The owner of a local fitness business has received the go ahead to expand her service, more than 16 months after she thought she would be able to.
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When Sofie Ammendolia made the "huge decision" to relocate All Age Fitness to a larger space in October 2019, it was with dreams of bigger classes, good opening hours, and being able to rent the space out to local community groups.
What followed was nearly a year and a half of "headaches".
Despite now operating in an area of 186 square metres, the appointment-only fitness centre was only given permission to host classes for small groups of up to three people.
At times I wondered if it was even worth my energy.
- Sofie Ammendolia, All Age Fitness owner
Miss Ammendolia was told this was because her business, located on Bonegilla Road across the street from Woolworths, didn't have enough parking spaces to accomodate bigger classes.
According to Miss Ammendolia, it was "extremely frustrating" to have access to the extra space but not be able to use it.
"At times I wondered if it was even worth my energy," she said.
"I even considered moving the whole business to Leeton because I thought it might be easier there, but I just stuck it out."
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All Age Fitness was also only allowed to operate between 7am and 6pm, a timeframe which Miss Ammendolia said "hurt" the business.
"I've got a lot of clients who work throughout the day and so they want to come before work or after work and I couldn't offer them that," she said.
"I'd say I lost a good 30 or 40 per cent of my potential income because I couldn't cater to the high demand for those earlier slots."
Miss Ammendolia filed a second development application in October 2020, showcasing the amount of available car parks in the area and seeking permission to host classes with 10 to 15 people between 6am and 9pm.
Nearly five months later, this application has been approved by Griffith City Council meaning Miss Ammendolia can finally begin to fully utilise the space.
"I am so thankful to all the members of council for the positive outcome," she said.
"I feel like the world has lifted off my shoulders ... This makes my life so much easier."
"My aim was to go bigger - make the business more known, have bigger classes, team up with local groups and have people who need it come and utilise the space ... I've got a load more equipment now and I can finally start doing all of that."
All Age Fitness is aiming to have the bigger classes up and running by April.