Ladywell Tennis Club members fear closure is ahead if council don’t back ambitious hub plans

Nov 24 2011 by Kieran Westbrook, West Lothian Courier

A TENNIS club fear they will be forced to disband if the council doesn’t back their ambitious development plan.

Ladywell Tennis Club want to transform the run-down council-owned courts into a sparkling new tennis hub and claim they have sourced funding to pay for the development.

Club committee members fear the courts are now at the stage where it is dangerous to use them.

And with their membership numbers falling due to the lack of safe facilities, the club fear they will have to fold if the plans are not adopted by the council.

Chairman Ian Paterson said: “The opportunity is there – it is all about whether there is the will and ambition to support it.

“We could transform the area into a tennis hub.

“It would create something really special in the Ladywell area.

“We have the plans drawn up and the funding sourced.

“All we need is for the council to agree in principle to hand over the land.

“It is land that has to be used for sport and they aren’t doing anything else with it.

“This is a massive chance for the area and one they need to take.”

Under the club’s plans, the tennis courts would be dug up with the putting green nearby also biting the dust.

New courts would then be laid and become a centre of excellence for the sport in West Lothian.

The club presented their plans to council bosses in August.

But no way forward was agreed.

Mr Paterson added: “It is getting to the stage where we are losing members because they can’t play.

“We will have to fold if the situation is not resolved and we feel we have a really positive way forward which would bring opportunities to the area and not cost the council money.

“But at the end of the day, they have to agree to it for us to get the funding.”

A council spokesperson said: “We are keen to work with Ladywell Tennis Club to look at options for developing or upgrading the tennis courts.

“A meeting has been organised between ourselves, the club and Tennis Scotland to progress discussions, including the possibility of leasing the courts to the club.

“We have previously met with representatives of the club to discuss a development proposal.

“This would have involved allocating a large amount of land beyond the existing courts, including required green open space, tree belt and land already leased to another community group, so was not a viable option.”