UQ Tennis Lights Catastrophe

UQ Tennis Lights Catastrophe

On Monday morning, 11 December, UQ Sport effectively closed the Tennis Centre for night play (i.e. play after 6 p.mn.).

This decision was made because a Lighting Audit found that 16 of the 21 courts had inadequate lighting for safe play.  Given the abysmal state of the lights, the only surprise about the Audit is that any courts passed.

Even if the UQ Tennis Club could access all 5 courts available, this is not enough courts for any Club programs to run.

This has meant the cancellation of the December Monday Night Singles Fixtures which were to finish on 11 December and the cancellation of Thursday Night Social Tennis which was scheduled to run until 21 December.  Wednesday Night Practice for 2023 finished on 6 December.

To date, no information has been provided by UQ Sport or UQ Property & Facilities about possible timelines for getting any courts back in operation for night play.

Given the above, it is unlikely that the UQ Tennis Club will be able to run any night programs in the near future. 

Keep checking this website for updates about the lighting situation.  

LIGHTS UPDATE

Finally, there is a little bit of good news about the court lights.

Work started on 22 January on installing new lights on Courts 17-20.  It is expected that this will take about 4 weeks to complete as it involves the installation of new light poles. 

However, this will not provide enough courts for night-time Fixtures, Social Tennis or Tournaments to be run.

There has been no information provided to the Club by UQ Property & Facilities about funding being approved or plans finalized to replace the failed lights on the other 17 courts.

The project to install the new lights on Courts 17-20 was approved with funding in early April 2023 but it has taken over 9 months for the installation of the new lights on those courts to be started.