A SCHEME to create an extra indoor tennis court at a Worcestershire club is not a smash hit with council officers.

They are recommending the proposal for Manor Park Tennis Club, in Albert Road North, Malvern, is refused because it would harm the Great Malvern Conservation Area, affect the quality of the Malvern urban greenspace and harm the outlook from nearby homes.

While officers at Malvern Hills District Council support the principle of extending the facilities at the club, they are concerned about the proposed siting of a new indoor court.

According to the council’s recently adopted conservation area appraisal, the tennis club is a negative feature in the conservation area because of its modern building and the materials used.

The club wants to build an extra indoor court on the site of an existing open air court between an indoor bowling green and the existing indoor courts. The new court would be 1.3 metres higher than the existing building.

Planning officer Rosalyn Kirby says: “At present there are open views between the indoor bowls hall and indoor tennis courts towards properties in Lansdowne Crescent and Lansdowne Methodist Church, from both within the site and from the public footpaths which cross fields to the north of the site. Given the scale and siting of the extension, this view would be materially affected to the detriment of the character of the conservation area.”

In her report to the council’s southern area development control committee, which meets on Wednesday, she says there are other locations at the club where a new court would not harm the character of the site.

She also says the new building would affect the outlook from properties in Lansdowne Crescent, while the council’s landscape officer is concerned about the loss of trees on the site because they form part of the green corridor running alongside the railway line.