MORE than £100,000 of improvements will be carried out on two sets of county tennis courts.
Longniddry’s tennis courts and Haddington’s Neilson Park each received a share of the £2.4 million Legacy 2014 Active Places Fund.
The scheme was created to upgrade or create new sports and physical activity infrastructure across the country.
Plans for Neilson Park, which include alterations to the layout of the tennis courts and the practice area, are currently being considered by East Lothian Council.
Alan Blackie, chairman of Friends of Neilson Park, was delighted to receive the £82,189 funding boost.
The tennis courts have not been resurfaced for more than 40 years, with the plans looking to move the courts because they are becoming “increasingly liable” to flooding.
He said: “Working in partnership with East Lothian Council, refurbishment of the tennis courts is the first phase required to facilitate eventual delivery of an ambitious set of modernisation and improvement projects that will make Neilson Park a fit-for-purpose 21st-century facility the local community will be proud of.” Meanwhile, the Longniddry scheme received £23,030, which will go towards resurfacing the courts, moving the entrance, improving the drainage and refencing the courts.
The club, based off Douglas Road, hopes work could start early in the new year and be complete in time for the start of the new season.
The club was also awarded a £2,000 Big Lottery Funded 2014 Communities Award to subsidise tennis coaching, organise free fun day tennis sessions, American-style tournaments and upgrade equipment.
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