15 Motion 3 Referred from Full Council on 30 July 2024 PDF 239 KB
The report provides a basis for debate of the motion submitted to the meeting of Full Council on 30 July 2024 in relation to the Pay-to-Play Tennis Scheme and tennis charges.
Additional documents:
Decision:
Following consideration, the Committee resolved (5 for, 1 against, and 1 abstaining) to:
(1) Note the motion referred to the Committee by Full Council and take no further action after considering the contents of the report.
Minutes:
The Committee received a report providing a basis for debate of the motion submitted to the meeting of Full Council on 30 July 2024 in relation to the Pay-to-Play Tennis Scheme and tennis charges.
As the proposer of the original motion referred to the Environment Committee by Full Council, Councillor Kieran Persand opened the debate on the matter.
The Committee considered the following matters:
a) Error in the Report. The Committee noted an error in the report at paragraph 3.3, where it was stated that the Committee decided to offer free bookable tennis sessions to residents during the summer holidays. It was noted that this decision was in fact made as an urgent decision under delegated authority.
b) Membership and Bookings. In response to a Member, the Assistant Head of Service (Streetcare) explained that annual membership to use the pay-to-play Tennis courts was available to Borough residents only, with ad-hoc bookings being available to anybody.
c) Court Maintenance. Following a question from a Member, the Assistant Head of Service (Streetcare) explained that residual funds leftover from the initial start-up funding from the LTA was being put towards court maintenance. She also explained that money received through the pay-to-play scheme was ringfenced for maintenance of the courts.
d) Tennis as a Health Benefit. The Committee considered the health benefits of playing Tennis. A Member suggested exploring the possibility of having free or discounted Tennis sessions offered by General Practitioners as a social prescribing option. The Chair stated that social prescribing requires funding, and that the Committee would be looking at its fees and charges in the coming months.
e) Membership and Booking Statistics. In response to a Member, the Assistant Head of Service (Streetcare) confirmed that, as of September 2024, since the inception of the pay-to-play scheme, the Council had sold 188 full-price memberships, 12 discounted memberships, 752 ad-hoc bookings for 1-hour slots, and 34 ad-hoc bookings for 2-hour slots.
Councillor Kieran Persand exercised his right of reply in response to the debate.
Subsequently, the Committee resolved (5 for, 1 against, and 1 abstaining) to:
(1) Note the motion referred to the Committee by Full Council and take no further action after considering the contents of the report.