BOSCAWEN PARK TENNIS FACILITY BUSINESS PLAN
September 2017
Abstract A Plan to redevelop the tennis courts and Pavilion at Boscawen Park
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Contents Section 1 - Executive Summary .......................................................................... 2
Section 2 - Project Background and Justification ............................................. 4
2.1 - Introduction ................................................................................................ 4
2.2 - How did the Project Arise? ......................................................................... 5
2.3 - Detail of Truro ............................................................................................ 6
2.4 - Brief History of Tennis Facilities in Boscawen Park ................................... 7
2.5 - Research into Parks Tennis Landscape .................................................... 7
2.6 - Latent Demand and Market Segmentation ................................................ 9
2.7 - Boscawen Park Survey Results ................................................................. 9
2.8 - Relevant Local Details ............................................................................. 10
2.9 - Other Local Tennis Venues ..................................................................... 11
2.10 - Option Appraisal ...................................................................................... 11
Section 3 - Site Operations ................................................................................ 13
3.1 - How is the site operated now? ................................................................. 13
3.2 - Boscawen Park – Ancillary Facilities ........................................................ 14
3.3 - Case Studies from Other Local Authority Projects ................................... 16
3.4 - The Use of Access Technology in Managing Parks Tennis ..................... 17
3.5 - Boscawen Park - Operational Options Appraisal ..................................... 19
3.6 - How will court access and bookings be managed?.................................. 19
3.7 - Marketing to the local public .................................................................... 20
3.8 - Coaching Provision .................................................................................. 21
Section 4 - Boscawen Park – Operational Model and Key Responsibilities . 23
4.1 - The Project .............................................................................................. 23
4.2 - Capital Works Proposal – Tennis Courts and Cafe .................................. 23
4.3 - Project Responsibilities Truro City Council .............................................. 25
4.4 - Financial Sustainability / Sinking Fund ..................................................... 26
4.5 - The re-development of the building into a Café ....................................... 26
4.6 - What is the Vision for Boscawen Park? ................................................... 26
4.7 - Financial Analysis .................................................................................... 26
4.8 - Risk Register ........................................................................................... 30
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Section 1 - Executive Summary
The proposal is to redevelop the eight tennis courts at Boscawen Park, providing a good all weather playing surface which is hard wearing and will last for many years before needing any significant repair. Secondly, to demolish the existing Pavilion and replace it with a structure that provides public conveniences and a café serving coffee and snacks. There will be a connection made to the mains sewer. This business plan is the result of much support and work from the Lawn Tennis Association and the Cornwall Sports Partnership. It is clear that both of these organisations value highly the facilities at Boscawen Park being made available to the public on a pay and play basis. The proposal arrived at, and set out below, would develop an improved tennis facility and place it on a sustainable financial basis. In considering the future of the Boscawen Park tennis facilities there are three clear options:
1 To reduce the facility offered by allowing the courts and pavilion to deteriorate.
2 To continue with the current situation, patch the courts and Pavilion, and offer this level of facility to the public.
3 To work with the support of the Lawn Tennis Association and Sport England, accept grants offered, and redevelop the courts and the Pavilion with computerised booking option and thereby offer an improved facility.
During the past five years we have seen a slow decline in the number of users of the courts. The evidence supplied by the Lawn Tennis Association is that where facilities have been improved there is an increased number of people playing on the courts, which in turn increases the revenue that we would receive. This also has non-financial benefits in helping to meet the aspirations of the Cornwall Health and Wellbeing Strategy. The introduction of a computerised booking system has also proven to be a benefit elsewhere. The financial position is described in section 4 and shows a healthy surplus in excess of £30,000 per annum is achieved over the figures currently in our approved 2017-18 financial estimates. The only year of concern is a breakeven in the first year which is 2018-19. In summary the additional loan repayment costs resulting from the development works and the requirement to contribute to an internal sinking fund is more than compensated by three factors; -
• Increase usage and therefore revenue from the courts • Reduced need for park attendants • Revenue from the coffee bar
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However, since compiling the 2017-18 estimates some of these savings have been realised by the acquisition of the coffee bar and the reduced costs of park attendants. In summary, one of the core objectives of the development is to place the tennis facility on a sustainable footing and the business plan figures indicate that this is achieved. The proposal is also supported by the City Council’s Mission Statement to continuously improve services.
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Section 2 - Project Background and Justification
2.1 - Introduction
Boscawen Park is located on the southern side of the City a short walk and drive from the City centre and the business/retail area. The Park is the hub of leisure and recreation in the City and contains many of the amenities and sports facilities of the City. Boscawen Park is the only major outdoor park tennis facility in the county of Cornwall and forms the largest open space that Truro City Council has responsibility for. The Park has 8 tennis courts, 4 of which are tarmac macadam and floodlit and the remaining 4 are non-porous acrylic. The Council owns and manages the tennis courts at Boscawen Park and has maintained them to a safe playing standard across the last two decades or so. However, we are faced with the following problems in planning for the future:
• The last five years has seen a slow decline in the numbers of people using the courts.
