm at night.

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That’s over 50 hours a week of having to listen to the heavy bass, she said.

“There’s just a little garden and timber fence between us,” Ms Hunter said.

Donna Hunter says it’s a nightmare. Picture Mike Batterham

“Don’t put a gym on a fence line next to a residential area, (next to) a complex that happens to be for the elderly.”

The 68-year-old said they couldn’t hear other noises from the gym — just the bass.

“It’s really affecting the people here,” she said.

“The lady next door doesn’t speak English and comes over crying, ‘no sleep, no sleep.’ I’ve had months of sleep deprivation, it’s a nightmare.”

A Gold Coast City Council spokesperson confirmed they had received a “small number of complaints about the gym.

“City officers have investigated a small number of complaints and City officers carried out a noise measurement,” the spokesperson said.

Donna Hunter and her neighbours can hear it across their complex — and it’s keeping them awake at night. Picture Mike Batterham

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“Results indicated that the noise levels were compliant with the approved development conditions. City officers also provided the operator with advice on the required levels that are to be maintained at all times.”

Gym owner Dean Vigus said he was aware of two noise complaints — the first about the level of music, which he claims they turned down immediately, and later a complaint about the thumping bass.

“We are getting sound proofing to get everything fixed,” he said.

“As soon as we were made aware of the complaints, we actioned on it. We’re changing 250 people’s lives in (our gym), we don’t want to jeopardise anything.”

Mr Vigus said no one approached the gym directly, adding “we can’t fix anything if we don’t know about it.”