The council has been accused of pricing the potential tennis stars of tomorrow off the courts, according to Conservative leader Alistair McNair.
Councillor McNair urged Brighton and Hove City Council to offer more free slots for youngsters on the courts that it runs.
He said: “It has been good to see some tennis courts renovated by Lawn Tennis Association and the government.
“We understand the importance of a centralised booking system to help with collecting fees to maintain the courts.
“But with the new pricing structure, it could cost £15.40 for a parent and their child to play tennis for an hour. If it’s before 5pm on a weekday it would cost £12.70.
“This is very expensive and unlikely to help enable children to become future tennis players.
“Will the council consider providing free slots for juniors across the city, for example, Monday to Friday 3pm to 4.30pm and Saturday and Sunday 9am to 10.30am and 1pm to 2.30pm and during school holidays 9am to 11am and 1pm to 3pm?”
Labour councillor Alan Robins, who chairs the council’s Culture, Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Economic Development Committee, said: “Currently, the council-run courts are free before 10am so there are opportunities for free play early in the morning.
“The charges for tennis are set as part of the council fees and charges report and will be reviewed for April 2024 when members will have the opportunity to input on what next year’s charges should be.”
The newly refurbished courts at Adastra Park are less than £10 an hour. Look on Hassocks Parish Council website for details.
The now-vanished pitches on the Hove seafront were free…
Thing these kind of prices encourage is less people using them overall. Whenever you see something like this empty, that’s a failure to create a feature that people want to use by making it functionally worthless.
In other areas outside of Brighton you pay £20 a year for booking rights and get a fob. You can book a hour a day.