Published: 9 January, 2014
By RICHARD OSLEY

A TENNIS club is fighting for the right to build two new squash courts after council planning chiefs said there was no demand for them.

The Cumberland Lawn Tennis Club in Alvanley Gardens, West Hampstead, saw its bid to extend its clubhouse rejected in 2012, a move which would have seen facilities upgraded and two new squash courts added. The club was told that it had not proved there was demand for squash courts and that the development was too big.

In an appeal launched against that Town Hall decision, the club’s architects said: “The council’s reason for refusal contends that there is an ‘absence of adequate evidence’ to demonstrate a need for the new squash courts. This assertion is unfounded.”

The club provided 70 emails from club members expressing the difficult of getting a booking on one of its four existing courts. The appeal added that too much emphasis had been put on use during off-peak hours, adding: “Squash, like most sports, is only  played at certain times of the year and at certain times of day. Most sports facilities are, by their very nature, used only at certain peak times.”

The existing courts needed upgrading, the club said, because they do not meet tournament specifications due to the height of ceiling cross-beams. Councillors on the Town Hall’s planning committee had previously voted 10 to 2 against the scheme. A planning inspector will now rule on the scheme.