Tennis takes big step forward with refurbished courts in Sheffield

Lead coaches Ryan Bagshaw and Luis Sylvester, pictured with children who took part in the mini tennis red sessions at Bingham Park. Picture: Marie Caley NSST Tennis MC 1Lead coaches Ryan Bagshaw and Luis Sylvester, pictured with children who took part in the mini tennis red sessions at Bingham Park. Picture: Marie Caley NSST Tennis MC 1
Lead coaches Ryan Bagshaw and Luis Sylvester, pictured with children who took part in the mini tennis red sessions at Bingham Park. Picture: Marie Caley NSST Tennis MC 1
The resurgence in parks tennis in Sheffield has taken another big step forward with the refurbishment of the tennis courts at Bingham Park in south-west Sheffield.

The project is the latest to be completed by Sheffield City Council in partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association over the last four years.

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Bingham Park was traditionally a popular park for tennis, with its courts built up the hill and far-reaching views across the city. Unfortunately, in recent years the courts have fallen into a state of disrepair and required significant refurbishment to return them to their former state.

Following the concerted efforts of Sheffield City Council, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), Parks Tennis CIC and Bingham Park Community Group (BPCG), work started on site to refurbish the courts earlier this year.

Lisa Firth, head of parks and countryside at Sheffield City Council, said: “The newly refurbished tennis courts at Bingham Park will provide a valuable addition to the area and welcome tennis players of all abilities to use the renovated facilities.

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“Through our continued investment in the city’s parks, we hope to see more and more people using them for recreational activities and improving the tennis facilities will only add to their overall appeal.”

The project to refurbish two courts and improve the landscape has cost more than £100,000 and has been funded by S106 Planning Gain contributions, Ecclesall ward pot and grant funding from the Lawn Tennis Association. BPCG raised £4,600 to repair the walls on the lower courts and now the group are continuing their efforts to improve the lower courts and provide other facilities for the park.

The new courts are due to be repainted shortly to complete the project, which involved replacing the perimeter fencing and resurfacing the asphalt surface. Some of the old dilapidated courts have also been decommissioned and landscaped over.

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Paul Sheard, regional tennis participation manager for the LTA commented: “We are delighted to see the courts refurbished at Bingham Park. There is a high level of demand for tennis in this area of Sheffield and I’m sure that the courts will be really well used by the local community.

“It was a challenging location to carry out the work at due to the hilly nature of the site but now it’s nearly finished the courts look really good. It’s great to see the continued regeneration of parks tennis in the city which has helped safeguard the future of the sport for the people of Sheffield.”

The project takes the number of park sites refurbished to six since 2015, with a total of 24 courts upgraded at a cost of around £350,000. There are a total of 10 venues on the city wide court booking system and tennis programmes have recently started at a number of the sites.

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There was further recognition for the Sheffield Parks Programme last month when Millhouses Park was named the regional runner up in the British Tennis Awards Community Venue of the Year category. Millhouses had received the Yorkshire Community Venue award but just missed out in the North regional stage to Fletcher Moss Park in Manchester.

There is a small charge for using the city’s tennis courts and the money goes into a fund to pay for future maintenance. To book tennis courts online visit: www.tennisheffield.com