West Norwood Tennis Club
Sunday 7th August is open day at The West Norwood Tennis Club. Come along between 12noon and 3pm to find out more about the club. The bar will be open!
This is a chance for people to meet club members, see the facilities and hear about the current set-up and future plans. You can also find out about the offer for non-members to use play tennis on the club courts for £5 per person on days the club is open. Usual opening days and times are Wednesday and Friday evenings and Saturday and Sunday from 11.30am – 3pm.
The club is at 128 Knights Hill SE27 0SR (by Cheviot Road)
Residents frequently ask local councillors about playing tennis at the club. Cllr Mike Smith met with the club members recently and the club decided to hold this open day. All welcome to drop by on Sunday 7th August.
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The Tennis Club has been in touch with the Streatham Guardian – see item posted 19/8/11 http://www.streathamguardian.co.uk/news/9205599.Tennis_club_owners_insist_courts_are_open_to_public/
‘The owners of a tennis club have hit back at claims that their courts are not open to the local community.
Ken Collins, chair of West Norwood Tennis Club, said the club had consistently tried to recruit new members, adding “We have never been anti-social in any way”.
Members recently held an open day for local people to explore the club’s facilities and play on the courts for free. The owners usually charge a one-off £5 fee for non-members and have not offered new memberships since 2007.
Mr Collins said: “We are locally minded. We run on a shoestring. But this has never been a great area for support.”
The owners insist they have advertised the courts to the local community, but have received little response. One club member wrote to six local junior schools asking them if they wanted to hire the courts for a small fee, but none of them took up the offer.
The owners are currently trying to sell off the land to a private company for a housing development, which would include 58 flats and a new tennis club. They argue the development will provide better sporting facilities for people living locally.
About 130 local people wrote to councillors opposing a renewed application to build on the site in December 2010. The application was later turned down by the council. Previous applications have failed because officers felt it was inappropriate to build on the open space. The most recent application failed on July 26.
The club’s secretary, John Herbert, said: “We want to see new facilities. We will still have a club here when it is all finished.”
When asked what his message was to the local community, Mr Herbert said: “When the new club is up and running, come and join.”
A decision on the development is due in the next few weeks’
I enquired last year about becoming a member. I was told abruptly there were no memberships available and then ignored. I was not expecting a cup of tea and the grand tour of the facilities, just a decent welcome and helpful information. It seems to me this club only exists for the benefit of the very few. The way it is run is opaque and it has no interest in providing a service to the West Norwood community.