Residents want limits on private bookings for some Halifax tennis courts

People in Halifax's west end want limits on how much time their neighbourhood tennis court can be booked for private lessons.

There is one full-sized court and a smaller pickleball court at Larry O'Connell Park.

Janine Meade, who lives nearby, said she's not opposed to private lessons taking place, but thinks there needs to be a better balance between private and community access.

"The entire summer, Monday to Saturday, that just doesn't seem right," said Meade.

"Really, if there's only one court in a neighbourhood it should not be the first one to be booked out. A policy change needs to be made."

Jamie Power agrees there has to be a careful balance.

His company, Headstart, has taught tennis to hundreds of children every year for the past 10 years. Power regularly books court time at the St. Mary's Boat Club site, where there are three courts.

"You don't want to throw away the lessons, because people want to learn to play the sport," said Power. "But the public needs to have access to just play … everyone has to work together so there's a balance that most people are happy with."

Tennis Time is the company that has booked court time at Larry O'Connell Park. It has also booked tennis courts at the Halifax Common, Portland Estates and the Tremont Plateau Park in Clayton Park West.

David Greer owns the company. He's played and coached tennis for decades.

He said he moved from the Westmount multi-court site to the single court at Larry O'Connell for COVID-19 safety reasons.

He said he books between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. and doesn't think that interferes with a lot of community access.

"You can shoot a cannon off on these courts during the day," said Greer. "The Halifax region has 102 courts. That's the highest per capita in the country."

Greer said the actual use of the courts depends on registration, so there could be some days where he only uses a few hours, but he books the whole day in case lessons have to be moved because of rain.

He said that other public facilities such as rinks and fields are also booked by private companies.

Shawn Cleary, the councillor for Halifax West Armdale, believes HRM staff already considers recreational access to facilities, but they do that in a wider context.

"If you think about the bigger picture beyond your community, there's lots of courts available regularly," he said.

Cleary blames part of the problem on an increased interest in outdoor recreational activities because of the pandemic.

He points out that the fees that are charged to all private businesses that rent HRM recreational facilities could soon change. HRM staff have been reviewing the fees for the past two years and a report is expected in July.

Right now, tennis courts can be booked all day for $28. Tennis time charges $90 plus HST for an adult private lesson. Group lessons for adults are $30 plus HST, while group lessons for children are $20 plus HST.

Greer is concerned about the report on fees, especially coming on the heels of a difficult year of shutdowns.

Power said he is prepared for some increases, but he's worried about the fees going up too high for his business to absorb.

"The draft report I saw two years ago included a 400 per cent increase to our fees, which would put us out of business," he said.

Meanwhile, Meade thinks talk about fee changes does not address the concerns she and her neighbours have about recreational access.

"We want to be able to use our own local facilities, paid for by taxpayers," said Meade.