• The surface of the courts is ageing and will need a substantial investment to bring them up to a good playing standard and ensure their longevity.
• The current procedures involving park attendants collecting money is inefficient and expensive.
Figure 1: Map and Key facilities, Boscawen Park, Truro.
Boscawen Park Courts
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2.2 - How did the Project Arise?
We have a longstanding relationship with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) Regional Teams, historically this has centred around looking to explore possibilities on indoor tennis courts in Truro. This has resulted in liaison with local schools, Truro Tennis Club, local coaches and other private investors. These conversations largely could not be developed at this stage due to the size of the investment needed and a suitable location for the courts. During 2015 we were presented with an outline concept to redevelop Boscawen Park. This included discussing some learning from other recent projects and sharing the technology that was available to support court management. The process has also been supported by Natasha Howard who is the National Governing Body lead for Active Cornwall County Sports Partnership. The LTA Regional Team (James Deem and Colin Corline) ran through a short presentation with myself and the Parks and Amenities Manager (available to view if required) regarding the work of the LTA in ‘parks’ tennis. This included some of the customer insight, case studies and projected returns on finances and people participating in tennis. It centred on the development of an income earning facility (such as a café) adjacent to the tennis facility to ensure its sustainability into the future. This was reported to the Parks and Amenities Committee and it was considered the concept of the Café / Tennis aspect of the Park to be one that was worth pursuing and formed a core part of a wider masterplan to develop the Park. The masterplan includes improving parking, redevelopment of the cricket facilities, location of the Depot/toilet facilities and the building of a bridge to link the adjacent business district across the Truro River. The Council is happy to consider tennis and café developments of an initially isolated phase of the wider masterplan.
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Figure 2: Boscawen Park, Truro
2.3 - Detail of Truro
Truro is the fourth most populous conurbation in Cornwall and the UK’s most Southernmost City. Including its surrounding villages the population stands at 23,000. Truro is Cornwall’s central destination for retail and leisure and is the administration hub for the County of Cornwall. Employment is largely in public sector (NHS and Local Authorities) but does have a significant presence of Banking and Professional businesses (e.g. Legal) in the district of Newham. There is a large service sector in the City centres shops and businesses. Average earnings and house prices are higher than much of Cornwall, with a significant number of people commuting into the City for work as well as pleasure. Truro City Council is housed in the Municipal Buildings and covers the administration of areas including parks, gardens and public conveniences. The Unitary Authority of Cornwall Council considers areas such as planning and infrastructure. The City has 4 wards and 24 councillors.
Restaurant – not council land
Existing Toilet Block
Nursery Depot
Cricket Pavilion
Approx. Location of proposed bridge from business district
Large children’s play area
Existing Small Cafe
Proposed location of new larger cafe
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2.4 - Brief History of Tennis Facilities in Boscawen Park
Boscawen Park was originally used as a cricket ground with Cornwall playing its first representative match in 1858. It has since hosted List A, Minor Counties and women’s international cricket. Two tennis courts were is use from 1900, but the wider establishment of the park as an open space dates from around 1912. There is no record for when a further 6 courts were added and the existing two changed from grass to an all-weather surface. The courts themselves underwent their last refurbishment in 1997.
2.5 - Research into Parks Tennis Landscape
The LTA Regional Team has provided us with some wide ranging research to understand what the wider public feel about tennis. The primary interest to the Council is understanding the main barriers the public see to access the courts. The research presented to us is summarised below focusing on parks specifically:
• Around 5m pick up a racket once a year and play – majority of this in in parks. • 36% of tennis played by those aged 14+ is on parks (14% Clubs and 22%
Schools). • For those that don’t play tennis but would like to 80% would see a park court
as their first option. • For people who want to play tennis in parks, they are most dissatisfied with
state and condition of courts, ease of booking and the number of courts available to play.
• Demand for tennis is amongst those who stopped playing in the last 5 years – but the age profile is wide ranging – from 14+ upwards demand for parks tennis is strong.
• Although there is demand amongst C2DE demographic classification the highest latent demand is for ABC 1 demographic classification.
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Figure 3: Where people played tennis in GB in the last 12 months
Figure 4: What ‘type’ of tennis are parks players interested in?
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2.6 - Latent Demand and Market Segmentation
In addition to the national insight numbers, the LTA have worked closely with Sport England to use the market segmentation data (generated by annual active people survey) to understand a more local view of demand for tennis. This data is drawn down to the local authority level and mapped in a radius of the postcode of the tennis facility (1km and 3km in this case). The calculations determine if there are enough courts available to meet the demand for public use of tennis. A positive number (green) highlights not enough court capaCity to meet demand for tennis. This is calculated using the number of court hours available at peak times (late afternoon, evenings and weekends) multiplied by the number of courts available at each park. Table 1: Latent Demand for Tennis for 1km, 3km and 5km Radius of Boscawen Park
Venue Postcode Radius (km)
No. of Courts Currently Latent Total
Demand LA pop
LA (Latent pop in catchment
% of latent demand v LA Pop.
