• Barnet Council and the LTA agree partnership to breathe new life into local park tennis courts across the borough
• The project will see £1,233,552 of investment across Barnet’s public parks
• Investment comes from the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation’s Park Tennis Project, being delivered by the LTA.
Barnet Council and the LTA have today announced a partnership to invest in and refurbish public park tennis courts across the borough. In total, 21 park tennis venues will be renovated, with investment of £1,233,552 helping ensure that quality facilities are 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 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 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 up the sport to those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and women and girls.
In addition to investment of £688,451 from the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation, £545,101 will also be invested by Barnet Council.
Alongside the investment, Barnet Council and the coaching providers of the tennis programme across the parks, will also work with the LTA to deliver a range of activity across the park sites. 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 park venues being renovated are: Bittacy Hill Park, Child’s Hill Park, Edgwarebury Park, Friary Park, Halliwick Recreation Ground, Hendon Park, Lyttleton Playing Fields, Mill Hill Park, New Southgate Recreation Ground, Northway Gardens, Oak Hill Park, Old Courthouse Recreation Ground, Princes Park and Sunnyhill Park whilst Bethune Recreation Ground, Cherry Tree Woods, Montrose Playing Fields, Rushgrove Park, Stonegrove Park, Tudor Sports Ground and West Hendon Park will also be available to book online including via the LTA website https://www.lta.org.uk/play/book-a-tennis-court External link making it far easier to find and book a court or activity.
All courts and sessions at all sites will be available to book online via the LTA website https://www.lta.org.uk/play External link.
Work on sites is anticipated to start in March 2023 and be completed by September 2023.
Councillor Alan Schneiderman, Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee, said:
“This is a great investment for the people of Barnet. We’re delighted to be working with the LTA to improve their health and wellbeing while helping them have lots of fun on the tennis courts. We put caring for people, our places, and the planet at the heart of everything we do. This is one of many things we are doing to continue to deliver this for our residents, and maybe one day we can say that a future Wimbledon champion was inspired to start playing tennis in Barnet.”
Julie Porter, Chief Operating Officer at the LTA, said:
“We are delighted to be working with Barnet 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 Barnet Council to ensure that the local community have a range of accessible opportunities to get on court, and open up our sport to many more people.”
