- Calderdale Council and the LTA agree partnership to breathe new life into local park tennis courts across the borough
- The project will see £230,948 of investment across Calderdale’s public parks
- Investment comes from the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation’s Park Tennis Project, being delivered by the LTA and Calderdale Council
Work is underway to transform five tennis venues in parks across Calderdale, helping to safeguard and ensure that quality tennis facilities are available for local communities.
Calderdale Council is working with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) who are delivering the refurbishment as part of a £230,948 investment, made up of over £166k from its UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation funded Park Tennis Project and the remaining funds being provided by Calderdale Council and through the Todmorden Town Deal fund.
The park venues being renovated are Centre Vale Park in Todmorden; Crow Wood Park in Sowerby Bridge; Holmfield Recreation Ground, Mill Fold Recreation Ground in Ripponden; and Shelf Park.
The project is part of a nationwide £30million investment by the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation, delivered by the LTA, to refurbish public tennis courts across Great Britain, and open up the sport to many more people. This investment will see thousands of 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. Over 1,500 courts have been transformed as part of the project so far.
Park tennis courts are vital in providing 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.
Work has started at Centre Vale Park, Shelf and Crow Wood Park, and is scheduled to begin soon at Mill Fold Recreation Ground and Holmfield. Improvements include resurfacing, the replacement of nets and posts and repainting. Each site will also have new fencing with gate access technology installed to improve booking access and security.
The Council is also working alongside Todmorden Town Council to look at further improvements for the Centre Vale Park courts, including the provision of floodlighting. This additional enhancement would form part of the planned improvements at Centre Vale Park as part of the Town Deal investment programme for Todmorden. For more information about the programme, visit www.todmordentowndeal.co.uk(external link)
Calderdale Council will also work with the LTA to deliver a range of activity across all 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.
In addition, all courts and sessions at all sites will be available to book online via the LTA website (https://www.lta.org.uk/(external link)), making it far easier to find and book a court or activity. This benefit will also be available for the courts at Brighouse Pool and Fitness Centre which were refurbished in 2022.
Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Service and Communities, Cllr Jenny Lynn, said:
“External grants, like this LTA funding, allow us to maximise opportunities for improvements across the borough and I’m delighted that we’ve been successful in securing funding to improve five tennis facilities across Calderdale.
“The improvements will provide more opportunities to get involved in tennis and open up the sport for more people. The work also complements our wider Active Calderdale project, to support people across the borough to be more active, more often.
“Work is underway now and will continue over the next few months, with the courts ready for action in time for the spring/summer season.”
Julie Porter, Chief Operating Officer at the LTA, said:
“We are delighted to be working with Calderdale 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 the 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.”
For more information about sports facilities and activities in Calderdale, visit https://new.calderdale.gov.uk/sportsTo find out more about the Active Calderdale mission, visit https://active.calderdale.gov.uk/ and follow @ActiveCdale on X.
Investing in sports facilities and encouraging participation also supports the objectives of the Calderdale Year of Culture. The year 2024 marks 50 years since Calderdale became a borough. To celebrate, Calderdale Council is hosting a Year of Culture, to inspire, entertain, and showcase Calderdale by bringing people together through arts, heritage, sports, and culture in all its forms. Visit https://www.culturedale.co.uk/(external link) to find out more.