Average of total demand
Total Demand
Boscawen Park TR1 1SG 1 8 21 24 45 9293 9951 0.24 0.23 -579 Boscawen Park TR1 1SG 3 8 313 342 655 9293 9951 3.44 3.40 31 Boscawen Park TR1 1SG 5 8 465 494 959 9293 9951 4.96 4.98 335
The short analysis suggests that there is an appropriate supply for courts in Truro in within 3km and 5km radius. The suggestion of the oversupply of courts in relation to 1km (red number) is largely due to lack of residential housing in the immediate area surrounding the park – which can be viewed on figure 1 in this document. Therefore the data method would suggest simply looking at the operating model and customer journey for the existing facility rather than considering adding or losing courts. As part of this work Truro City Council and LTA Regional Teams discussed other local tennis facilities. The only venue of note in consideration for this project is nearby Truro Tennis Club, who caters for a large number of members and has a busy coaching programme. They have been involved in previous discussions to develop tennis in Boscawen Park and other areas of Truro.
2.7 - Boscawen Park Survey Results
The council conducted a survey in Boscawen Park across February and March 2017 to ascertain some public view on the future of the facilities in the park. This was conducted using face to face questionnaires and via Survey Monkey. This was promoted via the council social media channels and had 199 responses. The survey covered a broad number of areas so the key points in relation to this project have summarised more concisely below:
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• Existing users of the park most frequently used the toilets, café and play park
(over 50% of respondents in each case). • Tennis was the most popular current sporting use of the park (20%). • 25% of respondents like the fact the park had tennis courts. The duckpond, play
park and open space were the major areas to exceed this (all above 50%). • 30% of people wanted to see refurbishment of the tennis courts. Over 50%
wanted to see a new bridge link and improved Café Facilities. • 57% of users of the courts thought the courts were in average or below
condition. 35% said they would play more if the courts were improved. 32% said they would play more tennis if the Café was refurbished.
• The adjacent play area was the most popular facility and had the highest public approval score in the survey.
• Over 70% of the respondents use the Café or the ice cream van. Over half said these facilities could be improved.
• Over 70% also felt that the Toilet and Parking Facilities at the park should be improved.
• In the comments section, the improvement of capacity of internal / external seating featured prominently.
This survey provided useful insight to the project group on the broad public opinion of the park. The results broadly supported the interventions to improve the Café and refurbished the tennis courts as this project proposes.
2.8 - Relevant Local Details
The Physical Activity Strategy for Cornwall which has been approved by the Health and Wellbeing Board and has a bold target to get 50,000 more people active in Cornwall by 2020. This project will help towards achieving this goal. The vision is a future where everybody in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly is active as part of daily life, regardless of age, gender, culture or circumstance. Some extracts from this Strategy are listed below that are relevant to this project: “Active Environments Review the potential of public outdoor spaces to support physical activity and identify opportunities for growth including; facilities, access and connectivity to public transport, walking and cycling routes. Identify capital investment to support the development of local facilities and equipment to facilitate growth in activity in the outdoors e.g. playgrounds, cycle tracks, running routes, green gyms, climbing equipment, boats etc. Facilities Work with facility providers to identify underused space and resources during the day time that could be used for free/subsidised activity with particular emphasis on target groups.”
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2.9 - Other Local Tennis Venues
Truro Tennis Club is the main other tennis venue situated in the City. The club is approximately 4 miles from the park on the western edge of Truro in the Gloweth District. The club has 6 courts and is already showing an interest in the project having met with Truro City Council and spoken to LTA colleagues. It is not envisaged that the club will be a partner in the development of the project, although they will be kept in communication as it is developed. The club may wish to bid to provide the coaching service and the Project Group would wish the club to be involved in advertising its offer to players at the park that want to pursue playing tennis on a more regular and competitive basis.
2.10 - Option Appraisal
In considering how to proceed it is relevant to consider how each of the following options fits with the Councils Mission Statement: -
City Council’s Mission Statement “To continually improve services and provide a better quality environment for people to live, work and visit, constantly improving the local parks and amenities, which contribute towards a feel good factor, a healthy lifestyle, and improve the socio-economic standard.” There are three basic options for the future provision of tennis at Boscawen Park.
Option 1
To minimise the capital spending required to continue with the courts and pavilion until such time that the courts become unsafe for use and the pavilion requires demolishing. The courts have had no major works for some twenty years and are showing signs of cracking and disrepair. The evidence of the past five years is that there is a reduction in usage of the courts which would lead to a reduction in income. The revenue costs of managing the courts will remain the same and therefore overall the financial position will deteriorate.
