Maylands Tennis Club has served an ace after a local council voted to endorse its application for State Government funding to upgrade three of its tennis courts.
The City of Bayswater council unanimously voted to approve an application to the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries’ Sports and Recreation Facilities Fund to help pay for converting the grass courts into illuminated hard courts.
The project is set to cost about $645,800, with $215,182 and $62,200 to come from the city and tennis club respectively.
If approved, the SRFF will cover about $215,182 of the cost. A decision is expected in September.
The city will also consider listing up to $252,400 towards the project in its 2025-26 draft annual budget.
Of the club’s 16 tennis courts, 13 are currently grass.
“Grass courts are not really the surface that juniors like … juniors like hard courts; they’re easy to play on, they’re easy to learn on and juniors think that they’re much more fun,” Maylands Tennis Club representative Judy Hogben told the council in May.
“New hard courts would actually increase our junior usage and increase our pennants.
“We do have data for Maylands on the usage of our three existing hard courts (which) shows very strong and increasing community usage. We have had strong support to convert three of our existing grass courts into hard courts.”
Cr Michelle Sutherland said it was important for the council to support “this type of infrastructure”.
“It’s obvious that hard courts and lights are now are the future for tennis and will give a much-needed boost,” she said.
“Sport is really important both for physical and mental wellbeing … and this is a great application and will serve the people, not just in the peninsula of Maylands but all of the City of Bayswater and indeed other areas.”
Mayor Filomena Piffaretti said she was excited for the upgrades.
“I know it’s been years in the making and we had a false start once, but now it’s come to fruition through the dedication and commitment from the club members,” she said.
“I’m really glad to see that Tennis West and Tennis Australia can see the value in our fantastic facility. I mean, what other tennis clubs do you find on the banks of the Swan River?”
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