As many of you will have noticed, the areas of foliage around the courts – tennis and basketball – have been completely cut down and it all now looks very stark. Some of the shrubs they cut down with no warning , which were laden with berries to support the birds in winter, were actually planted a few years ago by Jon Brigg and Mick with whips donated by the Woodland Trust.
Apparently, this has been done at the request of the new tennis court operator as they decided the foliage roots might do damage to the playing surfaces. Sadly it means all the long grasses, the brambles, ground cover and bird-friendly berry trees have gone and we are left with a very sad-looking area. We are assured that LBE will make good the damage and will plant replacement shrubs in consultation with us so the area can be made to look more park like and less bare.
The fence to the court has still not been repaired from when some tennis players were incarcerated in the courts when the new key pad lock closed on them and fence had to be cut by the park workers to liberate them. The lock was removed and thankfully has still not been replaced and we are attempting to persuade LBE to revert to our open to all policy.