Tennis courts where Andy Murray made first Wimbledon qualifying bid under threat

 

The grass tennis courts where Andy Murray made his first attempt to qualify for Wimbledon could be axed to make way for a new artificial football pitch.

Less than 48 hours after Murray took the Championship title, Hounslow council held a meeting to discuss digging up 14 grass courts in Chiswick.

The Civil Service Lawn Tennis Club used to be the venue for the annual Queen’s Club practise - ahead of the main event at Baron’s Court - as well as the Wimbledon pre-qualifying event where Andy Murray started his bid for the Wimbledon title 10 years ago.

But club members are now fighting to keep the courts in use after a planning application was made by leaseholders Kings House School to install an artificial football pitch and keep only two of the 16 grass tennis courts in use.

Club member Ian Wylie, who lives in Chiswick said: “It would be a moment of total shame for London, the LTA and British tennis if 14 superb grass courts - the very last in Chiswick - were to be dug up and replaced by a football pitch.

“It will remove forever a scarce west London tennis resource to young players of the future who watched Andy Murray re-write British sporting history on Sunday - watched by politicians of all parties in the royal box - just a few miles away on the same grass surface at the All England Club in Wimbledon.”

He appealed to London Mayor Boris Johnson to intervene to help preserve the courts for future generations.

Campaigners also expressed their disappointment about the lack of support from the Lawn Tennis Association, who were consulted on the application and raised no objection to the loss of the courts.

In a council area forum on Tuesday night the decision about whether to go ahead with the development was referred back to the planning officers.

Hounslow council is pushing for a refusal of the planning application.

Ward councillor Gerald McGregor, who attended the meeting, said: “There is no doubt about the iconic effect of having had people like Pete Sampras using the courts ahead of Wimbledon and Queens. But having the stars rent the space for two weeks of the year doesn’t keep the club going for the rest of the time.

“There are fewer than 5,000 grass courts in the UK and in that respect I would be sorry to see these go, but you have to consider the best way to use the space.”

Planning officers are expected to make a decision in the coming weeks.

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