Egerton Park had eight courts, seven of which were used for tennis with one doubling up as a pickleball court.  The eighth court was used for informal football kickabouts.  Two of the courts were leased to Bexhill Tennis Club (BTC) and the remainder were available for wider public use.  The Club, based in Egerton Park, had 85 members, including a junior section.

BTC had had exclusive use of Courts 3 and 4 for some 30 years, as well as the exclusive use of the timber clubhouse and terrace, through various informal and formal arrangements, including more recently a lease.  The leased tennis courts, clubhouse and terrace were well used by BTC who played a valuable role in supporting the Council’s vision for a district where residents had the opportunity of being pro-active in sport in order to derive physical and mental health benefits.

BTC presently leased Court 4 and had requested to replace it with a new lease for Court 5, shown in the plan appended to the report. The reason BTC wished to do so was that Court 5 was closer to their clubhouse and the playing surface considered to be slightly better. The new lease would still include Court 3 as well as the clubhouse and terrace. It was therefore required to dispose of Courts 3 and 5 as public open space, together with the footprint of the clubhouse and terrace area.

RESOLVED:  That:

1)         by virtue of Section 123(2A) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the Council gives formal notice of its intention to dispose of two tennis courts (3 and 5), clubhouse and terrace area at Egerton Park as public open space; and

2)         subject to the above, a new lease of three years term be granted to Bexhill Tennis Club with terms and conditions to the satisfaction of the Chief Executive.