AS A regular tennis player who lives in Oxford and uses the Alexandra tennis courts, I would like to respond to city councillor Andrew Gant’s suggestion that the green space should be used in a better way (August 12).

He says that “it could be a great place to provide space for an open park which families and dog walkers could make use of.

And it would also be a good place for teenagers to use, because at the moment there is nowhere in Summertown for them to go”.

I am astonished if he seriously believes this.

The Alexandra grass courts are a valuable asset for the whole of Oxford and are possibly the only grass courts in the county which are accessible to the general public.

Furthermore, I should imagine that very few counties around England have a facility of the quality of the Alexandra courts.

If the Summertown residents want somewhere to go, what is wrong with Port Meadow which is just on their doorstep? There are acres and acres there for dogs to run around.

Local residents apparently think that the grass court space could be used for young people to have picnics. Are they being serious? Again, Port Meadow is a perfect place for a picnic.

Who would choose to have a picnic in the middle of a residential area like Alexandra Park? OK, there are 121 tennis courts in North Oxford.

So what?

Most of them can only be used by members of schools, colleges and clubs.

The article goes on to say that a survey carried out found that the Alexandra courts were used about 1,600 times from April to June in a year (presumably 2010).

This does not give a true picture of the amount of use of the grass courts, since they were not ready until the middle of May, and in fact this year the grass courts have been out of bounds to the general public until the middle of June, when the council finally provided someone to man the booth and take payment from players.

If the number of grass courts is reduced from the present number of 10, this can only have a detrimental effect on the condition of the grass on the remaining courts. Also there will be a problem of court availability at popular playing times.

The Government says that it wants to improve the health of the nation. Its health will not be improved if councils vote for a reduction in recreational areas so that more of us can sit down to picnics.

Trevor Lea, Vicarage Road, Oxford

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