The Club is pleased to announce that at the end of February 2008, planning permission was granted to remove and replace the existing roof and walls on courts 1-3 and to replace the roof on courts 4 and 5. In addition the whole of courts 1-5 will be insulated. It is envisaged that to allow time for tenders to be received, for a contractor to be appointed and for work to be scheduled by them, that work will commence on the indoor courts at the beginning of August.

In addition, the Development Committee under the guidance of the Policy Committee has produced a blueprint for the Club so that any new development or upgrading of existing facilities is part of a long term plan. (see plans on the notice board.)

We have now entered a consultation phase. No development will take place without members’ approval and due to financial restraints the development is likely to be phased over a number of years. However, we will ask members at the AGM for confirmation that the Committee may work up the scheme further and incur planning application costs. It is intended that once we have received planning permission for the indoor court cladding work, the planning application for the main development will be made and hopefully obtained by the end of Summer 2008. The scheme will then be taken back to members at either a Special General Meeting or at the 2008 AGM for approval.

The plans are currently being displayed in the Clubhouse Reception and will be left there over the forthcoming months so that members can consult them. Members are invited to comment on the proposals either verbally or in writing to Caroline Buncall who in turn will provide feed back to the Development and Policy Committees.

• Build a new rectangular 2 storey building between the clubhouse and the practice court to house a new fitness centre on the ground floor and a room upstairs which will have a dual use, as a function room (to seat 150 people) and a fitness studio. The existing kitchen will be large enough to service a function room of this size.
  There will also be a link area to these new facilities which could house a spa area on the ground floor and added storage and a meeting room upstairs. The current Fitness Centre could be used for additional office/storage space/treatment rooms. These are just indicative uses and may change as the scheme is worked up further.
• Additional floodlit outdoor tennis courts (up to 6 in a line) to be built on the Club’s field.
• Cover outdoor courts 6-8 or possibly 9-11. (9-11 may find more favour with planners as there is less of a building mass in one area)
• Upgrade the car parking by the groundsman’s hut and build a covered walkway along the rear of courts 6-8
• Build a “kids zone” which is an enclosed mini tennis court and also includes a practice wall along one side of it which can be used by all members.
• Croquet pitch to be constructed at the end of outdoor tennis courts 9-11.
• The Squash section would also like to see squash brought more into the club as currently it is not at all visible from the main communal areas. Possible suggestions include:- extending the first floor viewing gallery between squash courts 4 & 5 (shown on the plans):
  • improving and extending the seating on squash Court 3
  • putting windows through from the bar to squash courts 1 and 2
  • building additional tiered seating behind squash court 1, across the squash court corridor and into the current gym area and turning this court into a glass back.

Click for larger images ...

Site Plan

Ground Floor

First Floor

INDOOR TENNIS COURTS -
OPEN FROM 20TH JULY!

We are delighted to announce that the indoor court refurbishment project has been completed on schedule (all bar a few touching up and paint work items) and that the courts will therefore be open for members to book either by telephone or online from Monday 20th July at 11am. Next week during the day (up until 6.30pm), the indoor courts will be booked out for County Week and a Sports week summer tennis course but if the weather is good the County week indoor courts will also be released so that members can try out the new surface.

There are still a few items that need to be completed on the refurbishment following the Ilkley Open such as painting of woodwork on the steps down to the courts and the blue netting between the courts will also be put up following the tournament. Large clocks will be placed at either end of courts 1 and 5 and the old green netting has been left behind courts 2 and 3 on the clubhouse side to aid courtside viewing during the Open but it will be brought down after the event and blue net curtains will be put up in their place. The additional set of stairs down onto the courts is an ingenious contraption that turns into a disabled lift on the press of a button and the black bars on the wall next to court 5 are stretch bars and elastics will be added to them in due course.

The heating system has been overhauled so that although it is still radiant heating (i.e. it heats the body and not the room) it works much more efficiently and therefore in the winter months during opening hours it will kick in automatically if the temperature in the building falls below 6 degrees. This figure is the recommended figure set by the LTA for comfortable play. Notwithstanding this, the building should feel much warmer as it is now fully insulated. The grills in the walls are for ventilation purposes because as the building is now insulated we would have a problem with condensation if we did not have them. However, they will not make the building any colder.

The artificial lighting is much brighter and there are more roof lights than we have had previously and they are at the maximum for a building of this size. The Club is also currently costing out a viewing solution (a gantry behind courts 1-3) and seeing if this will come within the overall budget. If this is authorized by the Committee it will be erected in the autumn but the construction work is unlikely to have any impact on members/coach bookings.

We hope you all enjoy the new courts. The Summer indoor tennis court rates are now posted in reception and the rate is £4 per hour without lights and an extra £3 per hour with lights (no change from last year's prices) at any time of day. Members can book the courts online (£4) and can then decide if they would like lights when they arrive at the Club and come to reception to arrange for payment.

The Club is hoping to have a grand opening of the indoor tennis courts linked with a launch of the new cafe/bar offering at the end of September so watch this space!

Summer Rates