Issue - meetings

To review the annual progress of the Pay to Play Tennis Scheme and to seek permission to offer free Sunday morning sessions at Gibraltar and Poole Road Recreation Grounds and offer free morning tennis sessions during the school summer holidays in 2025.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)          Note the progress of the Pay to Play Tennis Scheme.

(2)          Approve the proposal to offer additional free Sunday morning tennis sessions at Gibraltar and Poole Road Recreation Grounds as from 1 April 2025 as set out at paragraph 6.2 of the report.

(3)          Approve the proposal to offer free morning tennis sessions on all tennis courts in the borough from 22 July 2025 to 29 August 2025.

The Committee received a report reviewing the progress of the Pay to Play Tennis Scheme and seeking permission to offer free Sunday morning sessions at Gibraltar and Poole Road Recreation Grounds and to offer free morning tennis sessions during the school summer holidays in 2025.

The Committee considered the following matters:

a)            Typing Error in the Report. The Chair highlighted a typing error at paragraph 4.2 of the report. She explained that Alex Rec had unintentionally been listed twice, and that one of the instances of Alex Rec should have instead said Court Rec.

b)            Additional Information Provided to the Committee. A Member had submitted a series of questions in respect of the Pay to Play Tennis Scheme to the Interim Assistant Head of Service (Streetcare), to which a written response was provided to the Committee, prior to the meeting. The Interim Assistant Head of Service (Streetcare) provided a summary of the information set out in the written response at the meeting. The Committee considered that the questions and the written response should be made publicly available subsequent to the meeting*.

*The questions and the written response, as minuted above, were published subsequent to the meeting as an addendum to the report.

c)            Publicity and Communications. The Committee considered the importance of promoting and advertising the scheme in order to boost awareness of the scheme and increase uptake. The Chair stated that information about the Pay to Play Tennis in the Borough was available on the Council’s website, and advised that the Communication team would soon be producing an advertisement for the scheme.

d)            Member Rate of Usage. In response to comments from a Member, the Interim Assistant Head of Service (Streetcare) stated that, based on the rate of usage data for scheme members over the current year, it was her prediction that members of the scheme would renew their memberships for the following year.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)          Note the progress of the Pay to Play Tennis Scheme.

(2)          Approve the proposal to offer additional free Sunday morning tennis sessions at Gibraltar and Poole Road Recreation Grounds as from 1 April 2025 as set out at paragraph 6.2 of the report.

(3)          Approve the proposal to offer free morning tennis sessions on all tennis courts in the borough from 22 July 2025 to 29 August 2025.