Lydiate – Tennis Courts get amber light for resurfacing

I have covered this issue before but to recap the present state of the surface of the courts at Sandy Lane Park is poor so Lydiate Parish Council is looking to correct that. They presently look like this:-

This is the present run-down condition of the Sandy Lane Park tennis courts surface.

This is the present run-down condition of the Sandy Lane Park tennis courts surface.

They could end up looking like this:-

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Well not quite like that but you get my drift. In fact the Parish Council wants them to be munti-use not just for tennis which is a short season game outside for many folk. A multi-use facility like this is called a MUGA (Multi Use Games Area) and it could be marked out for other sports too such as five-a-side football, netball, basketball etc.

The big issue will be paying for the works so the Parish Council is looking for potential grants from Sport England and the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association). We hope we can pull together a funding package and gain the backing of Lydiate’s 3 primary schools, scouts, guides etc. to enable a bid to be made for grants.

The issue will come back to the Parish Council in March of 2017.

Labour loves tennis – OK but why the obsession with this particular sport?

Readers will recall that in closing down the innovative and unique Youth Coffee Bar in Maghull Town Hall Maghull Labour said it was to change the offer to local youth and that they were introducing tennis coaching as an alternative.

Maghull TH Youth Coffee Bar before Labour shut it

Maghull TH Youth Coffee Bar before Labour shut it

Well hard on the heels of that momentous (some would say ridiculous) decision neighbouring Lydiate Labour (who run Lydiate Parish Council) are trumpeting that they have refurbished the tennis courts (rebuilt the fencing) at Sandy Lane Park, a project that the Lib Dem opposition on Lydiate Parish Council supported I might add.

So Labour in Maghull & Lydiate are keen on tennis, that seems very clear. So keen in fact that they were willing to shut down an all year round youth facility in Maghull seemingly so that tennis coaching can be offered as an alternative by Labour-run Maghull Town Council. Maghull Council does not have any non-Labour members by the way.

Looks like Labour thinks they may have the tennis vote all sown up in Lydiate and Maghull. Trouble is they have successfully alienated many local young people in the process and may have made themselves about as unpopular with the younger generation (all except tennis players of course) as Nick Clegg did when he U turned on Tuition Fees! What’s more the surface of the Lydiate tennis courts leaves much to be desired but more on that in a further posting.