Option 2
This is a middle option in terms of spending which would see the existing courts resurfaced and repaired but fundamentally remain the same surface type. Anticipated costs for this are £60,000 - £80,000. This would enable the provision to continue A difficulty with this option is that the pavilion will either need to be demolished, or rebuilt, and therefore a decision will need to be taken by the Council on its future.
Option 3
This is the option proposed by this Business Plan and sees the development of the facilities both in terms of provision of eight all weather courts rather than four, all with
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a new surface, together with development of the coffee bar and provision of new public conveniences.
This option fits with the Council’s Mission Statement to continually improve services. The financial comparison with the existing Council budget in para 4.7 indicates that the existing budget would support a period of paying the loan charges for the redevelopment as well as paying into a n internal fund to provide for future structural maintenance of the courts. This situation is created by the surpluses made by the coffee bar and the reduction in management costs for the courts by the integration of court management with the coffee bar.
The primary risk to this option are that there is a premise that the income from the courts will rise substantially over a five year period. This is based on the experiences elsewhere in the country where a similar scheme has been implemented. In order to achieve this there will be increased marketing, formal coaching, and introduction of a computerised booking system. In this way the barriers that people perceive to playing park tennis will be removed.
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Section 3 - Site Operations
3.1 - How is the site operated now?
The site is currently charged for and is overseen by park attendants and Café staff. The level of staff resource to manage the courts is seasonally based. In the peak of the summer months an attendant will sit in the Pavilion building adjacent to the courts and take pay and play monies. This does not happen during the winter months when an honesty box is sometimes used. The council is aware that this is a partially managed model and that when the courts are open the risks exists that people play for free. The council have tracked the income the courts have generated over the last five years – this is highlighted in the table below: Table 3: Total Tennis Income for Boscawen Park 2010 – to date
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
2014-2015
2015-2016
2016-2017
Tennis Income £11,496 £12,283 £10,638 £11,144 £9,087 £9,430 £8,753
There is small group of people (approx. 16) who have formed the Riverside Tennis Club and hire the courts from the council. There is also a group of 12 ladies who utilise the courts regularly. The U3A (University of the third age) also books the courts. The majority of this play takes place on the lower tarmac courts and the ‘clubs’ have use of the existing building for tea and coffee making facilities. The ‘clubs’ are not registered and do not play in the leagues. There is no desire to remove any group from the courts. They would simply be adapted into the new operating model. The core change for this group in the proposal is that they will use the Café for refreshments as opposed to having building access.
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Figure 5: Current pricing structure at Boscawen Park Tennis Courts.
3.2 - Boscawen Park – Ancillary Facilities
In 2015 the ‘Friends of Boscawen Park’ invested into a major upgraded of the children’s play facilities on the opposite side of the tennis courts from the car park and building (see Fig 1). TCC supported this initiative and made a financial contribution. Initial public feedback has indicated this is extremely popular amongst local people and visitors alike and footfall is significant at all times of year.
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Figure 6: Boscawen Park Children’s Play Area (Courts in Background) Until recently we had two concessionaires offering catering facilities adjacent to the courts. The existing licence agreement with the ice cream vendor expires in the autumn of 2017. There is therefore an option that it could be included in a future Café and as such serve as an additional income stream; but it is currently not built into the financial model. The second concessionaire was a Café offering various refreshments including hot drinks, cakes and Paninis. The café provider had no tennis function. In 2015 the café provider upgraded from a van and decking area to a modular building. This was acceptable under the lease terms with the council. The lease was due to expire in 2023, but after discussions the café owner decided to move onto other things and sell the asset. TCC purchased the building (not the business) from the café owner in March 2017 and have carried on operating it using existing staff with immediate effect. We did not wish to take on the business due to possible liabilities and lack of evidence of business viability. The building is very small and not deemed sufficient for the size of Café that a park of this stature would service. The floor space of the Café has a seating capacity of 12 people and is approximately 4m x 6m in size which much of that space taken by the counter area. It does have an outside decking space used for additional seating. In the long term the ownership of this facility offers us the flexibility in developing the tennis courts and Pavilion. There are options for the existing building, for instance it could remain on site and act as the separate ice cream parlour or it could be moved to another green space in Truro.
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Fig 7: Existing Modular Café at Boscawen Park (courts to the left) In terms of the Café space we would wish to convert the existing Pavilion building (see 2.1) that is only rarely used by club and council staff. The building is currently in a very poor condition and sits low to the ground. It is exposed to flood risk. The outside of the building has a covered veranda. This is also in poor condition, but would serve as a useful space for outside seating in the summer months. The building sits directly the behind the small modular building depicted in the picture above. The Pavilion sits around a metre below the modular building in the picture above. There a small gap to walk between the two buildings. The council and LTA colleagues see the conversion of this space into a fully functioning Café as the core project alongside the redevelopment of the tennis courts. An additional public benefit would be the inclusion of public toilets in the new Pavilion. There are currently public toilets in the parks some quarter of a mile from the courts but the public clearly see a need to have additional facilities which may include a “Changing place” toilet as there are none currently in Truro. This would additional involve the development being placed on mains drainage.
