Buckley earmarked for indoor tennis centre as LTA announces £125m investment in 96 new venues across the UK

The Flintshire town of Buckley has been identified as a ‘target location’ for the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to develop a new indoor tennis centre.

The LTA – the governing body for tennis in Britain –  revealed ambitious plans on Wednesday to develop hundreds of new indoor tennis courts in communities across Great Britain over the next 10 years.

The LTA has identified 96 priority target areas in England, Scotland and Wales for the development of new indoor courts.

It’s a move that will give three million people the opportunity to play tennis all year round, the governing body says.

[LTA map showing the three target area’s in North Wales]

New analysis “overlays population data” against the locations of existing indoor tennis facilities and is part of a new strategic approach to investment, the LTA says.

The 96 identified areas are spread across Britain, with 72 in England, 12 in Scotland and 12 in Wales, as well as Buckley, Prestatyn and Bangor have also been identified as target areas.

The target locations have been prioritised according to the number of potential players in each area, with “demographic profiles” of the population for each target community has been used to “ensure new facilities are developed in a way that also helps to broaden the participation base of the game.” The LTA states.

The Lawn Tennis Association will spend £125m on the 96 new UK indoor centres, it hopes partners in the public and private sector will match its funding, taking the potential investment up to £250m over 10 years.

Scott Lloyd, LTA Chief Executive, said: “More indoor facilities across England, Scotland and Wales are absolutely crucial to our ambition to open up tennis to many more people.

When I joined the LTA last year I was determined to make facility investment a priority and use my experience in this area to implement this more targeted approach.

“We are already making progress with several new indoor tennis centres currently going through the planning process in Scotland, and I am looking forward to us working with local authorities and partners in all of our target locations across the whole of Britain”.