In a radical move, Queenstown’s council has cancelled Arrowtown Tennis Club’s occupation of its Centennial Ave courts from October 1.
The move — which might means it’s ‘game over’ for the club — also affects the local netball club.
The council, in its termination notice last month, says its deed with the tennis club, going back to 1996, is no longer fit for purpose.
The nearby campground was no longer able to manage bookings, it states.
And it says the $350,000 it spent upgrading the courts last year, plus maintenance spend, meant the council ‘‘intend for these benefits to be enjoyed by the local and wider community’’.
But, in appreciation of the club’s past role as ‘‘guardians of the tennis courts for many years’’, the club can still book the courts every Wednesday night at no cost.
Otherwise, all bookings now have to go through the council-owned Queenstown Events Centre.
Ironically, council’s move comes as the tennis courts have never been more utilised, with much of the growth attributed to after-school programmes run by Wānaka-based former tennis pro and ex-New Zealand Davis Cup captain, Alistair Hunt.
Club president Paul Smart says the club’s effectively ‘‘homeless’’ because it no longer has a fixed venue.
‘‘The whole thing seems a wee bit crazy.’’
The club now has to compete for court time with Joe Bloggs off the street, he says — ‘‘we could be there one week but not the next week’’.
Asked if the club couldn’t block-book the courts, he says: ‘‘It’s over $1000 a chunk, or something ridiculous — holy cow, this is expensive.
‘‘We’re trying to work out what our plan of attack will be regarding booking for it and paying for it, as a community club, and that’s the issue, we’re a club with open courts.’’
Smart says you could have the scenario of someone who’s not booked coming along and confronting someone who has, and the former throwing their weight around so the latter backed off.
‘‘That’s why we’d prefer the courts to be locked.’’
He concedes the council forked out $350k to resurface the courts, for which he’s grateful.
‘‘We were asked to and we opted not to because we didn’t have the membership or the time or the expertise to run that sort of project, so the council did it on their own.
‘‘That’s fine, but now, damn it, maybe we should have done it on our own, but of course you can’t turn back the clock.’’
‘Are we ever going to be a club again?’
He admits the club only has about seven members, but queries the point now of anyone wanting to join.
‘‘We’re homeless, and the next question is, are we ever going to be a club again?’’
Smart says they took legal advice about challenging the council’s decision, ‘‘but the lawyer says they can, and they have, so we just have to suck it up’’.
Arrowtowner Chris Bradley, whose children, aged 9, 7, and 4, are tennis fanatics, says ‘‘we’ve had the most amazing 12 months the club has ever seen with Alistair Hunt and his team helping support tennis in the community’’.
‘‘We’ve never seen so many kids in Arrowtown holding tennis rackets and walking to and from the courts.’’
He’d be ‘‘truly devastated’’ if the council’s decision ‘‘affects the community, because having sport, and tennis, starting to thrive, it keeps the kids out of trouble, it keeps them off devices’’.
After-school sport tends to be a dying trend, Bradley says, ‘‘so for this to be going in the opposite direction is a fantastic thing’’.
Arrowtown-based councillor Lisa Guy, who was surprised to learn the club’s out on its ear — she’d thought its lease was going to be revisited — reiterates council’s contention community facilities should be available for community use, particularly given ratepayers’ substantial investment.
‘‘There was some community concern around the council still having accessibility to a public asset over and above the club use.
‘‘If the courts are not booked, anyone is welcome to play for free — they are unlocked.
‘‘If there is a booking that takes priority — this is how the courts in Jack’s Point, Quail Rise and Sunshine Bay are managed.’’
There was also interest in other sports, like pickleball, using the courts, she says.
Guy also raises the issue of a tennis coach using the courts to earn income, and wonders if private courts can’t be used instead.
She stresses, however, she appreciates the work of all sports coaches, and says ‘‘it’s awesome to see growth in ‘Tennis Inc’.
‘‘It is a challenge finding the perfect balance between commercial use of public resources, while maintaining accessibility to all.
‘‘Coaches can book courts at community rates.’’
Decision ‘right out of the blue’
Arrowtown tennis coach Alistair Hunt says council’s termination of its deed with the tennis club was ‘‘right out of the blue’’.
He’s now block-booked court time directly with council for his after-school programme, at his own cost, but believes it’s a real shame the move’s likely to see the club dismantled.
Having a club to join gives a sense of belonging and community, he says, and membership fees can be used to run tournaments, he adds.
In the two years he’s been coaching in Arrowtown, numbers taking lessons have ‘‘skyrocketed’’ from 20 to 30 to about 100 to 120 — ‘‘it’s gone nuts’’.
Hunt says he can totally understand council’s point of view, however.
‘‘They spent an enormous amount of money [refurbishing the courts] but I do think it’s sort of a shame the lease has just terminated when we are there for the good of the community, the kids, and trying to build a cool little environment.
‘‘I think negotiations just got a bit out of control, a bit aggressive, and not from the council’s side.’’
Hunt rejects councillor Lisa Guy’s suggestion he could lease private courts for his tennis lessons — ‘‘there aren’t private courts [available]’’.