3.3 - Case Studies from Other Local Authority Projects
The LTA Regional Teams have shared with us a number of case studies in the South West Region where access technology has been used to improve the customer experience and participation. The following data has been provided to us where the LTA has partnered with a local authority to redevelop park courts and use booking and access technology to improve the service offered to the public. Table 3: Sales of Access Systems in park redevelopment projects (Oct 2015). Partnership Local Authority No of Courts Cards / Keys Sold Average Cards / Key Sold Per Court
Poole 4 724 181.00
Bournemouth 20 936 46.80
Norwich 4 352 88.00
Bromley 20 998 49.90
Winchester 4 201 50.25
Dorchester 4 189 47.25
Average Courts Per L.A. 9.33 Average Sales Per Court 77.22
We have also been made aware of some of the most recent ‘single’ site case studies in other South West areas. The most pertinent of these case studies is with Fleet Town Council in Hampshire which is in its first full year of operation.
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3.4 - The Use of Access Technology in Managing Parks Tennis
There are a number of case studies of where local authorities have used access control to manage tennis courts successfully. Access system installation has been an underpinning factor for almost every successful example of a parks tennis project. The core reasons why are listed below: • Along with the booking system it provides a far clearer and simpler customer
process. • In a technology led world – the customer expects and is used to using technology
to make purchases. • It allows a method of generating income (at an affordable price) to sustain the
facility and keep some free tennis for the public. • It collects data to ensure that partners can have accurate data and profiling of uses
of the facility, reporting accurate statistics of court usage to inform future decision making.
• The technology is used in the security environment helping to reduce risk of vandalism to internal courts areas (surface, nets posts and fencing areas).
Additional insight from surveys of people who play and wish to play tennis indicate the technology and the ability to book and access a court ‘smooths the path’ to play and reduces barriers for people to play.
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Figure 8: Park Players – The Barriers to playing tennis.
Figure 9: Customer insight into information to find online.
Figure 10: Customer journey to play tennis Moreover when asked for more detail, people revealed some further insight into perceptions of tennis in parks:
• People found unmanaged courts frustrating, because they didn’t want to risk going and not being able to play.
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• Some respondents found having to wait for courts (especially in summer) frustrating and off–putting.
• This added to a perception that tennis was ‘behind the times’ and didn’t fall into plan with other sports and leisure activities where they were used to booking, especially on their phone. This was more prevalent in the Under 45 category.
• People found clubs and club people off-putting – due to the perceptions of expense, elitism and snobbery. This led to parks being the top choice of venue to play.
• Club people were stereotyped in perceptions of ‘all whites’, smart rackets and trainers.
Access systems have a precedent of success in parks which is supported by customer insight and subsequent research. The inclusion of this technology in the proposal to redevelop courts is viewed by ourselves and the LTA as integral to the court management, income generation and the customer journey.
3.5 - Boscawen Park - Operational Options Appraisal
The Parks and Amenities Manager and Town Clerk have considered the most suitable operational structure for the park and concluded that we should keep operations and the management of the Café within the council. The basis of this conclusion is that the vision would be for this part of the park to be profitable above its maintenance needs and therefore service a council loan (Public Works Loans Board) and provide investment to the upkeep of the park e.g. play area. The only area we wish to outsource is the coaching provision, as there is no existing skill or knowledge within the council to deliver this. We will oversee and manage provision of a services contract with the successful bidder for the exclusive coaching rights.
3.6 - How will court access and bookings be managed?
We would be able to adapt the existing tennis information on the TCC Web site, where leisure facilities in parks have a specific area. The figure below shows the existing public information and pricing structure for the courts at Boscawen Park.
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Figure 11: Website – Boscawen Park Tennis Courts. The Parks and Amenities Manager and Town Clerk have seen a short demonstration of the LTA bookings and management system and have also discussed access technology option to help remote court management. Also some examples of ‘set up’ of customer journey from other projects (e.g. Cheltenham) and we are happy that the club spark system is the right tool to manage the facilities. We are also interested to see if club spark could be useful to take bookings for some of the other activities in the park. The administration of bookings would be overseen by the Council’s existing administration teams. The Café staff would operate a point of sale function in the park and would envisage having racket hire and a ‘self-service’ booking point.
3.7 - Marketing to the local public
We have capacity to market the courts through internal teams. In particular, the Truro Tourist Information Centre, which already provides a destination marketing function for Truro, and would be able to use its social media and marketing publications to more widely publicise the offer at the tennis courts. We also would utilise our community development function which is looking particularly at improving the levels of exercise in the community, in line with the wider Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Cornwall, and the emerging sustainability and transformation plan for the county. Some further detail on what can be done is set our below:
• We would plan to develop a brand and logo and commission this to be included on posters, on courts banners and digital collateral.
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• We would like to significantly improve the signage around the park as part of this project.
