Chodat Fitness director Lukas Chodat, who runs classes from a site on Flagstaff Hill, said industry body Fitness Australia had told him Wollongong’s outdoor fitness fees were among Australia’s most expensive.

He said the council’s new tender process – which he has been a part of since October last year – had increased costs by forcing trainers to name exorbitant prices to hold on to their sites.

“For us, the pain of losing our site would be greater than having to pay extra, but that means we’re having to pay much more for the same site,” he said. “And of course – especially for smaller operators – those extra costs have to come to somewhere, so it could affect clients’ fees.”

Mr Chodat said he had no problem paying to conduct his business on public land but was worried about the effect of rising costs.

“We have always been happy to pay,” he said. “The issue for us is that it’s now just so expensive compared to places like Bondi – I’ve done a lot of research and we’re paying more than three times the amount of fitness trainers there. And in Sydney you can charge more than we do for personal training.”

Waverley council documents reveal that its most expensive sites – at places like Bondi, Bronte Beach and Tamarama – cost $2700 a year, while Marrickville council charges $900 for a fitness permit.

Before the tender process was in place, Wollongong’s most expensive licence fees were $5,806. Now, companies who have already submitted tenders for some of these prime sites sites are believed to be paying much more.

Fitness Australia’s business development manager Dan Ferguson-Hill confirmed Wollongong’s fees were among the country’s highest and said the peak body would meet with the council this week to discuss its fitness licence charges.

Owner of popular group exercise company Savvy Fitness, Angela Saville, took to social media to air her views on the council’s charges, saying fitness trainers received “no special benefits” despite the council’s rising fees.

“We are not renting any infrastructure just a patch of grass. We don't create the wear and tear we actually help maintain our patch of grass,” she wrote on the Mercury’s Facebook page.

She also argued fitness groups made “positive changes in our community members’ lives, we contribute to local employment and raise funds every year for local charities”.

“It astounds me that we are not supported more by council and by ALL community members!” Ms Saville said.

Asked why the council has put a formal tender process in place rather than setting its own fitness licence fees as it has done in the past, a spokeswoman said the move had been instigated by the NSW government’s Crown Lands Division.

She said the council was last year advised “that as Trust Managers of Crown Reserves, the council needed to demonstrate a public competition process had been completed for future allocations”.

“This is in line with ICAC guidelines and the public competition process ensures the allocation of the sites is undertaken in a fair, transparent and equitable way,” she said.

“In the interest of fairness, [the] council is applying the allocation process to both Crown and community lands.”

“Since mid-2015 Council has completed a staged approach to this introduction. We have been working with fitness operators across the city on the changes.”

She said there was “a high level of demand on our parks and reserves for access by established and prospective business operators to undertake fitness activities”.

“[The] council has a responsibility to its ratepayers and the community to ensure the income it collects through the lease of public land is reflective of its commercial value,” she said.

“Any income that is raised from commercial activities on public land, including fitness training, is used to maintain public space and amenities.”