THE future remains unclear for the Mount Gambier and District Tennis Association, with poor condition playing facilities and expiring leases leaving them with no direction.
Tennis Courts at Reidy Park have been condemned, with even more courts in the region in dire need of replacement, as they near the end of their life.
The condition of the court was discussed at a recent council meeting, with councillor Paul Jenner asking General Manager City Infrastructure Barbara Cernovskis to provide an update on the standard and conditions including life expectancy of the Olympic Park and Reidy Park tennis courts, including future plans for tennis in line with the Sport, Recreation and Open Spaces Strategy (SROSS).
He asked what conversations had been had with Tennis SA, the Mount Gambier and District Tennis Association and the District Council of Grant with regards to the current condition of courts and the future direction of tennis in Mount Gambier since the discussions when Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre started.
President of the Mount Gambier and District Tennis Association Andrew Van Der Hurk confirmed that the tennis courts had reached the end of their life and said the courts at Olympic Park had deteriorated to such a point they were becoming dangerous to play on.
“We pretty much need to start again,” he said.
“We need to lift up all the courts, re-fence, redo lights and do all the court surfaces essentially because they these were laid wrong in the first place – they didn’t have a moisture barrier or anything else and the water sort of sits on the courts, it doesn’t actually drain away and there are a lot of cracks all through it, with sections lifting.
“It is borderline as to whether it is safe to play on some of the courts now.”
Unfortunately, the situation is no better at other courts around the region, with Van Den Hurk saying eight courts at Reidy Park were unusable and others around the area were as bad, if not worse, than the Olympic Park courts.
He said the association had invested money to fix the facilities over the years, but with their council lease due to expire, they have no way to move forward at this time.
“Our lease runs out in April next year, at the end of our season and and we have no clear direction on what happens after April,” he said.
“We don’t want to spend money here – if we don’t have a lease, we can’t get a grant without that.
“We do have too many venues and we’re trying to condense, which is why we’ve moved two clubs here.
“But the clubs that are here are a bit uncertain too, because we can’t tell them that it’s safe to stay here for the next five or 10 years because we don’t know ourselves.”
Ms Cernovskis said the council had first been made aware of the bad condition of the courts in 2016 and that there were ongoing discussions with the Mount Gambier District Tennis Association about courts and the future of tennis.
“The lease for the Olympic Park tennis courts is current until April 2023 and renewal arrangements are yet to be considered,” she said.
“There are ongoing discussions between the Council, tennis and netball associations regarding the potential for a collaborative approach to the use of courts in the future.
“Additionally, it is expected broader master planning of the Olympic Park precinct, yet to be undertaken, will include upgrades to these facilities.”
