At the Inquiry today. the School appeared to have accepted that there’s a shortage of courts in the Hyde Park and Woodhouse, and Headingley areas, but maintained that if parents here were serious about their children playing tennis, they would drive them to tennis courts further afield. The School also maintained that the children themselves could travel by bus to these other courts.
The School’s website lists 25 tennis courts at its Alwoodley site and says that they are all to be floodlit. According to Lawn Tennis Association figures, that’ll be enough tennis courts to cater for 1,500 tennis players. Currently the School has 2,207 pupils. That means that the School expects 68% of its pupils to be tennis players. This compares with the Lawn Tennis Association finding that just 2% of the population play tennis. In terms of tennis courts, that’s an over-provision by the School of 3,400%
John the Baptist said, “Let the man who has two coats give one to the man who has none.” But even though the School has 25 tennis courts out at Alwoodley, built on land acquired cheaply at green belt prices, they’re not prepared to part with any of the courts they no longer require at Headingley, for anything less than market value.