South Swindon Parish Council and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) have today announced a partnership to invest in and refurbish tennis courts at Quarry Road in Old Town, Swindon. The three tennis courts at Quarry Road will be renovated, with investment of £140,000 helping ensure that quality facilities are available for the local community.
The courts had been managed by Swindon Borough Council until earlier this year when the tennis courts and recreation area off Quarry Road was leased to the Parish Council for 99 years.
This renovation project is part of a nationwide investment by the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation, delivered by the LTA, to refurbish public tennis courts across Great Britain, and open up the sport to many more people. This investment will see thousands of existing park tennis courts in poor or unplayable condition brought back to life for the benefit of communities across the country through renovation works, and improved court accessibility. An investment of £94,000 has been made on the Quarry Road Tennis Courts through the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation, with South Swindon Parish Council contributing a further £46,000.
Alongside the investment, South Swindon Parish Council will also work with the LTA to deliver a range of activity across the park site. This will include weekly organised free park tennis sessions for all ages, playing levels and experience where equipment is provided, meaning that people will not need someone to play with or their own racket. Local Tennis Leagues will also provide friendly, sociable, opportunities to get active through local competition.
The tennis courts at Quarry Road in Old Town, Swindon, have been in a near unplayable state for many years and the new investment into them will lift the tennis courts to a very high standard for courts of this kind, and it is expected to dramatically increase the number of tennis players using the courts. The renovation work will include a new surface, new fencing, new nets, and gates for all 3 courts. One of the courts will also require a full reconstruction as it suffers from various sink points due to a defective sub-base and tree root ingress. The renovation work is anticipated to start in April and will be completed later in the spring, at which point the courts will be available to book via the LTA website.
Cllr Chris Watts, Chair of South Swindon Parish Council, said: “It’s fantastic to be working with the LTA Tennis Foundation in South Swindon Parish, with the investment in to Quarry Road Tennis Courts. These courts are a community facility but have been left in an awful state due to a lack of investment and investing in community facilities for the benefit of our residents is what South Swindon Parish Council is about. The scale of renovation to these courts was much higher than we had initially expected, with one court currently sinking into the ground in various areas. This extra work increased the cost of this project significantly and we’re grateful to the LTA for providing additional investment to help us get all 3 courts renovated to the same standard.”
Julie Porter, Chief Operating Officer at the LTA, said: “We are delighted to be working with South Swindon Parish Council to improve their park tennis facilities and provide more opportunities for anyone to pick up a racket and get active. This investment is part of the UK Government and LTA’s Parks Tennis Project, and will mean that courts will be available for people to use for years to come. We will also be working closely with South Swindon Parish Council to ensure that the local community ha
