South Swindon Parish Council has joined forces with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to invest in and refurbish tennis courts at Quarry Road.
The courts were managed by Swindon Borough Council until earlier this year
The parish council says the three courts will be renovated, with an investment of £140,000 helping ensure that high quality facilities are available for the local community.
The courts had been managed by Swindon Borough Council until earlier this year, when the tennis courts and recreation area off Quarry Road were leased to the Parish Council for 99 years.
The renovation project is part of a nationwide investment by the Government and LTA Tennis Foundation, delivered by the LTA, to refurbish public tennis courts across Britain, and open up the sport to many more people.
This investment will see thousands of existing park tennis courts in poor or unplayable condition brought back to life through renovation works, and improved court accessibility.
An investment of £94,000 has been made in the Quarry Road Tennis Courts through the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation, with South Swindon Parish Council contributing a further £46,000.
Cllr Chris Watts, Chair of South Swindon Parish Council, said: “It’s fantastic to be working with the LTA Tennis Foundation in South Swindon Parish, with the investment in to Quarry Road Tennis Courts.
"These courts are a community facility but have been left in an awful state due to a lack of investment, and investing in community facilities for the benefit of our residents is what South Swindon Parish Council is about.
"The scale of renovation to these courts was much higher than we had initially expected, with one court currently sinking into the ground in various areas.
"This extra work increased the cost of this project significantly and we’re grateful to the LTA for providing additional investment to help us get all three courts renovated to the same standard.”
Alongside the investment, South Swindon Parish Council will work with the LTA to deliver a range of activity across the park site. This will include weekly organised free park tennis sessions for all ages, playing levels and experience, where equipment is provided, meaning that people will not need someone to play with or their own raquet.
Local tennis leagues will also provide friendly, sociable opportunities to get active through local competition.
The parish council says the tennis courts at Quarry Road have been in a near unplayable state for many years, and the new investment will lift them to a very high standard for courts of this kind, and the project is expected to dramatically increase the number of tennis players using the courts.
The renovation work will include a new surface, new fencing, new nets, and gates for all three courts. One of the courts will also require a full reconstruction as it suffers from various sink points due to a defective sub-base and tree root ingress.
The renovation work is anticipated to start in April and will be completed later in the spring, at which point the courts will be available to book via the https://www.lta.org.uk/play
Julie Porter, Chief Operating Officer at the LTA, said: “We are delighted to be working with South Swindon Parish Council to improve their park tennis facilities and provide more opportunities for anyone to pick up a racket and get active.
"This investment is part of the UK Government and LTA’s Parks Tennis Project, and will mean that courts will be available for people to use for years to come.
"We will also be working closely with South Swindon Parish Council to ensure that the local community have a range of accessible opportunities to get on court, and open up our sport to many more people.”
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