To consider a report of the Executive Member for Leisure, Arts, Culture, and Heritage.

1.       That the implementation of a ‘pilot’ of the sustainable operating model as set out in Option 3 C of this report, which includes the introduction of access gates, charging policy and the procurement of a specialist operator be approved.

2.       That delegation of authority to the Corporate Director of Place to procure an operator and to agree the terms of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) funding and finalise the terms of any funding agreement be approved.

3.       That the delegation of authority to the Director of Legal and Governance to agree and enter into any documents required to implement the above decisions be approved.

The Executive Member for Leisure, Culture, Art, and Heritage introduced the report and gave a short overview of its contents. The Executive Member informed the Committee that the Friends of Davyhulme Park were not in support of the project and did not want to be part of the pilot scheme, although this had not been known until after the report was published.

The report detailed the current standard of tennis courts within Trafford, the costs of improving and maintaining the courts, and outlined the concern that the courts would deteriorate further if the Council’s approach did not change. The proposal within the report was that the Lawn Tennis Association had funding available that could be used to improve the courts and then gates would be installed, which the Council could use to charge a fee for use of the courts that would pay to maintain the courts and for coaching etc… While 80% of respondents to the consultation were against charging for access to the courts the majority did welcome the ideas of introducing coaching and of having gates on the courts to protect them.

The Executive Member for Leisure, Culture, Art, and Heritage concluded the introduction by stating the recommendations of the report which included approval to run a pilot programme across the borough. The Executive Member for Leisure, Culture, Art, and Heritage Informed the Committee that if the Council decided to proceed with the proposals following completion of the pilot scheme, then additional capital funding would be required, which had not yet been secured although the Council was still in conversations with the LTA. The Committee were informed of the proposed charges for the courts of £3.00 per hour for 10 hours a day from May – September.

The Executive Member for Economy and Regeneration welcomed the report and supported the recommendations as a way to introduce a sustainable model which would guarantee that Trafford were able to maintain the assets in good condition and encourage tennis across the borough.

The Executive Member for Highways, Environmental, and Traded Services noted the negative feedback from the consultation and welcomed the decision to run a pilot scheme in order to test proposals before rolling out the programme. The Executive Member for Highways, Environmental, and Traded Services also noted that in areas where similar schemes had already been rolled out they had seen a notable increase in the use of tennis courts.

Councillor Thompson thanked the officers for all research done and the presentations they had provided to the Executive to the Friends of Parks groups. 

Councillor Ennis noted that the Council had received positive feedback from three of the four sites for the pilot and asked which one had not. The Executive Member for Leisure, Culture, Art, and Heritage stated that no response had been received from Pickering lodge. The Executive Member for Leisure, Culture, Art, and Heritage assured the Committee that the Council would continue to try to engage with the Friends of Pickering Lodge and it was hope  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18