The Ryde tennis community need your help!

Ryde Tennis Centre, located adjacent the Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre, may lose half its courts under a proposal by Ryde Council.

The community and North-West Tennis Association / Ryde-Balmain Tennis built this facility in 50:50 partnership with Council over 40 years ago. Voyager Tennis which operates from the Next Generation Health Club also heavily utilise the courts for their program participants including many junior and adult members of the local community. 

The master plan for Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre see here on Council’s website- shows the current plans for the site, which amongst other expanded leisure offerings, is primarily to add additional car parking capacity at the venue.

We support the need for that project and acknowledge the benefits of increased car parking capacity and leisure facilities.

HOWEVER, not at the cost of our tennis centre, which we have invested in significantly over a long period of time. Our elected representatives need to hear how important and valued this venue is to the community.

Our petition seeks that Council amend the master plan prior to finalisation to:

• Ensure a full-service and sustainable tennis venue is maintained on the site, irrespective of the other changes
• Accommodate eight (8) tennis courts in the final plan
• Ensure appropriate public, change and club facilities are incorporated in to the plan
• Ensure that at minimum four (4) courts are operational throughout the project
• That the construction and completion of stages impacting the operation of the tennis centre (as a full 8-court centre) is kept to a minimum (i.e. less than 3-4 years)

This venue is important to the local tennis community as it is an important venue for:

• Competitive play: district and local competition – four courts is insufficient to host such competition which brings together our community and provides a pathway for local players
• Kids Coaching and Programs – the population is growing and access to tennis facilities in this part of the local government area will be restricted significantly, reducing opportunities for people to access our sport
• Active Aging & Inclusive Participation – the demographic profile within Ryde is increasingly aging and diverse. Tennis is one of the most inclusive sport options for people of all ages and abilities – and is a truly-world sport with significant
• Less opportunities for unstructured, social and casual play – many people are looking for more convenient and less structured ways to participate. Tennis is a fantastic option for this growing part of the community. A smaller centre will provide less opportunities for this form of provision, also reducing the community’s access to the sport and the valuable social and physical benefits that come with it.
• Operationally and financially sustainable tennis venue – smaller venues (less than six courts) have significantly reduced capacity to operate at a scale which can provide higher levels of service, diversity in programming and the financial outcomes that can make tennis venues more sustainable operationally and in infrastructure investment.

SIGN THE PETITION if you currently utilise the courts at Ryde Tennis Centre and would like to continue to do so in the future. This will then be sent to Council to ensure Tennis is returned in full to this centre as part of the project to expand the parking and facility at the Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre!