Rutherglen Reformer

Support call follows tennis clubhouse bid

Now a waiting game as Burnside plan is submitted

- Douglas Dickie

A planning applicatio­n for a new clubhouse and floodlight­s has been submitted for the old Burnside Tennis Club.

But those behind plans to bring the courts back into use say they are still waiting to see if they can press ahead with their scheme and they urged the community to back the project.

Rutherglen Lawn Tennis Club (RLTC) launched their ambitious Return to Splendour campaign in October last year.

They hope to absorb the courts into an expanded facility, operating as a single, fullyinteg­rated, seven court club.

So far half of their £ 20,000 target has been raised but they are relying on successful funding applicatio­ns to Sportscotl­and, the Lawn Tennis Associatio­n and the Landfill Trust if they are to be successful.

If all goes well, work on replacing the courts could start early next year with a view to them being open for next summer.

Club president, Gareth Ellor, said: “From our perspectiv­e, it’s something of a waiting game. If we get the grants we can press ahead but if we don’t it will be backk to the hd drawingi b board.d

“The message we are trying to get across is we want people to support the project.

“So far, 280 people have registered their support but it would be great if we could get more so the funders can see the community are behind us.

“We’ve had great support from local businesses like Framed Indulgence, Burnside Pharmacy and Ace Place Nursery, and we want to get more businesses involved.

“We are definitely on the home straight, but we’ll need to wait and see.”

The planning applicatio­n is for the “proposed upgrade of tennis club facilities.”

It will include replacing existing fencing and floodlight­s and the provision of a rasied spectator platform as well as landscapin­g and associated works.

Gareth added: “It will be a modest building, but it will be pretty comfortabl­e and somewhere to get changed or shelter from the rain.

“We’re hopefully we will get planning approval in the next few weeks.”

The club have already submitted a grant applicatio­n to Sportscotl­and with the others going in between now and September.

Burnside Bowling Club took the decision to close the courts in April last year after a dip in membership saw them go into a state of disrepair.

Formed in the 1920s, Burnside Tennis Club had up to 150 members at its peak in the 1980s and played in the top division of Scottish Tennis’s gents’ competitio­n.

It was seen as a trailblaze­r, becoming one of the first in Scotland to embrace all-weather courts as well as floodlight­s.

RLTC launched a social media campaign using the hashtag # ReturnToSp­lendour and a project website has be launched at www.ReturnToSp­lendour.net providing informatio­n.

 ??  ?? Rundown This was the sad scene when Burnside Tennis Club shut its doors last year. Inset, Gareth Ellor, president of Rutherglen Lawn Tennis Club
Rundown This was the sad scene when Burnside Tennis Club shut its doors last year. Inset, Gareth Ellor, president of Rutherglen Lawn Tennis Club
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