• Social Media Profile 134 likes and 138 followers on the Facebook Page with the ability to produce paid adverts.
• The TCC website which is a one stop shop for all services that the council provide and is a platform for public information.
• We have the ability to communicate with every household in the City via circulation publications.
• Links to a number of community groups in the area through the council directory for community groups.
It is recognised that an element of use of all of these platforms would be most effective in reaching the general public and letting them know about the opportunity to use these courts.
3.8 - Coaching Provision
There have historically been a number of coaches who have tried to develop programmes at Boscawen Park without much long term sustained success. We have already received a number of enquiries from local coaching providers who are interested in setting up programmes in the park. As such the coaching is being tendered to an exclusive provider for £3,000 in the first year. There are some key caveats to consider:
• The coaching provider is still free to work with other venues to provide coaching offers.
• The coaching provider is allowed, if it so wishes, to sell court time to ad other coaches to deliver private lessons and collect a fee for doing so.
• Only the successful coaching provider is allowed to advertise provide group coaching, recruit new business and deliver LTA products.
• The coaching provider is contracted to Truro City Council for 3 years on a provision of services agreement.
• The fee for year 1 is based on case studies elsewhere and will be reviewed at the end of year 1 based on data collected from the coaching programme to determine a future appropriate figure.
The advert will be posted on the LTA website and communicated to local coaches. An interview process with on and off court elements will be set up to determine the successful candidate to provide coaching. It is anticipated 20-30 courts hours a week would be appropriate and that this park alone would not be able form part of a coaching providers work base. A list of some of the products and programmes is shared in the table below:
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Table 4: Park Orientated Coaching Products Product/ Programme
Target Audience
Explanation
Tennis 4 Free All A weekly session (FOC) enabling people to play tennis in an organised session, suitable for all ages and abilities.
Tennis X Press Adults A six week course that's an easy and fun way for adult beginners to get into the game or improve their skills.
Cardio Tennis All Cardio tennis does not require tennis skills, instead it’s all about keeping your heart rate up, burning calories and having fun to up-tempo music on a tennis cour.t
Tennis Tuesday’s Ladies A female only session for players of all standards of player to improve their game.
Touch Tennis All Touch Tennis is the closest thing to five-a-side for tennis played on a smaller court, with 21” rackets and foam balls and can be played on any flat space, indoors or outside.
Mini Tennis 10&U 3-10 year olds lessons utilising smaller courts and rackets with lower compression balls making learning the sport fun and easy.
Junior Tennis 11 - 18 Coaching activity for players ages 11-18 years. Tennis 4 Kids 5-8yrs A free 6 week course plus a free racket to encourage
new players to the sport. Senior Session Adults Senior Social sessions often in the daytime. Disability Tennis From deaf tennis and visually impaired tennis to
wheelchair tennis and learning disability tennis, there is a great range of tennis programmes available for players.
Local Tennis Leagues
Adults Self – organised singles based competition played in 8 week rounds across the year.
Truro City Council Draft Business Plan September 2017 Redevelopment of the Tennis Facilities in Boscawen Park
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Section 4 - Boscawen Park – Operational Model and Key Responsibilities
The operating model for the project is very simple in that we have the capacity and staff to deal with all aspect of sites operations and management within the existing structures. A short summary is provided in the figure below. Figure 12: Operational Model for Boscawen Park
4.1 - The Project
The scope of this project for the council is the creation of a fully functioning Café building adjacent to refurbished tennis courts with a new business model introduced.
4.2 - Capital Works Proposal – Tennis Courts and Cafe
A technical services visit has been completed by Lee West of Sports Facility and Planning Design Limited. A summary of this report has been provided by Colin Corline and details the costs associated with redeveloping the tennis courts. The key points from this has been extracted and displayed below:
• Courts 1 – 4 will all need a minimum of 1 layers of tarmac at £10k per court - (£40,000).
Truro City Council • Court Owners • Sinking Fund Holders • Maintenance Responsibilities • Court Operators (e.g. Bookings, Marketing) • Website Host • Manage Contract with coach provider
Coaching Provider • Pay commercial rent to e.g. £3k for
exclusive rights to coach on courts. • 3 Year Contract annually reviewed.
Café Manager
• Employed as a specialist by the council • Oversees casual café staff • Leads on design of menu and offer • Operate point of sale and racket hire at courts
Truro City Council Draft Business Plan September 2017 Redevelopment of the Tennis Facilities in Boscawen Park
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• Courts 5 – 8 converted from existing acrylic to a porous tarmac surface will cost around £25,000 per court - (£100,000).
• Weld mesh fencing can be hung on the on existing poles costing around £17,000.
• Access Control Gates in the region of £10,000 with additional gates between courts approximately £4,000 - (£14,000).
• Fees/Management/Contingency – approximately £23,000 although these are variables.
