Local park tennis courts in Enfield set for renovation

In total, 12 park tennis venues will be renovated, with investment of £643,476 helping ensure that quality facilities are available for the local community. Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture, Public Spaces and Local Economy, Cllr Chinelo Anyanwu, said: “This funding will improve the quality of the tennis courts across Enfield. The refurbished courts will provide a great opportunity for more residents to take part in this fantastic, sociable sport and the appointment of an operator to offer a wide range of tennis activities will further enhance the opportunities for participation. "We are keen to see a wide range of people use our courts – younger people, more women and girls, people of all kinds of abilities from all four corners of the borough. This will be an exciting time for tennis in Enfield.”Julie Porter, Chief Operating Officer at the LTA, said: “We are delighted to be working with Enfield 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 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 Enfield 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.”The project is part of a nationwide investment delivered by the LTA, to refurbish public tennis courts across Great Britain, and open the sport to many more people. In addition to investment of £588,456 from the government and LTA Tennis Foundation, £55,020 will also be invested by Enfield Council.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 people from a broad range of backgrounds.Alongside the investment, Enfield Council will appoint a tennis operator to develop tennis programmes across the parks and will work with the LTA to deliver a range of activities across the sites. This will include weekly, 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 to own a racket. Local Tennis Leagues will also provide friendly, sociable, opportunities to get active through local competition. The park venues being renovated are: Albany Park, Craig Park, Durants Park, Enfield Town Park, Hazelwood Recreation Ground, Jubilee Park, North Enfield Recreation Ground, Oakwood Park, Ponders End Recreation Ground and Pymmes Park, whilst Arnos Park and Grovelands Park will also be available to book online including via the LTA website https://www.lta.org.uk/play/book-a-tennis-court, making it far easier to find and book a court or activity. Information about the court refurbishments can be found at: https://www.enfield.gov.uk/services/leisure-and-culture/enfield-tennis-courts-refurbishment.Work is anticipated to start in August and will be completed by early 2024.