'Park of Keir is a big opportunity missed. Andy Murray means everything in terms of British tennis. Without him we would have been bang average,' says Mark Petchey By Heather Dewar Published: 21:28, 27 August 2024 | Updated: 21:37, 27 August 2024 e-mail View comments Mark Petchey has slammed the lack of ambition shown by Scottish authorities after plans for Judy Murray’s community tennis centre were shelved due to spiralling costs, ‘protracted discussions’ and delays over planning.
The former tennis coach - who worked with Andy Murray during his first ever Wimbledon outing in 2005 - told Mail Sport it was a ‘big opportunity missed’. Andy Murray also sarcastically tweeted ‘What a surprise’ in reaction to the news of the centre’s demise. The £20million Park of Keir facility - viewed as a tangible ‘legacy’ for the success of Andy and Jamie Murray - was intended to provide affordable access to leisure for thousands of people of all ages and abilities.
It now won’t go ahead due to significant increases in construction, material, energy and labour costs, a lengthy and uncertain planning process, and protracted discussions with governing bodies. Park of Keir was looked at as an opportunity to create a lasting legacy to the Murrays However, the plans were mired in controversy, with some locals objecting Jamie, Judy and Andy were all behind the plans to build near their home town of Dunblane Petchey - who has just returned from a week at Rafael Nadal ’s tennis academy in Majorca - said Murray’s centre would have been the ‘perfect platform’ to notably remember what the players had achieved, while providing health benefits for the nation. He insisted, meanwhile, that the former world No.
1 deserved more than a ‘bronze statue’ outside of Wimbledon. ‘When you see something like this, it doesn’t exactly embolden anyone or make anyone aspirational to build a tennis centre,’ said Petchey. ‘Why would you, when you have to go through all of this, to potentially see a big black hole in your pocket and not get what you want out of it at the other end? ‘It’s easy to say that Andy himself should put his hand in his pocket if he wants this built, but why should he, when what he has achieved in the last 20 years has made a lot of people look a hell of a lot better than they are? 'Why should he be the one building a monument to himself, because he has ultimately become successful, when there were people at the start of his journey that didn’t think he would make it? They thought he was soft.
‘Why should he fund it when he had to do all the hard yards and cross unchartered territory in the world of British tennis and come out a huge success and then have to put the bricks and mortar in place for a centre where kids can have aspirations to become just like him? I just don’t get it.’ Andy's career might be over, yet questions remain about how best to honour his legacy Mail Sport understands that despite the best efforts of the Murray Play Foundation, there was a significant funding gap of more than £5million that would need to be plugged in order for the project to go ahead - with the next round of planning costing hundreds of thousands of pounds. It’s understood that those behind the project were unwilling to spend more money if there was no realistic chance of delivering on the proposals.
As Mail Sport exclusively reported only last month, the Scottish Government had also given its backing to the project, confirming that £5m of sportscotland funding had been provisionally allocated for its development. The Tennis Association (LTA) meanwhile, had pledged £5m of funding, but this was subject to the project receiving the necessary planning approvals from Stirling Council later this year. With a hotel and 19 luxury homes included in the original model, the Centre was rejected in 2015, by Stirling Council.
The scheme was subsequently given the go-ahead by the Scottish Government in 2017 - who concluded that it intended to grant planning permission in principle for a proposed tennis and golf centre. The result was a steady flow of opposition by local campaigners, who objected to future housing, as well as the centre being built on greenbelt land. While it’s understood the most recent bid for the project was made at the end of last year, discussions around funding have taken place over a number of years - and support from sports governing bodies and the Scottish Government has always been a vital part of the conversation.
Petchey believes that compromise should have been struck between all parties in order for the centre to go ahead - and for a lasting legacy to be created. ‘The investment doesn’t touch the sides,’ said Petchey. ‘These projects are expensive, I don’t pretend to know everything about the planning application - the main opposition originally was to luxury housing and the hotel, but you ask yourself, is there a compromise that could have been made, whereby the centre gets built? ‘That should have been the first line of any mission statement from all the governing bodies involved, so we didn’t get to the stage where this looks like a catastrophe.
‘It feels like this is an opportunity missed and where it probably won’t now get back around the table. Should they have found a way to compromise, to get this over the line? We are inherently useless at that in this country. 'I do think there should have been to be a way to make this centre happen, regardless of what obstacles were in the way in the planning process.
‘Andy Murray means everything, in terms of British tennis. He is the era. You talk about eras in sport, well this has been the Andy Murray era.
That’s it in a nutshell. ‘Without him, we would have been bang average and we would have been where we’ve always been. He changed the perception of tennis, showed that you could come from a devastating tragedy in Dunblane, from a small town and realise a dream.
Mark Petchey, Andy's former coach, remains concerned that his legacy is being squandered 'That’s gold dust for kids, the sort of stuff we grow up looking at and thinking is not possible, but it actually is. ‘When it happens like that, we should be keeping him and his story at the forefront of everything - for the British public and for those that want to play tennis. His story should be there forever.
'It’s a lasting narrative, and the centre would have been a focal point for that narrative to continues and for people to gravitate towards and flock towards. ‘When you walk around Rafa’s academy, you can’t help but be moved and think, “I wouldn’t mind a bit of that, that would be unbelievable”. Also, having Rafa around, when he pops in and is hitting balls, you see the kids light up and the energy increases from there.
'There are so many knock-on effects from that process that have been lost here and underestimated, and I think that’s a real shame.’ While both sportscotland and the Scottish Government have said they will now sit down with the Murray family to look at a fitting legacy for the two-time Olympic champion, it remains to be seen what form of action this will take. Petchey says the lack of legacy so far, shows how much the county is ‘punching below our weight’.
‘In tennis terms, we are punching below our weight, and we need to open up the doors. This centre could pull people in, who have never hit a tennis ball, and see all Andy’s trophies and pick up a racquet, and who knows where that could lead? 'One thing’s for sure - those kids would be better off for it and healthier, too. ‘It’s not just about becoming a Wimbledon champion.
That doesn’t matter. It would be an amazing by-product of what that centre could achieve, but that’s not the goal. ‘The goal is more people playing tennis, realising what a great sport this is, and it’s about the nation getting healthier.
Everyone looked better than they are, because of Andy’s exploits and achievements. ‘If we can’t pull together to find something that’s more tangible than a bronze statue at Wimbledon, it’s deeply disappointing as a country.’ Andy Murray Wimbledon Share or comment on this article: 'Park of Keir is a big opportunity missed.
Andy Murray means everything in terms of British tennis. Without him we would have been bang average,' says Mark Petchey e-mail Add comment.
