Work has begun on Harrow Council’s controversial tennis court refurbishments.
The council recently received £587,000 from the Lawn Tennis Association to bring the public courts up to a good standard and, as at the beginning of March, works on multiple tennis courts commenced across the borough.
These plans have been met with criticism in some corners, as users will now be charged to use the courts where before they were free.
The courts at Pinner Village Gardens are set to undergo deep cleaning this week.
Hugh Brown, a resident who launched a petition against the court fees which was signed more than 2,000 people, has been left disappointed.
Hugh said: “Privatising our courts is a political choice. They claimed they couldn’t afford to keep our tennis courts free, yet in their new council budget, Harrow Tories have given themselves an extra £230,000 for PR – three times the £74,000 per year needed to keep our courts free.
“What’s especially galling is that my nearest courts, in Pinner Village Gardens, aren’t even being refurbished. So we’ll be paying to use exactly the same courts I currently use for free.”
Leader of Harrow Council, councillor Paul Osborn, responded: “This ‘resident’ is a failed Labour candidate for North Harrow Ward. We are not increasing the amount the council spends on communications, we are simply adjusting the budget to reflect the amount that has been spent on communications every year under the previous Labour administration. They cut this budget in the past but didn’t reduce any spending. This meant it was a continuing overspend within the Resources Department’s budget, putting pressure on other services. Like so many other things we inherited from Labour, including the terrible state of our tennis courts, this is something we have had to fix.”
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