Community Tennis options Community Services Committee Tuesday, 9 March 2021
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Community Tennis options Community Services Committee Tuesday, 9 March 2021 Report of: Executive Head of Communities Purpose: For decision Publication status: Public Wards affected: All Executive summary: This report recommends a more proactive and strategic approach to public tennis court provision in Tandridge delivered through a partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association. The Council’s public tennis courts are located at Queens Park, Caterham and Whyteleafe Recreation Ground and are currently free to use. Tennis can be played by people of all ages, all backgrounds and all levels of fitness and is known to have benefits for physical and mental health and wellbeing. The Council does not actively promote its public tennis facilities and has no way of measuring how much our public tennis courts are used nor by whom. The Council receives no income from these facilities yet incurs costs in maintaining them. The ‘council maintained & free to use’ model is a model that the Council has adopted for many years. This model has some benefits but also a number of shortcomings. Other operating models are possible. This report evaluates the approaches in the context of ongoing costs and improved facilities. This report supports the Council’s priority of: Building a better Council – making the Council financially sustainable and providing residents with the best possible services – exploring commercial opportunities within the District including generating income from the open space within the District building on the value of exercising outdoors closer to nature (learning from COVID experience) Creating the homes, infrastructure and environment we need – using best endeavours to protect our valued landscapes, open spaces and high quality built and historic environment by developing expertise in our team.
Contact officer Jason Thomas Case Officer (Support Services), Asset
Management Specialist
jthomas2@tandridge.gov.uk – 01883 732973
Recommendations to Committee:
A) That the Council enters into partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association,
using their ClubSpark platform, to provide a court booking/membership
system. The Council would also implement gate access technology that
would work in conjunction with ClubSpark
B) That the Council works with the LTA to actively promote park tennis to all
residents and that the Council seeks to encourage coaching sessions
C) That the Council charges £35 for an annual season ticket or £6.50 per hour
for a pay and play session
D) That charges are only made during the months of March to October each
year.
_________________________________________________________
Reason for recommendations:
To promote greater participation in park tennis through marketing,
technology and simple enhancements to facilities
To offset the costs of maintaining and upgrading council-owned tennis courts
with the potential to generate a small surplus income
_________________________________________________________
1. Introduction and background
1.1. Tandridge District Council currently provides public tennis courts at
Queens Park, Caterham and Whyteleafe Park. There are three marked
tennis courts at Queens Park and four marked courts at Whyteleafe
Park. These courts are fully open to the public and there are no charges
made for general play. There is a charge of £15 per session (including
VAT) in 2020 /21 to be increased to £15.50 per session in 2021/22 for
coaches using either site. These charging policies have been reviewed
in line with the recommendations and action plan of the Open Space
Strategy.
1.2. The Council also leases courts to independent tennis clubs/sports
associations at Manor Park, Caterham, Dormansland Recreation
Ground, Mill Lane, Hurst Green and Oak Farm Recreation Ground,
Felbridge. The Council is responsible for most of the costs of
maintaining these facilities, utilising the parks and open spaces
budgets.
1.3. The Council recognises the advantages of regular and appropriate
exercise and outdoor activity in improving health and wellbeing. Our
parks and open spaces have a hugely important role to play.1.4. Tennis is a popular sporting activity and is accessible to people from all
ages, backgrounds and abilities. By providing opportunities for residents
to participate in organised exercise activities within our parks and open
spaces, the Council is supporting improved health and wellbeing,
meeting Priority Outcome 1.5 of the draft Strategic Plan. ‘Generating
income from the open space within the District building on the value of
exercising outdoors’, is also an action under Priority Outcome 1.1
(Financial Recovery). Any income generated would be used toward the
cost of maintaining open spaces and to support community groups who
use open spaces.
2. Options Considered
2.1. Do nothing
Refurbishment costs have been identified as part of our independent
maintenance audit at both sites. At Whyteleafe Park, two of the four
courts require significant surface repairs, at a capital cost of £15,300.
The revenue costs for both sites in 2021/22 are £7,200. Although this
would reduce to an average yearly cost of approximately £2,200 for
surface cleaning and treatment. These costs are built into existing
budgetary provisions.
2.2. Install LTA ClubSpark but do not charge for use
Annual maintenance, subscription and service charges would be
approximately £1,880 per year across the two sites as referenced at 4.6
below. These costs and maintenance costs identified at 2.1 would have
to be met from existing budgets.
