We have been asked by one of our members why we only allow one booking at a time on the Biddenden courts, even though that isn't specifically required by the LTA guidelines.

Here's our answer. 

To be clear, both courts are open, but only one party can book the whole enclosure at any one time. Either one household, or up to a maximum of two players fom different households can be in the venue at any one time. 

The LTA has published guidelines about opening tennis clubs during the Covid crisis. The have seperate guidance for venues, coaches and players, which can be found here. 

It is important to realise that, the guidelines are guidelines and not rules. It is for the individual clubs to interpret the guidelines to suit their particular circumstances. The decision to only allow play on one court (or both courts by the same household) was a unanimous decision of the committee, after careful consideration of the risks. 

The LTA says.

"It is the responsibility of each tennis provider, coach and facility to make that assessment based on their local environment."

Also, the LTA says, in its FAQ that they would support clubs that decide to close "alternate courts" if it was considered necessary in the particular circumstances.

"We have advised venues to take a safety first approach, and so some venues make an assessment based on their own environment to only use alternate courts at this stage – where this is the case we would therefore support the venue in the assessment they have made."

We have decided not to allow separate households / pairs of individuals to play simultaneously on both courts for the time being, for following reasons. 

1. Allowing play on both courts increases the risk of unwanted contact between players, either directly or indirectly (e.g. through sharing balls, touching handles) and not conforming to social distancing. We are not yet able to provide hand washing facilities or hand sanitising stations to reduce the risks.

2. We need to consider the possibility of two parties of up to four people, including children, playing, entering and leaving the courts at the same time whilst maintaining social distancing. We considered the risks to be too high. 

3. At present we have only one narrow entry gate in action. If the bookings start at the same time, there would be a risk of a large group congregating at the start and end of a session. If we stagger start times, it will be necessary for one party to walk behind another court in play as they enter of leave. The second gate in not currently accessible. 

4. Some people are understandably nervous about restarting activities and some are more vulnerable than others. We want as many people as possible to be comfortable playing tennis because they are confident that they can control the risks. If there is another party on the adjacent court, safety is then dependent on both parties' behaviour.  Not everyone is equally careful, and we are conscious of the scope for disagreement. 

5. The courts are entirely unmanned and we are unable to monitor the way people use the courts to ensure compliance and safety at all times. We have to use the booking system to help reduce the risk. For example, if two different groups booked both courts at the same time, there is no way we can stop them mixing and playing together in breach of LTA guidelines and government rules. 

6. At present we do not think there is any need to allow simultaneous play. There is no pressure on court time. 

The situation will be kept under review. However, we will not consider allowing simultaneous play on both courts until the following conditions are satisfied.

a) There is evidence of genuine  pressure on court time.

b) We have hand washing and/or sanitising facilities on court.

c) We are able to use the second gate for safe entry and access. 

d) We are able to separate the courts sufficiently to reduce the risks of interaction.

Even then, we would most likely stagger the start time.

Obviously, we would also review the situation if government and/or LTA guidelines change. 

We  hope you find this helpful.