Summerway Tennis has only been affordable to all Exeter juniors (18 & under) because of subsidy. Local Government has subsidised the Club by supplying and maintaining the premises. Volunteers have provided services at no charge. Volunteers remain the same, but Local Government does not.
Devon supported affordable tennis provision for children of the wider community. Why won’t Exeter?
DCC has been a good landlord, and has demonstrated its care for the children over the years. It shared a true partnership with the Committee of volunteers who managed the Club, and showed its trust and confidence in them by never trying to exert influence over them. Consequently, the Club was hugely successful and really flourished. ECC behaved just as well in the early 1970’s. However, ECC is no longer benign towards the volunteers and children. Nowadays, it seeks to profit financially from the Club and control it. Unlike DCC, it has proved incapable of working in partnership with the Club, and seems to have its own hidden agenda for the site.
