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 that they would be happy to take part in the Pilot Scheme.

Councillor Evans asked if the Executive were confident that the scheme would generate the required income. The Corporate Director of Place responded to Councillor Evans that Bury and Manchester had achieved 50% usage which, if replicated within Trafford, would break even. The Council expected that the courts would attract a wide range of users including those people who were retired, young people in summer holidays, and others who were not working during the daytime.  The Corporate Director of Place spoke about the benefits of the route that the Council were going down with the LTA putting a pound in for each pound the Council put in which maximised the funding used by the Council for the project. The Corporate Director stated that it was hoped that if the pilot was a success the LTA would invest more to roll the project out further.

Councillor Evans noted that the Council were spending nearly all the funding on upgrading the sites for the pilot and asked what would happen if it failed or if the Council wanted to roll the programme out further. The Executive Member for Leisure, Culture, Art, and Heritage agreed with Councillor Evans points that there was the possibility that the programme could fail to meet the projected income. However, even if that happened, the Council would still have improved the condition of the courts. It was hoped that additional funding would be available from the LTA at the conclusion of the pilot, but it was not a certainty.

Councillor Evans asked what the point was in having a consultation given that 80% of those consulted with did not want it and yet the Council was proceeding any way. The Executive Member for Leisure, Culture, Art, and Heritage responded that the 80% were those who were against paying for tennis and the model would provide free tennis sessions as well. There were other elements of the project that the consultants were happy with and the feedback from the consultation had helped to shape the project.

Councillor Jerrome noted that the previous consultation had stated that without a 5-year contract the programme could not proceed. Councillor Jerrome asked what had changed which enabled the programme to proceed with only a 2-year contract. Executive Member responded that had conversation with the LTA and they were very keen to increase access to tennis and so they had revised their offer to the Council to enable the Pilot Scheme to go ahead.

Councillor Jerrome stated that the project went against the ethos of parks being free and asked whether the Executive agreed with that statement. The Executive Member agreed that parks should be free to access but not all services and resources should be free. The proposal offered much better facilities than were currently available with the highest price within the scheme was £3.00 per hour, which was much less than the cost of using private courts. There would be a range of prices for different times of day or year with the potential for some free sessions. 

Councillor Jerrome asked whether the park covenants could be made public. The Corporate Director of Place responded that he thought that the covenants had been made public and he would check to ensure it had been done.

Councillor Jerrome asked if the programme made more money than needed to maintain the courts that were part of the programme whether those monies would be used to maintain or improve other courts across the borough. The Corporate Director of Place responded that if the programme did produce more monies, it would be for the Executive to decide what to do at that time.

Following the discussions, the Leader Moved the recommendations and they were approved.

RESOLVED:

1. That the report be noted.

2.  That the implementation of a ‘pilot’ of the sustainable operating model as set out in Option 3 C of this report (as verbally amended during the meeting to remove reference to Davyhulme Park forming part of the pilot), 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.