THE ball is in the State Government\u2019s court as the City of Greater Bendigo has applied for a grant to upgrade Axedale Tennis Club\u2019s outdated surfaces.<\/p>\n
The project would see the demolition of the existing three non-compliant asphalt courts and construction of two new acrylic regulation playing surfaces.<\/p>\n
Chris Hobson is secretary of Axedale Tennis Club and said the new courts would also include netball junior Hotshots tennis line marking.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe town has got limited sporting facilities,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got the golf course, but other than that there\u2019s not a great deal else happening so it\u2019s important to have these multi-purpose facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Hobson said the old asphalt courts had been redone a few times, but never completely resurfaced.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve taken the nets off one, we don\u2019t allow people to play there. The net posts are original 1920s posts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The new courts will be left open to encourage casual players to use them, and Mr Hobson said the club is hopeful the development will see an increase in the number of players, currently between 20 and 30, as well as the return of school sessions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope to have a lot more players,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re putting another team together for Saturday comps, we\u2019ll be able to have additional activities and we\u2019ve got one set of lights so we can have a night comp as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Hobson said the project has been in the works for over two years and will cost more than $500,000, with the State Government hopefully covering most of that amount.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE ball is in the State Government\u2019s court as the City of Greater Bendigo has applied for a grant to upgrade Axedale Tennis Club\u2019s outdated surfaces. The project would see the demolition of the existing three non-compliant asphalt courts and construction of two new acrylic regulation playing surfaces. Chris Hobson is secretary of Axedale Tennis […]<\/p>\n