Urban Green Newcastle, Newcastle City Council and the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) have announced a new partnership to invest in and refurbish public park tennis courts in Newcastle.
In total, seven park tennis venues – Armstrong Park, Elswick Park, Exhibition Park, Gosforth Central Park, Leazes Park, Nuns Moor Park, and Paddy Freeman’s Park – will be renovated as part of a £188,000 investment that will ensure high quality public facilities are available for local communities.
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. The Parks Tennis Project has already been successfully delivered in North Tyneside.
Carol Pyrah, Chief Executive of Urban Green Newcastle, said: “Tennis is one of the most popular sporting activities in city’s parks, and this investment from the Park Tennis Project will give people access to top quality tennis courts right across Newcastle.
“The funding means we can provide free weekly tennis sessions and create safer environments for people using the courts via new gated access. With improved equipment and better facilities, we hope to see more people taking to the courts all year round.”
The tennis courts in Elswick Park, Gosforth Central Park and Paddy Freeman’s Park will benefit from a full resurfacing. Six of the city’s tennis courts will be fully repainted, and where existing nets and posts are in poor condition, they will be replaced. To help people to find and book a tennis court near them, new gate-access technology and booking systems will also be introduced at all seven park tennis courts.
To ensure the long-term future of the tennis courts and make sure they don’t fall into disrepair, a small booking fee of up to four pounds is being introduced to use the courts at Armstrong Park, Exhibition Park, Gosforth Central Park, Leazes Park, and Paddy Freeman’s Park. The tennis courts at Nuns Moor Park and Elswick Park will remain free. All the money will be reinvested back into the tennis courts for the benefit of local communities.
As part of the new upgrades, free, bookable weekly tennis sessions will be available throughout the year on Saturday and Sunday mornings (weather permitting) as part of the Free Park Tennis programme. Alongside the community outreach and coaching programmes, this project will give more people across the city the opportunity to take up the sport and improve their health and wellbeing.
Open to people of all ages, playing levels and experience, Parks Tennis will also work with local Tennis Leagues to provide friendly, sociable, opportunities to get active and get involved.
Julie Porter, Chief Operating Officer at the LTA, said: “We are delighted to be working with Urban Green Newcastle and Newcastle 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 Urban Green Newcastle and Newcastle City 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.”
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 players. Accessible facilities in parks are particularly critical to opening up the sport to those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and women and girls.
All courts and sessions at all sites will be available to book online via the LTA website, making it far easier to find and book a court or activity (https://www.lta.org.uk/play).
Works are planned to start at Exhibition Park and Leazes Park first, before moving on to Nunsmoor Park and Paddy Freeman’s Park, followed by the Elswick Park, Gosforth Central Park and Armstrong Park. The works will be staggered so that some facilities will be completed and opened before others, to reduce disruption. Works are typically expected to take between six weeks and two months at each park. Exact start dates are yet to be confirmed as they are weather dependent.
A set of Frequently Asked Questions about the upgrades to the tennis courts is available on the Urban Green Newcastle website – www.urbangreennewcastle.org