New riverfront pop-up tennis courts to ease tennis court shortage.
Brisbane’s first riverfront pop-up tennis courts are set to be unveiled at Northshore Hamilton in May. Six temporary tennis courts will be built to address the severe tennis court shortage in Brisbane.
In a statement by the Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning Cameron Dick, he said that the pop-up tennis courts will possibly have the best views of any courts in Australia. The courts will be located right next to the Brisbane River and the recently relocated Eat Street which has become a hub of activity since its opening last year.
With such a great location, around 10,000 people are expected to use the courts in the first year. Mr Dick also said that this will be a great way for the 2,500 residents of Northshore Hamilton to have an active and competitive sporting option.
The site was previously used for wharf activities, car import operations, and major events including Cirque du Soleil and the Brisbane International Film Festival Drive-in Theatres.
The underutilised state-owned land will be repurposed for community use through the collaboration of Economic Development Queensland (EDQ) and Tennis Australia.
“Northshore Hamilton is Queensland’s largest waterfront urban renewal precinct, a massive $5 billion project in a Priority Development Area, and with the tennis, The Deck, The Lawn and Eat Street Northshore, it’s growing into a thriving community,” Mr Dick said.
The Tennis Court Shortage in Brisbane
In a study from Tennis Australia, Brisbane currently has a severe shortage of tennis courts. At present, the area is approximately 400 courts behind the capital city average and the national average.
Based on SRS GIS mapping developed by the Queensland Government, there is one court for every 3,800 residents in the Brisbane City Council area. This piece of statistics is far behind the ideal court-to-population ratio which is approximately one court for every 2,000 persons.
Population growth and the loss of tennis court facilities have led to the severe shortage of tennis courts in the city. In 2016, more than half of the privately owned courts in Brisbane were considered at risk of closure in the short to medium term.
When compared to the rest of Australia, Brisbane has quite a high percentage of privately owned tennis facilities. Most of these facilities, however, have closed down or have been demolished to give way to residential or other property development.
Private tennis courts have become a thing of the past as owners were tempted to sell their courts due to high value and developer demands. Players and real estate industry experts noticed the trend rise in 2016 as the increase in land value due to property development caused a number of private tennis courts to close and developers have already built on them.
Tennis Queensland’s acting CEO Mark Handley said the pop-up tennis courts will help resolve the shortage problem in Brisbane. He also said that “The Northshore Tennis Park agreement will give us a great opportunity to introduce tennis into this developing community, with a view to a long-term Community Activity Hub driven by tennis.”
The riverfront tennis courts are planned to be open by the end of May and are set to offer a range of programs from social play, coaching, school programming, cardio and fitness programming, to competitions.
Editor’s Note: Featured image is used for representation purpose only.