2.3. Courts to be operated by existing leisure provider
Officers have discussed this option with Freedom Leisure, but there has
been no interest from them in expanding into this service.
2.4. Lease of courts to a coaching company
We have also been approached by a local tennis coaching company that
have expressed an interest in entering into a long lease for the courts,
but have suggested an initial rent-free period, with the ongoing rent to
be negotiated. The coaching company has proposed that they would
pay for maintenance, although these details have yet to be finalised.
2.5. Enter into partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association
We have been liaising with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), who are
actively seeking to partner with local authorities to promote and
improve public tennis facilities. The LTA offer is based on secure gate
access via their ClubSpark platform, which provides online booking of
tennis courts and coaching sessions via an internet enabled device. This
option can be used to generate income for the Council from charging for
use.3. Preferred Option
3.1. Our preferred option is the LTA Partnership outlined in 2.5. This option
introduces a booking system and secure gated access. Courts can be
booked online through the LTA’s ClubSpark platform (or via a link from
the Council website). Users are issued with an individual gate access
code to gain entry after booking. The system also allows us to grant
access codes for maintenance and out of hours staff. The Council would
have the flexibility to set charging rates and concessionary charging as
we choose. The LTA have provided us with a detailed Business Model
that provides costs and income estimates based on their standard
matrix. This document is supplied at Appendix A and is referenced
within this report.
3.2. This option also gives us the flexibility to set charges for use of the
courts and therefore allow for ongoing maintenance and management
to be self-financing, whilst still under the Council’s control. Any surplus
income generated could be used to support further improvements as
required and support existing parks and open spaces budgets.
3.3. The booking system gives the Local Authority data on court usage and
gives residents confidence that they will get a court at a certain time
without queuing. Long wait times at peak periods and lack of certainty
have been identified as one of the barriers to participation in park
tennis.
3.4. There are three gate installation options available. Smart Access Lite
(battery powered), Premium (mains electrical connection) and Solar
(using solar panels). Smart Access Lite is the simplest to use and
install. It is a more suitable and cost-effective solution for sites that do
not have existing access to an electrical connection. The annual
maintenance contract for this option is £320 per gate, which is
approximately half the price of the other systems. The contract is for
five years.
3.5. A full grant is available from the LTA to cover the cost of installation. A
condition of this grant would be that the Council holds a ‘sinking fund’
to cover maintenance and repair costs. This is recommended at £1,200
per court per year.
3.6. There is also the ability for the Council to partner with other
organisations such as tennis clubs and coaches to block out certain
times for their exclusive use. This an opportunity to generate further
income and improve security to these sites. There is also the
opportunity to partner with charitable organisations to provide
concessional rates to provide access for disadvantaged and vulnerable
groups.4. Costs and Income of Preferred Option
4.1. The LTA option could bring in a consistent revenue income for the
Council as estimated in the extract from the LTA business model below.
These revenue calculations are based on 10% of the actual available
court hours during the year and therefore are quite a conservative
estimate.
Estimated annual income from Season Ticket sales £3,957
(£35)
£10,864
Estimated annual income from P&P bookings (£6.50
per session)
£1,500
Income from coaching
Total Estimated Income £16,321
4.2. The income estimates received from the LTA are based on charges to
users of £35 per year for an annual season ticket and an hourly rate of
£6.50. This is comparable with other local authorities and less than half
the cost of the cheapest local annual tennis club membership in the
private sector. Research into charges made by other local authorities is
as follows.
Annual Season Hourly Bookings
Ticket (Pay & Play)
£50 £8
Richmond
£39 £7
Surrey Heath
£35 £7
Woking
£35 £5
Kingston (managed by Surbiton
Rackets and Fitness)
£21 n/a
Bromley (managed by Park
Langley Tennis)
4.3. It is anticipated that these courts would become effectively self-
financed, allowing for the annual fees and costs. The LTA have
calculated total costs to be £12,672. This would provide an estimated
annual surplus of £3,648 which could be used to supplement existing
parks and open spaces budgets. Further details are available in the LTA
Business Model provided at Appendix A. Although it should be noted
that anticipated income is modelled on their standard income and
expenditure modelling matrix. This includes demographic information
and data provided on usage and income at courts that subscribe to the
ClubSpark platform. Costs have been calculated using the more
expensive Premium option.4.4. In addition, the LTA project that our income from tennis coaches
operating from these courts will be approximately £1,500 per year. This
projection is based on their experience of local authority operated
courts. Coaches would be sought through open procurement.
