Dear Editor,
I am the Secretary of Largs Tennis Club, and I am writing to you following the rejection by Councillors of our proposal to develop the tennis courts at Douglas Park.
Much has been written about Douglas Park and it generates strong feelings in the community, not least amongst neighbouring Douglas Park residents. I am a keen grower, I have two beagles, and I love tennis. We don’t begrudge any of the groups, all the proposals are fantastic and would benefit the community. However, I believe that the recent Councillor vote is a tragedy for Largs.
The Club's home was originally Douglas Park, but a lack of investment, low club numbers at the time, and the fact the courts weren't all-weather meant they didn't suit the Club. It's widely known the Club aspires to return to its roots. The Club remains incredibly grateful for the massive support Inverclyde Sports Centre have provided, but when the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) Parks Fund was announced it was a golden opportunity for the Club. The fund's purpose is to develop derelict park tennis courts and to provide free, affordable and sustainable tennis to meet local authority needs. It istailor-made for us.
We propose reforming as a charitable organisation to best deliver this investment. This isn’t about Largs Tennis Club, it is about ensuring the continuity of free and low-cost tennis for the community.
We obtained commitment from the LTA to develop four courts initially, resurfacing, repainting, repairing the fence and providing gate access technology to allow public access. The financial commitment from the LTA is in the region of £200,000. Additionally, the Club have invested its own funds built up over the years by its members specifically for this purpose. So far as I am aware no other group has secured any funding.
The community consultation showed a preference for the tennis proposal, in particular from neighbouring households, but also showed considerable interest in other projects. To reflect this the Council recommended that the Club be granted the lease of seven courts and for a space to be found for other groups projects. The Council don't want to lose the funding and the recommendation was researched and balanced. However on the day of the meeting, the option voted on was not that as recommended by the Council.
I urge readers to read our proposal and letters to councillors on our website to understand our aspirations of adding to the four courts developed by the LTA, looking to provide additional facilities for the public such as padel or mini tennis for kids, or even a clubhouse – whatever suits the community. We want to develop state of the art facilities for the community.
The problem is the allocation of the space. The LTA funding requires us to provide free and low cost tennis for the community, something we fully support. We also host Ayrshire League matches, with multiple teams training and competing and with a full coaching programme. We can't accommodateall this activity and ensure we meet our funding requirements without a fourth court. The Council and Councillors have known this throughout our discussions, but we have still been presented with an option it is widely know we couldn’t accommodate. It is true other clubs function with three courts, but they don’t have the same public access requirements in their investment criteria. Even if this weren’t the case and we could take three courts, we would need to continue paying usage fees to Inverclyde as well as the sinking fund required to refurbish and maintain the three courts. The Club can't afford to do both.
We have invested so much in this, and the fact we can’t accept three courts is painful. But we don’thave a choice if we’re genuinely committed to a sustainable community project. Were it possible for a compromise to be reached whereby the Club would be offered four courts and not three, the benefits of different proposals could be realised in the community. However, this would need to be resolved very soon or the LTA support disappears. If this funding goes, then Largs is much poorer for it.
Kind regards,
Barney Cowin
LTC