The report provides Committee with the Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) capital grant funding proposal for tennis court improvement works across Wirral, including operating models for the future management and maintenance of the courts. It also provides an overview of tennis provision across the Council’s parks and open spaces and propose a sustainable way forward to tennis provision across Wirral’s Parks and Open Spaces in the future.

Resolved – That the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee:

1.  Authorises the Director of Neighbourhoods to accept the grant funding from the Lawn Tennis Association in the sum of £300,000 to enable tennis court improvement for the Council parks courts.

2.  Requests that Director of Neighbourhoods develops a sustainable operating model and programmes of inclusive tennis activity that prevents low income from being an obstacle to participation in tennis across the borough and brings back a further report to the Committee which also includes detail as to how the model will support social inclusion and overall participation.

3.  Requests that the Director of Neighbourhoods continues to work with the NHS to develop social prescribing opportunities and a borough-wide referral programme.

4.  The Committee also welcomes the provision of £40k funding from the LTA to deliver the LTA Serves Programme which takes tennis into the heart of local communities and encourages residents to become more physically active.

To improve the quality of parks tennis courts across the borough.

To increase participation and playing opportunity to all.

To provide a sufficient income at each site which will contribute significantly to covering operating costs and ensuring self-sustainability.

To provide a tennis delivery operating model that will enable a range of LTA endorsed products and programmed activity to be run across park sites.

Not to progress with grant funding. This option was discounted due to the fact that a financially sustainable model was presented to offer the Council the ability to upgrade the majority of its Park Tennis courts with grant funding. The existing ongoing maintenance costs and suggested sinking fund financial provision cannot be met by existing revenue budgets.

Develop a partial model - Progress with a smaller number of sites. This was ruled out due to the Council wanting to provide a quality tennis offer across most sites due to the identified market penetration of 13,225 residents for the tennis park sites. (Appendix 2) This would also not bring in the income needed to provide a sustainable parks tennis programme model for the future.

Consider an inhouse delivery model – The financial and operational risks are reduced by using a third-party operator. Over year’s the Council’s sports development team funding has been cut and there is not the expertise within the Council to drive this project forward.