Colchester City Council and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) have announced a partnership to invest in and refurbish public tennis courts in Colchester. Six tarmac public tennis courts at Leisure World Tennis Centre will be renovated, with an investment of £35,000 helping to ensure that quality facilities continue to be available for the local community.
The 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 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 with new gate-access technology and booking systems.
Park tennis courts are vital in providing opportunities for children and adults to get active, delivering significant physical and mental health and wellbeing benefits to participants. Accessible facilities in parks are particularly critical to opening the sport to those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and women and girls.
Work on the courts started on 26 July and is expected to be completed by the middle of August.
Once the courts are completed and re-opened, all courts and sessions at all sites will be available to book online via the LTA website www.lta.org.uk/book, making it far easier to find and book a court or activity.
Cllr Michelle Burrows, Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Culture and Heritage, said: “With the recent, fantastic success of the first British Junior Wimbledon champion in 61 years, it’s great to be working with the LTA on improving our facilities at Leisure World Tennis Centre.
“Working with partners to improve our facilities, and access to them for the community, is really important to us. It's wonderful that, with this funding, we can update our facilities and improve accessibility for all.”
Julie Porter, Chief Operating Officer at the LTA, said: “We are delighted to be working with Colchester City 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 Colchester City Council to ensure that the local community have a range of accessible opportunities to get on court and open our sport to many more people.”
Page last reviewed: 2 August 2023