GOALS

The launch of the website comes at a time when a number of goals have already been achieved – an example of which is this website. Much work has already been done by the committee this year and the work goes on.

• The Club needed a website; done. Big thanks for helping us achieve this goal go to Simon Scott-Harden for donating his time and skill in the building and design of the site.

• It was decided that the clubhouse exterior and the benches needed painting; done. The old storage shed at the rear of the clubhouse is falling down and needs replacing. Almost done; a new shed has arrived and now awaits construction. Both the old shed and general clutter will soon disappear. The garden desperately needed attention; done. The credit for how beautiful the garden looks now goes to Christine Cail

• The courts needed de-sanding; done. Anyone who has played on them since will notice a huge improvement in the playing surface. Hopefully we’ll now get another 2+ years out of the courts but we are already planning for 3 of the courts to be recovered as and when necessary.

• The new parking restrictions have brought their own problems and time was invested in establishing if the Club could get free passes etc. Sadly not, but contact Heather Sutton for car parking tickets which will allow you to park at a cheaper rate than the metered one.

• A sub-committee was set up and the possibility of having floodlights was thoroughly explored. Discussions and meetings were held with the local planning dept, 2 private specialist planning consultants, the NE Regional Representative for the LTA, a lighting specialist and 2 firms provided quotes for supplying and installing the necessary floodlights. Bottom line: the best possible chance of such a planning application being successful would mean installing telescopic(i.e. retractable) floodlights and as the cost would be over £100,000 the committee concluded it was too expensive. The good news: alternatives for evening play during the winter months are available. (See Diary).

• Thank you to each and every committee member for the time and effort you have contributed and are continuing to give for the benefit of all members.

• Work is required and will be starting soon on the ‘kerb’ at the side of Court 1

There is not much more planned for this year but hopefully that which has been achieved demonstrate that the committee is not only looking after the day-to-day aspects of running the Club but is also looking to the future.

If you have any suggestions for your committee for 2010 please contact your President Heather Sutton or any other committee member. We would love to hear your ideas for events (social and tennis) and for the general running of the Club. We obviously can’t promise that all requests will be granted but can guarantee that our decisions are intended in moving the Club forward and for the benefit of all. Please get your views to someone before the next committee meeting.