Newark Town Council welcome Lawn Tennis Club grant funding to improve Sherwood Avenue tennis courts in NewarkCouncil welcome grant funding to improve tennis courts

Plans to improve, repair and protect public tennis courts can now go ahead after receiving funding.

The Lawn Tennis Association has awarded a grant of £21,160 towards Newark Town Council, allowing them to carry out works on the Sherwood Avenue tennis courts.

This funding will go towards patch repairs of the court playing surface, a full court repaint and the provision of a new digital automated access gate.

The council will additionally contribute £2,500 towards this total as well as the cost of electrical connection work for the gate at over £3,280.

There are currently three floodlit outdoor hard courts at the site, which operate on a ‘pay and play’ basis with a car park style, coin only ticket machine next to the access gates.

The ageing ticket machine regularly jams and it is believed that the courts are regularly used without a ticket being bought, with volunteers from the neighbouring bowls club carrying out infrequent ticket checks with users.

It was noted that many of these volunteers have had to step back due to age and illness and the new automated gates would remove the courts from their responsibility.

The new gate would be operated by paying digitally and is connected with the floodlights which will automatically turn on for a booking during darker months.

At a meeting of Newark Town Council’s finance and general purposes committee the funding was welcomed, but members questioned the need for a new automated gate, which would replace the existing ticket machine.

It was argued that the new gate would provide better security against anti-social behaviour as well as ensuring that everyone that used the court was paying to use it.

Committee chairman, Barabara Corrigan, said: “We are effectively replacing one payment method with another.

“The gate would also remove the need for volunteers to lock up at night, improving security.”

However, some councillors believed that this would create a barrier to entry, both literally and figuratively, for those without access to digital devices or payment methods.

Irene Brown said: “What about the young kids that don’t have a bank card and only get their pocket money with cash? They won’t be able to get in.”

Mathew Skinner agreed and was concerned about the lack of spaces for young people to go in Newark.

Free access periods for youth — after school period 4pm to 6pm — may be considered in the future to alleviate these issues.

The question of safety was also raised, with the new gate potentially hindering access to the site in the event of an emergency, something the town clerk said could be investigated.

Despite concerns, the council accepted the grant funding in order to carry out the recommended improvement works.

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