COUNCILLORS have served up an ace for Wellington Tennis Club by supporting the funding of a new clubhouse.

The club had applied to Wellington Town Council’s policy and finance committee for a £10,000 contribution towards the project – way above what councillors would normally agree to splash out on a grant.

But councillors agreed on Monday (January 12) and said “yes” to the application although it meant more than trebling the amount of money what the committee could award itself.

They agreed to take £5,000 from the council’s grants budget for the clubhouse project and then a further £5k from the authority’s unallocated Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding – money which has been awarded to them from local developers for new housing developments.

But as the grant support exceeded the committee’s £3,000 limit per application, it means that the move will have to be approved by the full council when it meets on February 2.

Tennis club chairman Sue Rackley told councillors that its present clubhouse was badly out-of-date and did not have a toilet or proper kitchen facilities.

“We need a toilet on site as the ones we have to use in the nearby pavilion means there are safeguarding issues for our junior members crossing the Wellington Playing Field alone,” she said. “Many young children cannot go over there alone and if a coach has to escort them then the other children are left unattended.

“We host Lawn Tennis Association tournaments and, again, the same applies where the juniors have to be escorted by parents and this can cause issues with ‘coaching’ going on during a match.

“Comparing our clubhouse to other clubs in the West Somerset League, we are the only club that does not have a toilet on site.”

She added: “To attract new members, we have to have a more attractive clubhouse to compete with surrounding clubs and be able to have a nicer environment so members use the clubhouse more as a café or stay for lunch after playing.”

The club already has planning permission to build the new clubhouse next to the existing one which will be retained for storage of coaching and court maintenance equipment.

The cost for the total project has been put at nearly £59,000 with £30,000 of it coming from the tennis club’s own funds.

Cllr John Thorne said he was “shocked” when he heard the club did not have any toilets on site.

“This needs to be addressed and we should be backing the club on this,” he said. “But £10,000 is a lot of money we’ll need to find some from other budgets.”

Cllr Janet Lloyd said in her 18 years on the town council this was the biggest grant application she could remember in monetary terms and was “uneasy” about it.

But Cllr Keith Wheatley said they should support the tennis club and added that the existing clubhouse let “the town down.”

Cllr Andy Govier said he was happy to support the funding to help the club “progress the project.”