Lara Tennis Club and Geelong City Council at an impasse over brand new pavilion

Lara Tennis Club remains locked out of a new sporting pavilion due to disagreements over licensing arrangements.

Lara Tennis Club president Robert Dando. Lara Tennis Club and Geelong City Council remain at an impasse over licensing. Picture: Alan Barber

Lara Tennis Club remains at loggerheads with the City of Greater Geelong over the licensing of Lara Recreation Reserve’s newly completed tennis and netball pavilion.

The pavilion was completed in 2022 as part of the $17m Lara Recreation Reserve’s Master Plan’s first phase to provide facilities for the site’s new netball and tennis courts.

However, an offer by the city would lock the Lara Tennis Club out of the pavilion for half the year.

Under the proposed six-month licence, the club would only be able to access the clubrooms within the facility between October and March, despite the club also running a winter competition from April to September.

Lara Tennis Club president Robert Dando said a six-month licence was unacceptable.

“What they presented was based off a football-cricket model, where tennis is apparently designated a summer sport,” he said.

While council’s offer would allow the club to use the clubrooms right away, Mr Dando doesn’t believe signing it would be in the long-term interests of the club.

“It’s future-proofing. In five years’ time the netball club might decide they don’t want the tennis club there during winter,” Mr Dando said.

The new facilities at Lara Recreation Reserve Picture: Alan Barber

“Without a licence, we would have zero clubrooms. Despite having competition, we would have no toilets, no change rooms and no kitchen facilities at all.”

Mr Dando said he doesn’t see why a six-month clubroom licence was the best option, given the club already has 12-month licences for other facilities such as the courts themselves.

“We suggested (to council) that both clubs get 12-month licences so we both have a legal right to use the pavilion, subject to a sharing arrangement,” he said. ”

Mr Dando said he had spoken to Lara Sporting Club about the proposal.

“They’re supportive of our approach, they recognise that we’re a 12-month sport,” he said.

Geelong council’s director of community life, Robyn Stevens, said the city would continue to work through the issue.

“Our discussions with the tennis club about their access requirements for the new pavilion are continuing,” she said.

However, Mr Dando said the council had taken “long stretches” to reply to the club, all while the club lacks facilities.

“We’re coming up on a year without toilets or change rooms at all,” he said.

“We get a lot of complaints from visiting teams, and our own members … we have to go across to where the supermarket is, where there are two small public cubicles.”

“It’s not a good look for anyone … the clubrooms are sitting there finished and we’re not allowed in.”

Originally published as Lara Tennis Club and Geelong City Council at an impasse over brand new pavilion