Grounds
Not a golf swing but the last of over 500 daffodils and some tulips being planted.
The Club lost a sizeable amount of bulbs during the construction of the ramp and these
have now been replaced and the overall flower bed extended along the entire East Drive side of court 2.
Should look very attractive next spring together with the recently planted 80 lavender plants.
A number of bird boxes will be installed as agreed by the Club and Council.

Since the Club started maintaining the areas around the courts and Clubhouse the overall appearance has been appreciated by many members and public. It’s worth noting acts of anti social behaviour have dramatically reduced. The Club is currently seeking  permission to take over the area between the rear of the Clubhouse and East Drive, this would allow us to landscape this overgrown patch of land.

Bicycle stand
A new five bike stand will be installed by the pathway to Courts 1 and 2 after requests by a number of members and some input from The Friends of Queens Park

Court lockers
The two court lockers that are tucked behind the lighting columns, either side of courts 1 and 2, are to house all the junior equipment and all gardening tools. They are a temporary measure to give us more storage space inside the Clubhouse. We are trying to keep the main floor area as clear as possible to give more space for venue hire.
When we reach the final phase of construction there will be adequate storage within the new side extensions.

The Lease
Coming up to four years and we have reached the final stage of negotiations.
A huge number of clauses had to be amended in order to safeguard the long term future of the Club. This involved several Council departments and agreement of committees. With changing heads of department and four solicitors over the years you can see why it has been so long – and frustrating.
Additionally it was important the ‘handover condition’ of courts and Clubhouse was detailed and the Council have, for their part, renewed and repaired some major parts of the Clubs infrastructure. The final stage of that being the repair, renewal and decoration of all exterior areas of the Clubhouse. The Club then has to adhere to a full maintenance programme to ensure it meets detailed conditions throughout the lease period.
The signing of the lease unlocks an agreed financial package with the LTA allowing the completion of the floodlight system which involves bringing in a three phase power supply from East Drive and the construction of a side extension which will house the control equipment for the lights as well as providing kitchen and bar storage. The package  will also allow the construction of the accessible / wheelchair toilet, which has been much requested by members, on the west side of the Clubhouse.

Friends of Queens Park
Club member Jerone has been appointed as liaison between The  Friends of Queens Park and the Club. The first joint meeting being scheduled in the Clubhouse early October. On the agenda will be planning joint ventures around the Club and the park. All Friends members will be offered social membership to the Club allowing use for AGMs, meetings including private hire of the Clubhouse. We hope to organise a monthly history walk around the park and surrounding roads with a local historian hosting.

AGM Date
We can finally hold our AGM on Sunday 7th November at 5.30pm
Agenda to follow. Please contact Alan if you wish to bring up some suggestions / comments

And finally
With the battle to keep weeds off the courts it has now become necessary to clear the areas around the courts regularly. Alan has organised a party of students from nearby Brighton College as part of the ‘ help in the community ‘ group. They will concentrate on the lower courts while we continue to treat the top courts.

We continue to repair the original fencing on Courts 5 and 6 but long term it is planned to install rigid mesh fencing as seen on the East Drive side of the courts. Electronic gates will be installed at the same time. We are currently seeking permission from the Council to have power from the clocktower to operate the computers and gate entry system.

Thanks to Bruno who continues to bag up 200 used tennis balls and send them off for recycling. The Club receives a small remuneration for each bag. To date nearly a 1000 balls have been sent off !!!

and speaking of recycling our lease changed in the last draft regarding waste management. We now have a additional contract with our current company Teamwaste  to collect glass, tin, paper and cardboard