Public consultation: please help secure the long-term future of the tennis courts at Dyke Park

• The Council is consulting on transferring sports facilities in parks to local clubs and groups. This model is being used nationally by many councils.

• The community transfer enables sports clubs and communities to generate investment to upgrade and maintain facilities, and to determine how these facilities are managed.

• Without transferring the management of the courts at Dyke Park to Dyke Park Tennis Club – the tennis courts will eventually become derelict and closed to the community.

Dyke Park Tennis Club has a plan to manage the courts including raising funds to ensure long-term sustainability. The plans include:

• Raising the £70k required for much-needed resurfacing of all the courts (which the Council has made clear it will not fund). The club will resurface 3 courts in the next year and then raise the money to resurface the other 3 in a few years time. We can only do this if the club takes on  the lease. 

• Making sure that tennis facilities would continue to be available for the public to use, under a formal leasehold arrangement.  There has been a tennis club at Dyke Park since the 1930s and the Club has a long history of maintaining the courts and ensuring public use. That will not change.

Memberships and pricing

There has always been charges for using tennis courts across Brighton and Hove Council tennis courts (though these have not always been collected). The current rates at Dyke Park are:

• £8.69 per hour at peak times (in line with Council rate)
• £5.00 per hour off-peak (the only Club to offer an off-peak rate)
• £50 per year off-peak (the only Club to offer an off-peak season ticket)

There is public access to the courts at all times. The club also offers various coaching sessions open to anyone. People wanting to join the club are invited to try a club session first to see if it is for them.

While some parks offer memberships at various rates - several of these parks are now closed to new members and are operating waiting lists. This means that the only option currently available at many parks is to pay the full peak rate at all times.

Dyke Park Tennis Club is committed to keeping the prices and membership options under review.

Respond to the public consultation

The consultation closes on 29 August – details in the link – please respond in favour of Dyke Park Tennis Club managing the courts to secure the long-term future of these important community facilities. Without the transfer of the courts to the Club the risk is that they fall into complete disrepair and no one will be able to enjoy them.

https://consultations.brighton-hove.gov.uk/environment/tennis-clubs-consultation/