4.5. A further option for consideration is that charging is only in place on a
seasonal basis. This would make access free to all during the off-peak
months of November to February. Such an option would assist us to
meet the council’s access for all requirements.
4.6. The Council would be eligible for a grant from the LTA to cover the
installation costs of the gate entry equipment with annual fees for LTA
registration and the gate access service as below. The LTA also
recommend that courts are ‘facelifted’ prior to launch such as minor
repairs and repainting.
Notes
£420 Annual fee (enables the Council
LTA Registration
to access ClubSpark online
(£60 per court)
booking system which is worth
£1000)
£960 Annual equipment maintenance
Gate Access
contract
Maintenance
(£320 per gate)
£500 In-house marketing combined
Marketing
(Reduced with LTA Rally Marketing support
from LTA via banners, court entrance
estimate of boards, court numbers, and also
£1,000) digital assets and press releases
to support the project.
Total Costs £1,880
4.7. Revenue costs relating to the general maintenance items that are to be
met from existing budgets at both sites are set out below. These items
and costs have derived from the council’s tennis court maintenance
audit. The LTA has advised that these items should be completed prior
to launch to improve playability, reduce closure times and improve
security.Revenue Expenditure 2021/22
Whyteleafe Park
£3,000
Court surface colouring (two courts)
£700
Court tennis line painting (two courts)
£1,100
Annual pressure wash and moss
treatment
£1,400
To replace damaged galvanised
weldmesh fencing panels
Queens Park
£825
Annual pressure wash and moss
treatment
£175
Weed treatment and repairs to
coloured tennis court
Total £7,200
4.8. Court Refurbishments are also required at both sites, particularly at
Whyteleafe Park, where two of the four courts require significant
surface repairs. This will incur a capital cost from existing budgets of
£15,300.
4.9. Capital costs for court surface replacement are typically incurred every
10 years. We have been advised by the LTA that we should set up a
sinking fund/reserve of £1,200 per court to cover the cost of court
surface replacement.
4.10.For the reasons stated above, Officers consider the LTA partnership to
be the preferred option.
Key implications
Comments of the Chief Finance Officer
The proposal to enter into partnership with the LTA and to start charging for the
use of tennis courts within the district will help achieve Priority Outcome 1.5 of
the draft Strategic Plan, ‘Generating income from the open space within the
District building on the value of exercising outdoors’ and aid the Financial
Recovery of the Council.
It is hoped that the courts would become effectively self-financing with any
income generated used toward the cost of maintaining the tennis courts and
contributing to the sinking fund. Any surplus would be used towards maintaining
open spaces and supporting community groups who use open spaces.
The grant available from the LTA to install the Smart Access Lite system will
reduce the cost of implementation and the booking system will alleviate any
admin burden on the Council.Any setup costs would have to be met from existing budgetary provision. If the
tennis courts became self-financing there would be a saving to the revenue
budget as annual maintenance costs would be met by the income generated.
The cost of any capital works, such as resurfacing, would initially need to be met
from the existing Park, Pavilions & Open Spaces capital budget. In future years
these costs could be met from the sinking fund that would be setup.
None of the recommended charging schemes have been built into the revenue
budgets for 2021/22. It should be noted that the income used in the committee
paper is reliant on the take up which we are unable to guarantee however if the
take up did not materialise then the additional costs as referred to in the paper
would be reviewed and mitigated to ensure that they do not exceed the budget
21/22 as set. In approving the recommended option 5 the new revenue streams
would help to offset the tennis court maintenance costs.
The capital costs mentioned in the report are all already programmed into the
Capital Budgets.
Comments of the Head of Legal Services
There are no direct legal implications arising from the recommendations
within this report. However, it is important that the Council encourages
physical activity in its open spaces; one way of achieving this is by
supporting residents to play tennis and increasing usage on its tennis
courts.
Equality
We will explore accessibility for wheelchair users within this project. We will also
work in partnership with the LTA, charities, tennis coaches, sports clubs and the
Health & Wellbeing Board to explore potential methods for improving access to
disadvantaged groups.
Climate change
There are no significant environmental / sustainability implications associated
with this report.
Appendices
Appendix ‘A’ - Parks Tennis in Tandridge– LTA Business Modelling
Background papers
None
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