As the birthplace of Alfie Hewett, the winner of no fewer than 32 wheelchair grand slam titles, you might imagine Norwich would have a natural affinity for tennis.
But three years after a decision to replace grass courts in a city park with an all-weather surface prompted uproar, tennis is once again at the heart of an improbable local dispute.
The commotion on this occasion centres around five all-weather courts at City of Norwich school that, having been in place for many years, were upgraded in 2021 with the help of funding from the National Tennis Association.
Available for use by the local community as well as students of the Ormiston academy school, the courts are equipped with floodlights and can also be used for netball and basketball.
But a bitter dispute has broken out between the school and neighbouring residents, who have objected that the facilities are a source of ‘unbearable’ noise, glaring light and antisocial behaviour.
One local said a schoolboy had broken into his shed and hidden in the bushes to skip classes, while another claimed their hedge had been ‘smashed’ down.
Community access to the courts is currently restricted to 4.30pm to 7pm on weekdays, and 9am to 1pm at weekends.
But plans to make the courts available until 8.30pm on weekdays, 5pm on Saturdays and noon on Sundays have been greeted with dismay by local residents, several of whom claim the floodlights shine directly into their homes.
A group of neighbours living next to City of Norwich school claim their quality of life has been affected by the the Ormiston academy institution’s tennis courts
The City of Norwich school’s courts and playground, as seen from a garden in neighbouring Lowther Road, where residents have complained of glare from the floodlights and noise
Local resident Keith Philpott has put up boards to try and stop pupils breaking into his garden. ‘I am fed up with the school leadership,’ he said
Paul Donnechie, a retired street lighting manager who believes the lights should have been fitted with shields to redirect glare away from local properties, claims the school has been reluctant to address the issue.
‘They just refuse to fit shields unless the council forces them,’ he said. ‘The council claimed this wasn’t explicitly required under planning conditions, but the design still had to follow lighting engineering guidelines, which say shields should be used to reduce nuisance light.
‘Other tennis courts in Norwich have them – why not these?’
Yet the school points out that it acted swiftly to reposition the lights after they were recently found to be higher than permitted under planning conditions, and has twice held consultation events with locals to gather feedback about the proposed changes.
‘We take our commitment to compliance extremely seriously,’ said a school spokesperson.
‘As soon as the trust were made aware that the columns for the lights were mistakenly installed at the wrong height, they acted immediately to have this corrected, and the structure is fully in line with the planning permission.’
The school is also looking into the installation of an acoustic fence to allay concerns about noise, but residents remain unhappy.
‘You’ve got instructors yelling, whistles going, balls bouncing off fences,’ said Keith Philpot, a 52-year-old business consultant whose property backs directly on to the courts. ‘It’s not just tennis – it’s basketball, netball, five-a-side.’
A spokesperson for the City of Norwich school, seen above, says frequent use of its tennis courts by members of the local community show ‘the positive impact they have had’
‘The language is appalling, the noise is constant, and the lights shine right into our kitchen,’ says Shirley Hocking, 76, seen here with her husband Bob, 82, of the nearby tennis courts
An aerial view of the City of Norwich school tennis courts reveals the distance between the courts and neighbouring houses
Mr Philpot added that some pupils have even broken into his garden shed and hidden in the bushes to skip classes.
The school counters that it has ‘robust policies’ in place to ensure the facilities are used appropriately, and points out that the courts have benefited not only pupils but also the wider community.
‘Our tennis courts are an important part of the diverse range of outdoor facilities we offer as a school, alongside a large playing field and numerous recreational spaces,’ the school spokesperson added.
‘They are also open for the local community to use and benefit from, and we’re pleased by the strong demand, which demonstrates the positive impact they have had since opening.
‘Due to this growing demand, and in partnership with the National Tennis Association, our trust is working to expand community access to the courts outside school hours.
‘We have, together with the trust, held two consultation events with residents to discuss the proposed changes and gather feedback.
‘As part of this work, we have commissioned a technical noise assessment and are proposing an acoustic fence, in line with our commitment to environmental standards and community wellbeing.’
For Shirley and Bob Hocking, who live next door to the school, such measures cannot be introduced soon enough.
The City of Norwich school tennis courts are seen from a garden on nearby Lowther Road
‘The language is appalling, the noise is constant, and the lights shine right into our kitchen,’ said Mrs Hocking, 76. ‘It’s also very intimidating.’
Mr Hocking, 82, said damage to his hedge had left him ruing a decision to remove the barbed wire he found on his fence after first moving into the couple’s home.
‘They play some sort of hide and seek game, and they literally smash their way in through the hedge, smashing everything down,’ he said of the students. ‘They break the fence and throw things over it.
‘When we moved in, there was barbed wire on the fence and we couldn’t understand why, so we removed it. But we soon found out.’
Neighbours have also expressed frustration over what they describe as a ‘wall of silence’ from the school’s leadership. They claim emails and calls have gone unanswered, and attempts to contact governors have been blocked.
‘Governors and the Ormiston academy leaders are like ghosts, untraceable, invisible and unreachable,’ said Mr Philpot. ‘Instead, like the school, they hide behind the processes of Norwich City Council over any action they are willing to take.’
The school replied promptly to a request for comment, however, and insists it has made every effort to ensure high standards are maintained.
‘We have robust policies in place across our school and through our letting agreements which ensure that the facilities are treated respectfully and appropriately by pupils and community members, as we seek to uphold the highest standards for our school community,’ said the spokesperson.
A recent planning application to extend the court usage drew 34 formal objections and just eight letters of support.
Planning officers nonetheless recommended approval of the application, although the decision was deferred until May 8 after a threat of legal action over lack of adequate notice.
In that respect, the episode echoes the furore that accompanied the replacement of 10 grass tennis courts with three all-weather courts in Heighham Park three summers ago.
Campaigners unhappy about the removal of the city’s only grass courts used crowdfunding to enlist the services of a lawyer, who accused the city council of a lack of transparency over the development.
Now the council is once again under fire.
‘If the school doesn’t care about its reputation within the local community, and the city council is complicit in following their processes, then the wider people of Norwich deserve to know what is happening and how easy it is for their daily lives to be ruined,’ said Mr Philpot.
‘I am fed up with the school leadership in its lack of care over the impact the tennis courts have had on the quality of its neighbours’ lives.
‘I find it shameful that governance within our education system is so weak that leaders are allowed to not engage, ignore and disregard the repeated concerns expressed to them and not to take the simple steps to safeguard their pupils and community.’
As the controversy rages on, Norwich may have to wait a while for the emergence of its next notable champion.