• This brings total project of £197,000 on this initial inspection / analysis. The council has undertaken some research with local consultants and some building companies to look at the costs of redeveloping the old building adjacent to the courts into a café. The council is aware that some sewerage works are required to this area of the park in the region of £40,000 and that a new modular building to replace the existing footprint costs in the region of £1000 per square metre. The decision to remove / or keep the modular building the council have purchased will depend on the quotes that have been received from modular design companies. We have conducted some initial conversations with companies and understand the building and kitchen fitting will be in the region of £140,000. The council is aware that the concrete base of the building will need to be raised to mitigate flood risk. A total of £200,000 is the working figure for all related Café works. We would need to apply for planning permission to change the existing building, although it is not thought to be an issue. The courts require no planning permission. TCC Standing Orders require a grounds survey before committing to any building project, and this is particularly relevant in the made ground at Boscawen Park. We have sought tender prices for the preliminary works for the new Pavilion as below:
• Ground Investigation; • Topographical Survey; • Sketch Design; and • Feasibility Report.
A reasonable budget price for these works is £18,000.
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Fig 13: Possible Café Design This business plan is the basis of requests to external and internal funding partners to partner fund this project. It is understood that the LTA will view the tennis part of this project as the priority and will focus its assessment of funding on this requirement, whilst understanding the Café concept been introduced as part of this plan. TCC is currently in a strong financial position. As a Local Authority we are able to borrow from the Public Works Loans Board at low interest rates (currently 1.84%). Considering the type of building and works proposed the borrowing would be on an annuity basis probably over a period of 15 years. The current repayment schedule is £766 per annum per £10,000 borrowed. On the basis of a £400,000 project cost the council has made an expression of interest to the Sport England Community Asset fund of £100,000. The council is looking to request an identical amount from the LTA in respect of it being 25% of the overall project cost and 50% of the cost of court refurbishment.
4.3 - Project Responsibilities Truro City Council
There is a small project group of partners working on the development of the project. TCC responsibilities lie with the Town Clerk and the Parks and Amenities Manager who are being supported (in addition the LTA) by Active Cornwall. The LTA Staff supporting the council on this project are James Deem (Participation) and Colin Corline (Facilities).
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4.4 - Financial Sustainability / Sinking Fund
We must accept that a condition of receipt of grant will be that we will need to hold an amount of the income generated from the site in respect of future maintenance for the courts. This is to ensure the sustainability of the facility. This will be spent upon future resurfacing and re-fencing and amounts placed aside will be as per guided by the LTA recommendations.
4.5 - The re-development of the building into a Café
As explained in Section 2.1, the current plan to ensure the two concessionaires are no longer under any agreement when this project comes to fruition. This is provide the option of a fully functioning and operated Café modular building adjacent to the tennis courts, to improve the environment and offer on this part of the park.
4.6 - What is the Vision for Boscawen Park?
This development is part of a simple vision to make Boscawen Park the highest quality green space in Cornwall. The park covers significant land and has the opportunity to cater for sports activities, leisure use and major public events. We have already taken significant decisions to invest into the park both in the initial phase and future phases on the redevelopment of the site. The council feels they best way to manage the park is by directly managing the facilities rather than outsourcing; and this also represents the best opportunity to seek return on investment financially.
4.7 - Financial Analysis
Project Funding The funding for the project is provided from three organisation. The gross cost of the project is estimated at £400,000 As host the Truro City Council are providing the majority funding totalling £310,500 which will be funded from borrowing, £200,500 from the Public Works Loans Board and, £110,000 from the Lawn Tennis Association. The Lawn Tennis Association will provide grant funding of £39,500 and Sport England Grant funding of £50,000 Income Assumptions
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As part of a methodology to understand the potential for participation returns in these projects two factors were considered:
• LTA modelling tool, using Sport England data to project sales in a given areas • Existing data from live projects in other areas that have been live for at least a
year. The table below summarises the outcome of this work. Each area is considered in turn in the following text for explanation. Table 5: Anticipated Return on Investment Boscawen Park
Income Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Annual Sales at £35 152 200 300 325 350 Average Sales Per Court 19 25 37.5 40.625 43.75 Unique Users (Households) 289 380 570 618 665 Unique People inc. 30% Pay and Play 375 494 741 803 865 Total Bookings (5.7 bookings per user) 2,140 2,816 4,224 4,576 4,928 Pay Play 40% of Total Bookings 856 1,126 1,689 1,830 1,971 Coaching Programme Court Time 1,080 1,080 1,080 1,080 1,080 Court CapaCity 33,756 33,756 33,756 33,756 33,756 Occupancy % 10 12 16 17 18
