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Game on for tennis court improvements

Tennis courts on Canvey Island are to be refurbished thanks to a new agreement between Castle Point Borough Council and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).

The deal, which was approved by councillors at September’s Cabinet meeting, will see up to £79,000 invested by the LTA in the three courts on the King George V Recreation Ground.

In return for the investment, the courts will be made bookable via the LTA’s online booking system and entrance barriers and a usage charge will be introduced to help prevent vandalism. A robust maintenance programme will be put in place to ensure the courts can be maintained to a high standard in the future.

A programme of free usage and coaching sessions will also be laid on.

Cllr Tom Gibson, Cabinet Member for Special Projects, said: "The implementation of a charge for usage is a condition of the funding and the Council will ensure that any fee charged is affordable and in line with indicative pricing from other authorities which have also received the funding, as well as offering free and discounted sessions to eligible groups. “This funding from the LTA is extremely welcome as it will bring into use and up to standard a facility which has previously been neglected and is, at present, unusable." 

Work on the tennis courts will take place over the winter and be completed by March 2024.

Councillors took the decision not to include courts at John H Burrows Ground in Benfleet in the scheme as two out of the four courts are to be transformed into a multi-use games area in the near future and the two remaining courts refurbished with money from the Council’s Public and Play Spaces fund.