Judy Murray joins battle to save one of Britain’s oldest tennis clubs as its multimillionaire landlords plan to bulldoze it for luxury flats
- Badgers Tennis Club in Brighton was founded in 1895 and has over 230 members
Judy Murray is battling to save one of Britain’s oldest tennis clubs – following an unsuccessful series of Wimbledon matches for our homegrown players.
Supporters have hit out at the planned closure of the establishment that provides free coaching to youngsters.
The multimillionaire landlords want to bulldoze Badgers Tennis Club in Brighton to pave the way for luxury homes sparking Andy Murray’s mother to get involved.
Ms Murray, 63, said: ‘Places and spaces to play are crucial for the nation’s health and wellbeing.
‘So many of our oldest clubs are in prime residential or built-up areas. They are vulnerable to closure because the land is valuable for development. It’s so sad. I hope a solution can be found to save Badgers.’
Judy Murray, pictured here at day ten of Wimbledon, has joined the fight to stop the closure of one of Britain’s oldest tennis clubs
The landlords of Badgers Tennis Club (pictured) in Brighton want to bulldoze it to make way for luxury homes
She also took to Instagram to broadcast to her followers that it is ‘under threat from developers’ which helped the petition gain over 4,000 signatures.
The club, which was founded in 1895 and has over 230 members, is owned by millionaire siblings Bipin and Bharat Chotai.
They bought the site over a decade ago and intended to turn it into housing but granted a lease to the club’s head coach when their plans ran into problems.
Club secretary Mary Herbert blasted the latest attempt to sell it in the middle of a Wimbledon tournament that has seen young British talent crash out.
‘Nearly every tennis club in Brighton is at full capacity and there are very few park courts.
‘We are not in an affluent area at all and we are not a posh tennis club. We provide free lessons to kids who would never otherwise have a chance of playing tennis and our closure would be a huge loss to the community.’
Ms Herbert said the latest letter came ‘out of the blue’ and left her ‘in tears’.
She said: ‘It means so much to have Judy’s support, someone who has done so much for grassroots tennis. It’s really wonderful of her.’
Public outcry stopped previous attempts to sell it in 2018 and supporters of the club include Green Party Caroline Lucas.
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