AN outdoor gym is being planned by parish councillors in Porlock to help keep villagers fit and healthy.

The council has submitted a planning application to Exmoor National Park Authority (ENPA) for a calisthenics park in the village recreation ground in Parsons Street.

A spokesperson said it aimed to ‘provide an outdoor fitness facility that supports physical well-being and promotes a healthy lifestyle for the local community’.

The spokesperson said: “The park will be designed to meet the needs of individuals of all fitness levels, from beginners to advanced athletes, with a variety of accessible and challenging calisthenics workout equipment.”

Calisthenics parks have become increasingly popular in communities, providing a variety of bodyweight exercise equipment, such as pull-up bars, parallel bars, and benches, in a compact area.

People can exercise on the equipment using their own body weight to build strength and endurance.

Council chairman Cllr Duncan McCanlis said the bodyweight exercise equipment would be mounted on a permeable rubber surface on a small area of the recreation ground.

Cllr McCanlis said the plan was to use dark green and black finishes to minimise any visual impact and there would not be any lighting and access to the ground would not be affected.

He said the equipment would be installed on a 258 sq ft site at the ‘top end’ of the playing field beyond the tennis courts and available for people to use at all times.

Cllr McCanlis said informal advice on the scheme had been received from an ENPA planning officer who visited the recreation ground.

ENPA planning officer Yvonne Dale said: “The development would not be likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue of factors such as its nature, size, or location.”

The authority is asking for any public comments on the application to be submitted to it by October 10.