Burnside courts will be saved
Rutherglen LTC vote to restore community facility
Members of Rutherglen Lawn Tennis Club ( RLTC) overwhelmingly backed the proposal to take over the derelict courts at Burnside Bowling Club.
At an EGM in the Burnside Hotel on Thursday members voted 83-2 in favour of the plan.
A further vote on the surface of the courts saw members plump for artificial clay over artificial grass by 64 to 20.
Nearly 100 people attended the meeting, some from outwith the club.
The votes represented over threequarters of those eligible out of a membership of 250.
Club president Gareth Ellor gave a presentation on the details of the deal. RLTC will lease the courts from Burnside Bowling Club for a minimum of 25 years at a rate of £5000 a year plus inflation.
The club will also become a company limited by guarantee to protect members from any liability.
A number of scenarios were put to members, based on membership projections. With the Lawn Tennis Association suggesting 60 members per court, the club will now have a capacity of 420.
The club committee, who urged members to back the plan, also made the case for artificial clay, which they said aids development of young players and is easier to play on for beginners.
However, they accepted there will be challenges in maintaining club spirit with a split site.
A question and answer session focussed on the surface of the courts before some queries about the lease, but it was no surprise when the vote results were read out.
Afterwards Gareth Ellor told the Reformer contractors are in place and work could start as early as next month ahead of a July opening.
He added: “We were pretty confident it would get voted through. I was more concerned about the vote on the surface. This will give us the best of both worlds and different options for new members.
“In the west of Scotland there will just be a handful of clubs with more than six courts. Ten years ago no one had heard of this club but now we are one of the most active in Scotland.”
After the vote committee member Eddy Graham joked that in true Wimbledon tradition they should name the hill at the side of court Ellor’s Elevation or Gareth’s Gradient in honour of the work Gareth had done.
But he laughed: “I don’t care what they call it. I’m just relieved its going to go ahead.
“In two years we’ve had so many ups and downs. At times it looked like negotiations with the bowling club would fail and there were times I didn’t think we were going to get the funding.
“But everything is in our control now.”
The Burnside club closed in April 2015 after a dramatic decline in membership. The deal will see RLTC members become social members of Burnside Bowling Club.
Rutherglen LTC have been nominated for Tennis Scotland’s club of the year award.
They will find out if they have won at a ceremony at Dunblane Hydro in March 4.