Dear petition signatories and the wider tennis community,

First of all, thank you so much for all of your support and for signing the petition. We've been overwhelmed by the level of support for this campaign - nearly 2,000 of you signed which is just incredible. Thanks for spreading the word and for your support and comments, it's been hugely motivating and helped us get noticed by media outlets, which has been so important.

We haven't yet updated you with news of how this campaign has been progressing, although I'm sure many of you have been following the stories in the media. We wanted to wait until something concrete had been decided, and we now feel we can update you.

Lee Valley Regional Park Authority yesterday decided not to proceed with the proposal to convert indoor tennis courts at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre to padel courts. They admitted in writing that, on reflection, they realise the authority should have engaged with key groups before considering the padel proposal.

It's a huge victory. However, the work doesn't stop as the removal of the indoor tennis courts are not off the table entirely - and we want this to be the case. 

At the executive meeting yesterday, the committee members described the original decision on 19/7 as “complacent” and that our work, correspondence, action and passion had “lit a fire” under them and energised them to get the next decision right.

So on the whole, we did feel that the committee members listened to us. Our concern is that Shaun Dawson (LVRPA CEO) may still have replacing the indoor courts on his agenda. It was unfortunate that he spoke again about how legacy must evolve and we must follow trends, rather than welcoming the LTA’s involvement, which would have been constructive.

We believe that the legacy protection for the indoor courts should be reintroduced in perpetuity and we will keep working for this to happen.

For now, thanks so much again for your support.

With best wishes,

The Save Lee Valley Tennis campaign group.