Largs Tennis Club are hoping to pursue new all weather tennis courts at Douglas Park.

The club hosted its AGM at Lounge restaurant on Monday evening when plans were unveiled including a display of potential new surfaces, provided by local architect Eric McMillan.

Consultant Jane Cook offered financial advice in relation to potential funding opportunities for the tennis club, and said that she could help in putting a robust plan together to obtain funds, providing the club could also do its own fundraising.

New club secretary Gavin MacLellan said: “We want to go ahead and try and do something - there is a little bit of debate over whether we go for three or four courts, and that is tied up with what happens to whether we go for a new clubhouse or not.

“The current clubhouse was built as a replacement for the old tennis clubhouse, but that has basically been taken away from us.

“I wasn’t aware but apparently the clubhouse is now leased to the Douglas Park Nursery, and we are the sub-lessess. We have a clubhouse facility as it stands, but not one we can call our own, and I personally feel we need to break away - we could have a portable building on the site of our old clubhouse possibly.

“I feel that the two aren’t compatible as it stands. The clubhouse was built as a replacement for the old tennis clubhouse which was burnt down, but it has now been basically taken away from us.” “A new portable building would cost in the range of £12,000.

“One of the things we have to show is that there is demand at the tennis courts, but there are two counts we have to address. Firstly, the clubhouse. And secondly, there are four free public courts, and three club courts, so basically people can just turn up and play. Who is going to pay for the club when they can walk on courts for free? It is very difficult for us. The consensus at the AGM was to go ahead with pursuing the new courts. There was a price quoted for floodlights, but I think we should go for the courts first and foremost.

“Once we get decent courts, we can run tournaments, and make money, but as it stands at the moment, it is a Catch 22 situation. The committee have got to essentially find ways to raise money to support an application.

“I feel the tennis club has been stuck in a rut for too long, and we have to break out of it somehow. It is important to address the state of the courts, and I even think we have to get out of the clubhouse - we are not in control of our own destiny as it stands. If we get the courts done, we can look to make money, and introduce floodlights, and perhaps renewing the other three courts - it could be a fantastic facility and even host national tournaments. But first, we have to get out of the rut.” The chairman of Largs Tennis Club is Fiona Page, and the treasurer is Andy Jones, and Alan McEwing was thanked for his sterling efforts as secretary during recent years after stepping down at the AGM.