Tennis club row could leave players £35k in the dark

Monday 21 August 2017

A local tennis club could be forced to pay up to £35,000 for new floodlights after a dispute with the States left players in the dark.

Members of Les Mielles Tennis Club (LMTC) were recently shocked to find that lights providing vital illumination to their St Brelade-based courts had been unexpectedly removed.

The not-for-profit club say that this happened completely without warning and that they only learned that the works were due to take place as little as two weeks before they were carried out. 

States officials argued this had to be done because the floodlights were over 25 years old and required special maintenance engineers from the UK for their upkeep. Moreover, they were not cost-effective to run because they were not used by the public through ‘pay and play’ so there was no opportunity to derive income.

But Faye Camp, Chairman of the club, which runs numerous junior courses, told Express that the timing of the decision left them in an “extremely difficult position” both financially and due to the upcoming darker winter months.

Video: Les Mielles Tennis Club's U14 players using the club's facilities.

To replace the lights, LMTC could be forced to fork out between £20,000 and £35,000. Even with the use of their £10,000 sinking fund, they will still fall short of the total sum.

“We need to get the money fast, but obviously we haven’t got the time to start doing things like fundraisers, for example. Looking for a sponsor, I’m not sure if they want to sponsor lights! We’ve got to really get our thinking caps on for that,” Ms Camp explained.

“It’s really frustrating because they’ve [the States] just dumped it on us… They want to encourage sport participation, and we’re trying to do that, now this has completely thrown a spanner in the works because come winter, that’s not going to happen.”

She added that the move was “hypocritical” because the States had just funded new lights for non-‘pay and play’ courts next door.

LMTC’s lights’ decommissioning came following extended negotiations over leasing the full premises with the States. That was signed after more than two years in late July, but the contract did not include a lighting deal.

Constable Steve Pallett, the Minster with responsibility for Sport, maintained that the club had been kept informed along the way. He said there had been discussions in which Jersey Property Holdings and the Sports Division had been “transparent over the need for LMTC to contribute towards any future lighting”, and that they were now helping them to source quotes for two courts. 

Pictured: The Minister with responsibility for Sport, Constable Steve Pallett, said that there was an "integral cost" to providing public facilities and that clubs should help bear that burden.

He told Express: “Many sports clubs use public facilities to run their sports either through leasing specific premises or by ‘pay and play’ and this has been the norm for as long as I can remember. The vast majority of clubs are not run for profit and are administered by an army of volunteers, but there is clearly an integral cost to providing any public facility and it is only right that clubs and members of those clubs who use those facilities bear some of the cost of providing the excellent facilities we currently offer.

“The Sports Division and JPH have tried to ensure that a fair and consistent approach is followed throughout all sports when it comes to negotiating leases on premises and I believe LMTC have been provided excellent terms for the areas they lease at Les Quennevais.” 

He also commented that the Sports department would continue to assist the club where possible.

“The club now has a lease that secures its future and we wish them luck as they move forward.”