On 18th July 2007, Jim received through the post a letter dated 13th July, addressed to him personally, sent by Alan Caig, who is ECC’s Head of Leisure and Museums.
This letter required Jim to inform the Club that Alan had given instructions for the pavilion to be demolished. It stated that the Council “will be moving forward with plans which do not involve the Summerway club”, and that Alan has instructed his staff “to end dialogue with you (Jim) and the club over its use of Summerway”. Alan concludes his letter of unilateral withdrawal from negotiations with the grandiose statement, “I am pleased that we will be opening up the courts in due course for free tennis for all”.
Negotiations were ongoing as far as the Club was aware, and this letter and actions were therefore both precipitate and inappropriate. The Club was anticipating a meeting with ECC for which it was trying to make suitable arrangements.
Dear Alan,
You finish your letter of 13th July on what you presumably consider to be a high note: " ... I am pleased that we will be opening up the courts in due course for free tennis for all". This sounds grand, and the less perceptive will applaud, but what of its substance? It isn't until the words are put to one side, and the reality is examined, that the truth becomes apparent.
What Tennis are you talking about?
The truth is that you aren't talking about Tennis at all. You are talking about the availability of Tennis Courts, which is something quite different from the provision of the game itself, with all its requisites and associated activities. ECC’s intention is to deprive the children of the exclusive use of the Summerway courts, from which they have benefited for over three decades, and make them available to adults, children and vandals. How do you think the children are going to fare in practice under the arrangements proposed by the Council?
Let us list what Exeter City Council is in the process of taking away from its citizens and the local community, and in particular from Exeter’s children. Summerway Junior LTC has provided the only regular, affordable Tennis in Exeter by offering a full programme of instruction, competition and events on a daily basis in a safe and supervised environment. By ‘constructively evicting’ the Club from the Summerway courts, withdrawing local government support previously afforded to the Club for decades, and failing to respond to the Community’s need for an expansion of the services formerly provided by the Summerway Club, the City Council is depriving the children of the locality and Exeter who join the Club of the following FREE benefits:
• Regular group coaching throughout the season for children aged 8-
• Regular organised fun tennis sessions held weekly throughout the year, summer and winter, and
• Daily supervised sessions consisting of organised activity, opportunity to compete
and practice, individual coaching, or participation in open competition with those
from other clubs and non-
• Opportunity to enjoy the use of privately owned equipment utilised in sessions by the coaches and others, aids such as Basil the ball machine, the speed gun, etc, etc, and
• Structured competition, efficiently administered, which caters for players of all standards and levels of development, and
• A safe, supervised environment in which children are encouraged to learn skills, become physically fit, and develop the all important social skills so vital in today’s society, and
• Tennis based social events organised by the Committee, and
• The constructive occupation of local children with often nothing else to do, thereby giving them an alternative to joining the gang culture prevalent in both City and locality, and
• Opportunity for parents to participate in their children’s development in a practical rather than in a remote way, and
• To the extent to which the Club is supported, the fulfilling of one of the community's greatest needs and responsibilities, viz. raising children, and
• The annual, prestigious, LTA sanctioned Exeter Summerway Open Junior Tennis Tournament which used to attract many tennis juniors and their families to Exeter from all over the country.
This is what the Council is taking away, and what is it intending to provide in its
place? Why, "free tennis for all" -
By making this exchange, is the Exeter City Council truly serving the best interests of the citizens of our magnificent City?
Yours sincerely,
Jim.
The Crux of the Matter
Part 3 of Jim’s Response to Alan’s Letter
(Sent by Email on 7th August 2007)