Sales per Household – The number of sales made of the £35 annual access offer. Year 1 figure calculated using SE / LTA modelling data. Subsequent years are projected based on the performance of other parks in the South West Region. Unique Users / People – The number of unique users who play tennis at the park. The total is a combination of those that are part of household access scheme and those that choose to pay and play. Total Bookings – Projected total bookings made per annum, calculated from the sales made at 5.7 bookings per unique user. Coaching Court Time – The coaching court time is modelled on a 36 week programme at 30 hours a week. It is expected the programme would be the same each week but increase in occupancy. Court Capacity / Occupancy – Based on projected hours used for free play and coaching. The anticipated occupancy level displayed as a percentage. The modelling of court hours and usage is translated into the income in the spreadsheet below. Expenditure Assumptions Loan costs
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This PWLB figure represents the costs of borrowing on a fifteen year basis of £200,500 from the Public Works Loans Board at a rate of £777 per £10,000 borrowed. The LTA figure represents repayment of a ten year interest free loan of £110,000 Tennis Court Repair Fund. A condition of our grant from the lawn Tennis Association will be to make an annual contribution of £1,200 per court per year to provide for the ongoing replacement of the court surface and other repairs; a total of £9,600 per year. Other Costs These are listed and are minor items. The wage costs in carrying out daily maintenance is excluded as the use of the café to sell tickets and be a “presence” on the site will save on the current costs. Comparison with existing budget There are three adjustments to the figures in order to compare with our existing budget for the courts and the coffee bar. Firstly, there is the labour cost saving identified at 37 hours per week at £8.45 per hour plus on cost of 30%. Because of a current vacancy this saving has in practice already been made. There may be further opportunities for reductions in park attendant costs in future years which are currently being assessed and not included in the figures. Secondly, we have budgeted for income from the courts of £10,530 and this money form part of the revised income projections below. Thirdly, we have now been operating the coffee bar for some three months and it is clear that we can make a surplus from the facility. The financial figures assume no surplus for eighteen months reflecting the cost of acquisition, after which an annual surplus of £15,000 is built in. Financial Comparison with current budget
1 Income Assumptions Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
£ £ £ £ £
No. of Annual Sales at £35 each
152
200
300
325
350
Average Sales per court
19
25
38
41
44
Unique Users (Households)
289
380
570
618
665
Unique People inc. 30% pay and play
375
494
741
803
865
Total Bookings (5.7 Bookings per user)
2,138
2,816
4,224
4,577
4,931
Pay & Play 40% of total bookings
855
1,126
1,689
1,831
1,972
Coaching programme court time
1,080
1,080
1,080
1,080
1,080
Court Capacity
33,756
33,756
33,756
33,756
33,756
Occupancy %
10
12
16
17
18
Truro City Council Draft Business Plan September 2017 Redevelopment of the Tennis Facilities in Boscawen Park
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Income from Tennis Courts £ £ £ £ £
1.1 Households £36 per annum
10,404
13,680
20,520
22,248
23,940
1.2 Play & Pay(£6.50 per court per hour)
5,558
7,321
10,982
11,900
12,819
1.3 Coaching Rental income
3,000
3,250
3,500
4,000
4,000
1.4 Other hire groups (Schools etc)
2,000
2,050
2,101
2,134
2,208
1.5 Contribution from Coffee Bar
7,500
15,000
15,000
15,000
15,000
1.6 Floodlight Usage
1,500
1,600
1,700
1,800
1,900
Total
29,962
42,901
53,803
57,082
59,867
Costs
2.1 Loan Repayments PWLB(assume £200,500 Loan)
15,541
15,541
15,541
15,541
15,541
2.2 Loan Repayments LTA (assume £110,000 Loan)
11,000
11,000
11,000
11,000
11,000
2.2 Tennis Court Repair Fund Contribution
9,600
9,600
9,600
9,600
9,600
2.3 LTA Registration Fees
200
880
880
880
880
2.4 "Go Cardless" charges
300
350
400
450
500
2.5 Wi fi Charges
600
615
630
645
660
2.6 Floodlight electric charges
1,500
1,600
1,700
1,800
1,900
2.7 Gate Maintenance Charges
600
615
630
645
660
2.8 Marketing costs
2,000
200
200
200
200
Total
41,341
40,401
40,581
40,761
40,941
Operating Surplus/-Deficit (11,380)
2,500
13,222
16,321
18,926
add Labour saving court management
21,135
21,135
21,135
21,135
21,135
less Current Court income
10,530
10,530
10,530
10,530
10,530
Impact on 2017-18 budget (775)
13,105
23,827
26,926
29,531
Truro City Council Draft Business Plan September 2017 Redevelopment of the Tennis Facilities in Boscawen Park
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4.8 - Risk Register
Risk Description Impact Description
Likelihood
Impact
Priority
Controls in Place Further Action
Required
Responsible Offi
Development Costs increase significantly
Costs to council increase 2 3 6 Specialist advice re Court specification. Work split into different contracts. Flexibility is size of pavilion Ground surveys carried out
None TC
Finished courts not of a good enough standard
Loss of reputation. Reduction in income
1 3 3 Specialist pre contract advice. Specification successful elsewhere. Selected contractor list
None TC
Usage of courts less than anticipated
Reduction in income 1 3 3 Specialist advice sought from LTA and usage based upon experience elsewhere.
None TC