New Facilities
After many months and years of scheming, grafting, begging and grafting again, the club can now boast two fantastic additions to our facilities........
The idea was hatched in 2001, when the original scope of work included analysing a new clubhouse, new courts and floodlights. However the analysis soon concluded that the club would be seriously risking it's financial status by going for such a big project, so it was down-scaled to lights and courts.
The LTA were brought on-board from the beginning, and even the Lottery was considered for a while. At the end of 2002, we had priced up many options of clubhouse / courts / lights, and decided to plumb for 3 + 3 (courts + lit courts). Consultation with the LTA in Jan 2003 forced us to reduce scope to 3 + 2, which was then approved at AGM in June 2003.
Detailed financial planning occurred onver the Winter of 2003/4, with the LTA providing their opening consultation in April 2004. Soon after, planning permmission was sought, and granted in Nov 2004.
Tenders were invited in March 2005, with the final selection being made in June 2005. Given the low price of one contractor, it was decided to revise the scope of works to 3 + 3.
New FloodLights
The decision to extend the project to three sets of low-level floodlights was made in July 2005, due to the low price of the lead tender. However, troubles began in September, when the application to the electricity board resulted in a huge quote for upgrading the power supply.
We were advised that we could have no more power than we had already, not good when you need another 12kVA for each set of lights per court . . . . After the initial quote of £30k, we pleaded, begged and sulked until a revised quote was secured, at a much more reasonable level. Even after the new quote was signed off, timescales are not of the essence when it comes to installing new power cabling, and so we were forced to delay and delay the commissioning of thelight until April 2006.
Still, when you have the patience of a saint . . . . . . . it's all worth it in the end.
. . . 
New Courts
As for the courts, they were the easy bit . . . . . 10 weeks, and the tarmac was say waiting for the carpet. Over the Christmas break, our contractors came in and laid the new courts. By the third week in January, we were playing on new courts . . . .
