The Ararat Rural City Council is preparing an application for grant funding from Sport and Recreation Victoria’s Regional Community Sports Infrastructure Fund to upgrade the facilities at the Ararat City Tennis Club courts at 10 Lowe Street, Ararat. The proposed project includes upgrading the existing halide lights to more energy efficient LED lights on 6 courts to 350 lux, access improvements within the site such as concrete paths, fence upgrades, entranceway lighting, and improved signage. Documents showing the proposed upgrades are available under the Document Library on this page.

One of the requirements of the Regional Community Sports Infrastructure Fund is community and stakeholder engagement on potential residential or community amenity impacts.

We ask if you could please assist our application by filling out the survey below by Wednesday 20th March 2024. The survey will take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete. Your feedback will be considered as part of the design phase of the proposed project.

This survey is for people who live or work close to the Ararat City Tennis Club courts at 10 Lowe Street, Ararat, therefore the survey will ask for your home or work address that is closest to the tennis courts. A summary of the survey results will accompany the Council's grant application to Sport and Recreation Victoria. The survey will give you an option to provide, or not provide, consent for your name and address to be shared with Sport and Recreation Victoria if you do not want Council to share your details.

Questions and Answers:

Question: Are these new lights or a replacement of existing lights?

Answer: The Ararat City Tennis Club has 8 tennis courts that already have lighting, 6 of these have halide light bulbs and 2 courts have Light Emitting Diode (LED) light bulbs. Halide light bulbs are less energy efficient than LEDs and some of the halide light bulbs are broken and need to be replaced. This project proposes to replace the halide lights on 6 tennis courts with the more energy efficient LEDs.

This project also proposes to install a new light within the Ararat City Tennis Club entrance-way to improve visibility and safety at night for players and visitors. This forms part of the proposed access improvements.

Question: Will the lights be on all night?

Answer: No, the court lights are only switched on when the tennis courts are in use. This is normally on Wednesday evenings for the Ararat City Tennis Club competitions from 6pm, or when the courts are booked by members of the public via the online tennis court booking system available at: https://play.tennis.com.au/court-hire

Question: Can I book a court and play tennis?

Answer: Yes! Please use the link above to hire a tennis court. There is a small fee, usually $10 per hour to assist with operating & maintenance costs, which can be paid online. Further instructions for using the courts are available via the website. Enjoy!

If you are interested in playing tennis regularly, contact the Ararat City Tennis Club about their memberships. Their contact details are below:

Website: https://play.tennis.com.au/araratcitytennisclub

Email: [email protected]

Question: When will the construction works happen and will we be notified of the works?

Answer: If the grant application is successful, construction works should commence in late 2024 or early 2025. Local residents will be informed of upcoming works as per Council’s policies and procedures to minimize disruptions and potential impacts of the works on local stakeholders and residents.