1,000 signatures reached
To: Tracy Brabin MP, Shabir Pandor and Elizabeth Smaje
Keep Batley Tennis Centre usage for Tennis
Please keep Batley ITI (Indoor Tennis Initiative) Tennis Centre open for Tennis and decline the request of KAL (Kirklees Active Leisure) to change the use of the centre from Tennis to other multisport activities.
Why is this important?
Batley ITI Tennis Centre was purpose built for grass roots tennis and as an indoor tennis training centre, and is the only indoor Pay and Play Centre outside of Leeds suitable for players of all levels and abilities. The centre is only in decline because KAL have not appointed a suitable dedicated tennis manager at the centre who would develop grass roots tennis in the locale and surrounding areas and build the centre back to its former popularity with mini-tennis training and tournaments and adult classes and sessions for all.
The centre is also the home ground of Batley ITI Tennis Club who have mens, womens and mixed teams playing competitively in the HADTL league and the Wakefield Tennis League, and these members also pay and regularly attend the Pay and Play Sessions. The Club was born out of the first users of the Tennis Centre when it opened as an Indoor Tennis Initiative over 25 years ago and the club members are dedicated pay and play attendees at the Centre on a regular weekly basis. We believe the Centre should remain a dedicated Tennis Centre and by carefully selecting a Tennis Business Development manager in co-operation with the LTA, the Centre can return to a thriving tennis centre of excellence once again. It would also pay for itself that way. The costs involved in attracting the right personnel to run the centre are far less than the costs involved in changing the use of the centre to be a multi-sport non-tennis environment.
Let's keep Tennis a grass roots sport in Batley available for every child to be able to experience tennis. Please keep Batley ITI Tennis Centre open for Tennis for all, as that is what it was built for, and let's rebuild the centre attendance up to its potential again by working in close association with the LTA to bring in the right Tennis Development Manager.
The centre is also the home ground of Batley ITI Tennis Club who have mens, womens and mixed teams playing competitively in the HADTL league and the Wakefield Tennis League, and these members also pay and regularly attend the Pay and Play Sessions. The Club was born out of the first users of the Tennis Centre when it opened as an Indoor Tennis Initiative over 25 years ago and the club members are dedicated pay and play attendees at the Centre on a regular weekly basis. We believe the Centre should remain a dedicated Tennis Centre and by carefully selecting a Tennis Business Development manager in co-operation with the LTA, the Centre can return to a thriving tennis centre of excellence once again. It would also pay for itself that way. The costs involved in attracting the right personnel to run the centre are far less than the costs involved in changing the use of the centre to be a multi-sport non-tennis environment.
Let's keep Tennis a grass roots sport in Batley available for every child to be able to experience tennis. Please keep Batley ITI Tennis Centre open for Tennis for all, as that is what it was built for, and let's rebuild the centre attendance up to its potential again by working in close association with the LTA to bring in the right Tennis Development Manager.
How it will be delivered
We plan to email the signatures, and also deliver them in person if possible.