KEYNSHAM NEWS
15
ANYONE FOR TENNIS? £600k investment for tennis in B&NES
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esidents in Bath and North East Somerset are set to benefit from improved tennis facilities across the district thanks to a £600,000 investment. Work to refurbish tennis courts in Keynsham Memorial Park have now begun as part of a project being carried out by Bath & North East Somerset Council, alongside refurbishment works already begun at Alice Park and Sydney Gardens in Bath. The project will create a network of community tennis facilities that encourages more people to take up the sport, offering pay and play opportunities, membership packages and free tennis and coaching programmes. It will also provide wider community use for local schools, colleges, community groups and disability groups in a safe environment. B&NES has worked with Alice Park Trust, Keynsham Town Council, Lawn Tennis Association and Sport England to secure the funding for the tennis court refurbishments. The improvements are as follows: • Alice Park - Resurface six courts and improve fencing. • Sydney Gardens – Resurface and put new fencing around the top two courts, replace the undersized bottom three courts with a new twocourt block as part of the Heritage Lottery Fund Bid for the park. • Keynsham - Resurface the four courts in the Memorial Park and improve fencing. Two courts at both Alice Park and Sydney Gardens are expected to be ready for public use at the end of May. The four courts at Keynsham are due for completion in July (together with four more courts at Alice Park), two remaining courts at
Sydney Gardens are expected to be completed in September. The improved tennis provision is part of B&NES council’s overall aim to get more people, more active, more often and support residents’ health and wellbeing. It comes in addition to improvements already completed at Royal Victoria Park, alongside refurbishment and community asset transfers of courts at Chew Valley School and Saltford. The project has been funded by the Sport England Community Asset Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund, Community Infrastructure Levy, Lawn Tennis Association, and Keynsham Town Council. The Memorial Park courts will be operated on behalf of the council by the West of England Sport Trust (Wesport) which will manage and oversee the coaching provision at the park courts, providing coaching programmes and outreach to target groups. The new facilities will make use of the Lawn Tennis Association’s web-based bookings and access systems. The process is simple in that a court can be booked and paid online via a laptop, tablet or phone. The future of the Keynsham Memorial Park tennis courts has been a matter of discussion between B&NES and the Town Council since the lease expired in 2018. This new programme by B&NES enables Keynsham residents to receive the benefits of an easier and more accessible booking system, with courts refurbished to a much higher standard than before. The Town Council has agreed to contribute £7,500.00 of CIL receipts towards the scheme, with ownership and operation remaining with B&NES. This enables the Town Council to focus its resources on improving play areas and other green spaces in the town.
