Swansea Council and the LTA have today announced a partnership to invest in and refurbish a number of public park tennis courts in Swansea. In total, four park tennis venues covering 11 courts will be renovated, with investment of £120,797.90 helping ensure that quality facilities are available for the local community for generations to come.
The project is funded by the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation as part of a £30million nationwide investment, delivered by the LTA, to refurbish public tennis courts across Great Britain, and open up the sport to many more people.
Over 1,500 courts have been completed as part of the project so far, through which existing park tennis courts in poor or unplayable condition brought back to life for the benefit of communities across the country through renovation works, and improved court accessibility with new gate-access technology and booking systems making it easier to find, book and get on court.
The refurbished courts are a further boost to the outdoor leisure experience, and follows the investment of millions of pounds in various areas public spaces, including children’s playgrounds and new skate and BMX facilities.
The refurbished park tennis courts will be vital in providing more opportunities for children and adults to get active, delivering significant physical and mental health and wellbeing benefits to participants. Accessible facilities in parks are particularly critical to opening up the sport to those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and women and girls.
Alongside the investment, Swansea Council and Tennis Wales in the Park as site operators will also work with the LTA to deliver a range of activity across the park sites. This will include weekly organised free park tennis sessions for all ages, playing levels and experience where equipment is provided, meaning that people will not need someone to play with or their own racket. Local Tennis Leagues will also provide friendly, sociable, opportunities to get active through local competition.
The park venues being renovated are Coed Bach (Pontarddulais), Cwmdonkin (Uplands), Victoria (St Helen’s), and Coed Gwilym (Clydach). All courts and sessions at all sites will be available to book online via the LTA website LTA website.
Work on sites is anticipated to start in February 2024 and be completed in the Spring.
Swansea Council cabinet member Robert Francis-Davies said:
“We welcome this grant funding of more than £120,000 for 11 of our tennis courts – and thank Tennis Wales and the LTA for their support.
“Swansea is a city of sport and the improved facilities will mean better quality courts for all those around the city who already love playing tennis, or for those that wish to give it a try.
“We’ve talked to key stakeholders, local representatives and other councils that have adopted the system, and the modest fees paid to use these excellent high-quality courts – aligned with charges at similar facilities across Wales – will help us continue to maintain and invest in the courts long term, at a time when council budgets across Wales are facing more pressure than ever.
“We’ll keep park users up to date on the schedule of improvement works and, as their local courts will be out of action for a short period to facilitate the work, we thank them for their understanding.
“We hope that everybody who plays on the courts will get a huge amount of satisfaction from them.”
Julie Porter, Chief Operating Officer at the LTA, said:
“We are delighted to be working with Swansea Council to improve their park tennis facilities and provide more opportunities for anyone to pick up a racket and get active. This investment is part of the UK Government and LTA’s Parks Tennis Project, and will mean that courts will be available for people to use for years to come. We will also be working closely with Swansea Council to ensure that the local community have a range of accessible opportunities to get on court, and open up our sport to many more people.”
