Tennis courts in Staffordshire to get refurb to bring facilities up to scratch
Cannock Chase Council is earmarking almost £20,000 towards refurbishing tennis courts across the district – but a national sports body is set to contribute more than £200,000 towards the project.
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is teaming up with the council to bring facilities up to scratch in Cannock, Hednesford, Heath Hayes and Brereton as part of its ClubSpark scheme.
Introduction of electronic gating at the courts and a change from free access to a chargeable scheme – a requirement of the project – sparked concerns at the end of last year when it was first proposed however. Fears were raised that bringing in court hire fees could make the facilities inaccessible to residents on lower incomes.
A concession scheme is being considered to provide cheaper access to the tennis courts once the gates are in place.
Cabinet members agreed on Thursday to receive a report on concessions at a later date, as well as giving the go-ahead to spend £19,500 on refurbishment considered out of the scope of the LTA works.
Improvements to the path at Cannock Park will need to be carried out, a cabinet report said, and a £25,000 budget will be added to the 2023/24 capital programme.
But it is estimated that the total costs for the LTA will be more than £207,000.
The report added: “As part of the scheme proposal the LTA have agreed to fund a considerable proportion of the work and appoint specialist approved national contractors on behalf of the councils, clubs, and other bodies, taking part. The tennis courts at Heath Hayes Park are in a particularly poor condition, they are no longer considered to be fit for purpose by the LTA and will require significant funding to rebuild them completely.
“The path work is necessary in Cannock Park if the council are expecting more people to use the tennis courts as well as preventing a trip hazard to users. This is deemed to be outside of the scope of the LTA works.
“Some of the work at Hednesford Park and all the work at Ravenhill Park is out of scope so the works so will need funding by the council. It is important to consider completing the works at the same time so that all the courts are available for play under the new Clubspark system.”
