'Let's do this for Mike's legacy': Tennis club plans for a smashing clubhouse

Mike Markham was the head tennis coach at Oswestry Team Tennis - as well as much more - and left £20,000 in his will to help his beloved club develop.

The club has lodged a planning application with Shropshire Council to cement his legacy by completing the new club house.

It's actually the second time that the club has gone for planning permission after they were granted consent for a base at the town's gorgeous Cae Glas Park.

But they found that the work would have been beyond the club's means so they went back to the drawing board. Now they are proposing that they use a modular design to bring it within budget.

"In 2018, Mike Markham our head tennis coach and well known in the Oswestry community sadly passed away having fought cancer for a long time," a supporting document submitted by agents DPA on the planning portal reads.

"In his will, he very kindly left £20,000 to OTT to go towards achieving our dream for provision of a clubhouse.

"The importance of his legacy has therefore only served to heighten the need to achieve this project for the club, its members and Mike’s legacy."

The club plans to demolish an existing ramshackle looking disused council workshop/storage building and build in its place a modular tennis clubhouse.

When it moved to Cae Glas Park after an agreement was reached in 2004/05 the club sadly did not have plans for a club house. The move was facilitated by a grant of £100,000 from Barclays Spaces for Sport for floodlights and courts.

Since then they have created a smashing club, growing from its original 50 members to almost 180 members at the present time.

It has also seen some "very good boys and girls produced over these years going on to represent Shropshire, North Wales and beyond."

The indoor clubhouse facilities will include a lobby, kitchen area, community area, toilets and a view of the tennis courts.

A supportive design and access statement submitted with the plans reads that the club promotes tennis but "more importantly offering a healthy, constructive, and purposeful lifestyle in the centre of Oswestry to youngsters who might otherwise be attracted to less social and healthy activities."

It could also be used by the wider community too, they say.

"Having a clubhouse will encourage wider participation by parents and families. It will become a focal point and a meeting place, the glue that holds the club together and allows better communication and promotion of our activities.

"Not having one means the club is always at a disadvantage in gaining new members compared to others better equipped.

"The clubhouse will also be made available to the local community to maximise usage,increase footfall and help raise funds for the club- e.g. sports birthday parties and other local organisations/ other users of Cae Glas Park."

The plans are available to view and comment on by visiting the Shropshire Council planning portal and searching for the plan reference number 24/02473/FUL