26th June 2008

North Oxford residents came out in large numbers to show their support for continued public access to Alexandra Courts. Over 250 people ranging in age from 0 to 90 came to the tennis courts to show their opposition to the City Council’s plan to hand the courts over to a private company.

‘This was a wonderful afternoon of tennis and tea’ said Chris Goodall, who helped to organize the event. ‘I have to say that the standard of tennis was generally not quite as good as at Wimbledon, but everybody had enormous fun’

‘And we made a powerful point: the local community is completely opposed to the proposals put forward by the City Council. Precious open space will be lost. Public access to the Courts will be severely curtailed. The addition of floodlights in a densely populated residential area is completely inappropriate’, Cathy Robertson, another organizer, added

Chris Goodall, the Green Party’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Oxford West and Abingdon, concluded

‘We have shown how strong the opposition is. Since the City Council is trying to wash its hands of this important leisure facility, we now need to come up with detailed plants for a community not-for-profit trust to take over the operation of the Courts and the surrounding area. We’ll be holding a meeting soon for local people to propose how we could ruin the Courts better than the City.’

Notes

1)       The City Council proposes to offer a 25 year lease to Wildwood Leisure. Wildwood intends to build a large indoor tennis complex for members. Public ‘pay and play’ access will be restricted to as few as one or two of the courts. (Details are contained in the management agreement agreed between Wildwood and the City.)

2)       Photographs available of the event.

3)       Contact Chris Goodall 07767 386696