Tennis club seeks expansion approval (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Tennis club seeks expansion approval

9:10am Thursday 7th March 2013 in News

MALMESBURY Tennis Club has put in a planning application for extra courts and a new club house at its Tetbury Hill Gardens complex.

Last year the club told the Standard it wanted to expand the base, to increase the use of the facilities by local schoolchildren and enable more of them to take advantage of extra teaching sessions.

“The coaching programme has increased in the last 12 months with the help of a full time coach in accordance with the Lawn Tennis Association guidelines and the facilities available at present are not adequate to facilitate the increase in players, said agent Ian Maslin in the application to Wiltshire Council.

At the moment the junior programme takes up all the court space between 4pm and 7pm on weekdays and all day on Saturdays, which means adults have very limited time to play after work.

The tennis club is the only place to play, and it has reached its capacity. There has also been a significant increase in population in Malmesbury over the last 10 years which has not been met with a proportionate increase in recreational facilities.”

Demand had also increased in the wake of the Olympics last summer. But there were no public courts for people to use.

The existing three courts will be joined by two more floodlit courts that could allow matches to be played until 10pm. A mini court for children as young as four and two tennis walls for practice are also proposed.