A tennis club has appealed to the town council to help with an 'urgent' need to replace its clubhouse. 

Oakham Lawn Tennis Club, which dates back to the 1920s, has a prefabricated clubhouse that is more than half a century old and will not meet government standards, according to members. 

They want Oakham Town Council to help. 

The facility in The Vale has four courts and the club has more than 250 members. 

A report to the town council said: "We need to consider with the town council what we can do together. The clubhouse is a 50 plus year old prefabricated building that is reaching the end of its useful life. 

"It will not meet the government EPC [energy performance certificate] requirements in April 2028. It no longer meets the needs of the tennis club as  its internal layout is inappropriate, with changing rooms that are too large and a social area that is too small. 

"We have considered whether it is possible to invest in existing structure to modernise the building and achieve these aims but we do not believe it is. 

"Our proposal, therefore, is to replace the clubhouse and we want to explore how we can do this in partnership with the town council, whether wholly funded by the town council or jointly with the tennis contributing by way of its own fundraising, grants and loans that might be available. If the latter, a longer lease than currently in place might be required. 

"However, before pursuing these ideas any further, we need to understand the town council's position with regard to developing our clubhouse and their willingness to assist in facilitating grants and funds to provide a building which is modern, economic to maintain and provides easy access for all. 

"Finally, if there was appetite at the town council for a larger investment and some additional land from the car park could be made available, the club would be very interested in offering padel tennis to Oakham."   

Padel tennis has grown in popularity recently, in a similar way to pickleball, and is played on smaller courts. 

Oakham Tennis Club has about £70,000 in the bank after having spent around £50,000 resurfacing the courts in 2022. It says the most significant expenses now are closely linked to the building and that in the last three years it has spent just under £21,000 on the building. The club makes about £27,000 per year in membership subs and has around £18,000 annual expenses. It pays around £120 each month in rent to the town council. 

The town council has commissioned a survey of the tennis club along with the nearby bowls club and has agreed once the results of the survey are known it will consider the tennis club's request for funding.