Basingstoke MP, Maria Miller visited tennis facilities at Statton Park that are currently undergoing improvements to make venues more accessible and open-up park tennis to the local communities.
The LTA is launching a major drive to grow participation in tennis in parks in local communities throughout the country, supporting local authorities with a comprehensive cost-free offer to improve the health and wellbeing of their communities through tennis, and ensure their tennis venues are sustainable for the future.
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council (BDBC) have given the go-ahead for work to begin on modernising the courts including court surface upgrades to all year-round playing surfaces, installation of new floodlights and accessible facilities that cater for disabled players. LTA Rally has also been developed to work hand-in-hand with gate access systems, where participants receive a code when a booking is made to access courts and get active through tennis.
The works are funded by developer contributions, Sport England and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).
Maria commented; “It was great to visit Stratton Park Tennis facilities and see the work being done to make tennis more accessible for the community.
I met with the LTA this week to discuss the “ClubSpark” project, automated booking, court and lighting access system, that allows players to simply book online, via mobile and access courts or resources directly via membership card or access code.
Making sure Basingstoke has first rate, affordable sports facilities which can be accessed by the community to fit in with busy lives has to be a top priority. I welcome the raft of initiatives that the LTA is putting in place to help drive participation in tennis in park venues, and to help local authorities ensure their facilities are financially sustainable. Tennis is a brilliant sport for the whole fmily to enjoy and can be done easily with social distancing, so I encourage everyone to pick up their rackets and book a court, and Play Your Way.”
LTA have identified Winklebury Park, Stratton Recreation Ground, and Mapledurwell Recreation Ground West Common as target parks to introduce a range of measures in these parks including the installation of Gate Access systems over the next 5 years, which will help to make parks tennis more accessible.