The council has awarded a contract to upgrade its park tennis courts. The LTA grant behind it commits the borough to keeping them for 15 years.

The Royal Borough has awarded a contract to upgrade its park tennis courts, and the grant paying for it comes with a long string attached. The council’s own decision record says that taking the money “secures the provision for a minimum of 15 years”.

The decision was taken on 20 July by the Executive Director of Place Services. It was published on 19 August, a month later. (Decision details: award of contract to deliver LTA parks tennis improvement project, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, published 19 August 2026)

It is recorded as a key decision, which in this council means it affects two or more wards. It is not subject to call in.

What the council has actually committed to

The decision record is short, but it is specific about why the contract had to be signed:

  • The work delivers “facility upgrade works as per the grant funding award conditions”.
  • Without it, the courts would fall into “an unplayable condition”.
  • The alternative considered was to do nothing. In that case the council says the funding would have been lost, and it would then be paying for court repairs itself.
  • The grant means the council does not have to fund capital repair and replacement.
  • Bookings are managed through the LTA’s own platform.
  • The project is expected to earn enough to cover its own repairs, maintenance and utility bills.

The record does not give the contract value or name the contractor. It does say the decision was published because officers must record any contract award worth £50,000 or more over the life of the contract, and that anything above £500,000 would have needed Cabinet approval instead. So the contract sits somewhere between those two figures.

Which courts? The council does not say, but the wards do

Nowhere in the decision record are the tennis courts named. What it does give is a list of wards affected: Eton and Castle, Oldfield, Pinkneys Green and St Mary’s.

Those four wards are exactly the four that hold the parks in the borough’s LTA tennis project. We checked each park’s postcode against the Office for National Statistics ward boundaries:

  • Goswells Park and Alexandra Gardens, Windsor (SL4 1RF) sit in Eton and Castle.
  • Desborough Park, Maidenhead (SL6 4BB) sits in Oldfield.
  • Kidwells Park, Maidenhead (SL6 8GG) sits in St Mary’s.
  • Oaken Grove, Maidenhead (SL6 6HX) sits in Pinkneys Green.

No other borough ward appears on the decision, and no fifth park is involved.

Chart of the ten park tennis courts in the Royal Borough's LTA project: three at Kidwells Park in St Mary's ward, three at Goswells Park and Alexandra Gardens in Eton and Castle ward, two at Desborough Park in Oldfield ward, and two at Oaken Grove in Pinkneys Green ward
Ten courts, four parks, four wards. Three of the four sites are already on the council's booking system.

Where this came from

Cabinet first agreed to chase the money in August 2022. The report put to it that month set out the scale of the thing.

  • Ten hard courts were identified for upgrade: three at Kidwells Park, two at Desborough Park, two at Oaken Grove and three at Goswells Park and Alexandra Gardens.
  • The expected investment was “potentially around £110,000”, subject to site surveys and final contract awards.
  • The work was to include surface reconditioning, new nets, posts and fencing.
  • Access-controlled gates with online booking were part of the deal from the start.

That money is a slice of a national pot: £22m from government and £8.5m from the Lawn Tennis Association, more than £30m in total, aimed at public courts in poor or unplayable condition. (Tennis participation and facility improvement for identified RBWM park tennis courts, report to Cabinet, 25 August 2022)

The report also gave the LTA’s reasoning for the gates, which were not universally popular. It said the biggest barriers to park tennis are not knowing where the nearest courts are, not knowing how to book them, and not knowing what state the surface is in.

Three parks are done. The fourth is the odd one out

Work has already happened. The borough’s parks tennis site says the courts at Kidwells Park, Desborough Park and Goswells Park / Alexandra Gardens were all upgraded between late 2023 and spring 2025, “from their previously poor condition”. All three are now gated, with online booking. (Windsor & Maidenhead Parks Tennis, ClubSpark)

Oaken Grove is not on that list, and not on that booking system. Its two courts are administered by Maidenhead Lawn Tennis Club, about 500 metres away. They are locked with a combination padlock, and non-members pay £5.50 an hour, with the code issued on payment. (Maidenhead Lawn Tennis Club, ClubSpark)

So of the four parks named in 2022, one has been running on a different arrangement to the other three. The council has not published anything explaining what the new contract does at each site, and it issued no press release when the decision went up.

What it means for you

If you want to play this week, here is what the borough’s own booking system charges.

  • Annual membership is £50, covering up to six people across all three council sites.
  • Members can book 14 days ahead. Pay as you go is seven days ahead.
  • Floodlights at Kidwells Park cost £2.50 per 30 minutes per court, on top.
  • You book online, get a PIN by email, and enter that PIN at the gate. The site warns the code often lands in junk mail.
  • At Oaken Grove you go through Maidenhead Lawn Tennis Club instead, at £5.50 an hour for non-members.

The longer point is the 15 years. Councils close things when budgets tighten, and park sports facilities are usually early on that list. This grant makes that harder here: the funding conditions tie the borough to keeping these courts available for at least 15 years, and the council has now signed the contract that locks that in.

Everything above comes from the council’s own public record. If it publishes which courts are being worked on, and when, we will add that here.

More on the borough: things to do in Windsor has the checked prices for the castle, the Great Park and the free days out. If you are driving to a park, Windsor roadworks and travel has this week’s closures and every council car park tariff.

Sources

Checked on 25 August 2026.