Stirling Observer 29th September 2021 Campaigning group R.A.G.E (Residents Against Greenbelt Erosion) handed a petition with over 1,500 signatures to Keith Brown, the local MSP, last week. They asked him to give it Tom Arthur, Minister for Planning in the Scottish Parliament requesting him to rethink granting approval for the development of Park of Keir. Photo caption (From left to right) Kathy Pidgeon, secretary of RAGE, Ann Shaw (member of RAGE), Inga Bullen (chair) Dr Ian Thomson, Frances Fielding (RAGE), Mike Watson, chair of Bridge-of-Allan community council, Keith Brown, (SNP) MSP, Alexander Stewart, (Con) MSP, Malcolm Shaw (treasurer, RAGE) and Julie Harbinson (RAGE) |
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30th October 2019
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21st August 2019
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11th July 2019
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26th June 2019
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The Herald Newspaper
26th June 2019
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24th April 2019
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22nd March 2019
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The Herald Newspaper
19th January 2019
Judy Murray wants to make sure there is a legacy from her sons' success in tennis.
JUDY Murray has called on the Lawn Tennis Association to invest in her new public tennis centre in Dunblane, a development intended to offer cheap pay and play facilities, inspire a generation of young players and secure a legacy for the achievements of her sons, Andy Murray and Jamie Murray.
The former Fed Cup captain says she has a funding gap of around £6 million for the tennis side of the multi-sport complex and called on the LTA and others to join with her to help build it debt free.
The £37m Park of Kier development complex will include 12 tennis courts, a golf academy and a special Hard Rock Cafe-style centre, which will chart the journey of the Murray brothers to Grand Slam glory.
Murray said the centre would be established as a charitable trust, with all the profits being put straight back improving and repairing the facility.
“I’d be happy to look at anything that allows me to build it debt free so it can be affordable and accessible to as many people as possible, whether that’s sponsorship or crowdfunding or philanthropy,” Murray said in Melbourne last week. “We’re just at the stage where we’re finalising the design, in the business plan. We’re just about there. But I’m hoping to build it debt free so I’m hoping there will be support from the LTA and from the government, and there will be some sponsors and philanthropists.”
Murray has long been concerned that Scotland and Britain in general has not been building a legacy to build on the achievements of Andy and Jamie, both of whom reached world No 1.
“I decided five years ago…that I had to start looking to build a Murray tennis centre,” Murray said. “It's been enormously difficult, full of obstacles. Like with everything, I've just stuck at it. We are very close to it now.”
The LTA are understood to have previously indicated their support for the centre but has yet to pledge any money to help.
In 2011, the LTA gave £5m to Edgbaston Priory, the private members’ club in Birmingham that stages the Nature Valley Classic WTA event every June.
The development has not been without controversy as it has moved through the planning stages, with some opponents claiming it was simply “a Judy Murray vanity project”.
But Murray said it would be accessible to everyone, at a cost they can afford.
“It's in our backyard in Dunblane and it's all about families and community focused,” she said. “It's not an elite academy.”
No public indoor tennis facilities were built in Scotland between 2006 and 2016 and when you can find a public indoor court, it costs between £16 and £28 per hour to play.
“Between 2006 and 2016, which is when Andy and Jamie ended up as world No 1, there was nothing,” she said.
“You can't capitalise on the success and you can't build the game in a country like ours where the weather is terrible, if our courts are constantly flooded or covered in snow or you are playing in a howling gale, kids are not resilient any more, so we need indoor facilities."
“It's not just on the playing side, if we want to raise the level of coaches and see coaching as a career, you need to be able to work all year round. Really it's just the commercial clubs where you have a chance. You need a cover, otherwise you are cancelling on a regular basis and it's not attracting people to the game.”
Most of the funding for the entire complex will come from the sale of 19 house plots and the hotel plot, while the tennis costs would be subsidised by other sports.
“Tennis needs to be surrounded by other things, it needs to be part of a multi-sport thing because tennis on its own doesn't survive unless it is very expensive and that is just not my thing at all, it is of no interest to me,” she said.
“We have set up a multi-sport and leisure [centre] so you make the money off that. It means you can reduce the cost of tennis involved.”
Murray is convinced she can repeat her success with Andy and Jamie.
“I think with what was achieved in Scotland against a backdrop of next to nothing, if you were a business, and there was an incredible area of productivity, you’d think you would invest in that area of productivity,” Murray said.
“Unfortunately it hasn’t been the case. But there’s still time to rectify that, and I think if I can get my centre going, if I can find support from the government and the LTA to build it debt free, I still think there's no reason why we can't do this all over again."
19th January 2019
Judy Murray wants to make sure there is a legacy from her sons' success in tennis.
JUDY Murray has called on the Lawn Tennis Association to invest in her new public tennis centre in Dunblane, a development intended to offer cheap pay and play facilities, inspire a generation of young players and secure a legacy for the achievements of her sons, Andy Murray and Jamie Murray.
The former Fed Cup captain says she has a funding gap of around £6 million for the tennis side of the multi-sport complex and called on the LTA and others to join with her to help build it debt free.
The £37m Park of Kier development complex will include 12 tennis courts, a golf academy and a special Hard Rock Cafe-style centre, which will chart the journey of the Murray brothers to Grand Slam glory.
Murray said the centre would be established as a charitable trust, with all the profits being put straight back improving and repairing the facility.
“I’d be happy to look at anything that allows me to build it debt free so it can be affordable and accessible to as many people as possible, whether that’s sponsorship or crowdfunding or philanthropy,” Murray said in Melbourne last week. “We’re just at the stage where we’re finalising the design, in the business plan. We’re just about there. But I’m hoping to build it debt free so I’m hoping there will be support from the LTA and from the government, and there will be some sponsors and philanthropists.”
Murray has long been concerned that Scotland and Britain in general has not been building a legacy to build on the achievements of Andy and Jamie, both of whom reached world No 1.
“I decided five years ago…that I had to start looking to build a Murray tennis centre,” Murray said. “It's been enormously difficult, full of obstacles. Like with everything, I've just stuck at it. We are very close to it now.”
The LTA are understood to have previously indicated their support for the centre but has yet to pledge any money to help.
In 2011, the LTA gave £5m to Edgbaston Priory, the private members’ club in Birmingham that stages the Nature Valley Classic WTA event every June.
The development has not been without controversy as it has moved through the planning stages, with some opponents claiming it was simply “a Judy Murray vanity project”.
But Murray said it would be accessible to everyone, at a cost they can afford.
“It's in our backyard in Dunblane and it's all about families and community focused,” she said. “It's not an elite academy.”
No public indoor tennis facilities were built in Scotland between 2006 and 2016 and when you can find a public indoor court, it costs between £16 and £28 per hour to play.
“Between 2006 and 2016, which is when Andy and Jamie ended up as world No 1, there was nothing,” she said.
“You can't capitalise on the success and you can't build the game in a country like ours where the weather is terrible, if our courts are constantly flooded or covered in snow or you are playing in a howling gale, kids are not resilient any more, so we need indoor facilities."
“It's not just on the playing side, if we want to raise the level of coaches and see coaching as a career, you need to be able to work all year round. Really it's just the commercial clubs where you have a chance. You need a cover, otherwise you are cancelling on a regular basis and it's not attracting people to the game.”
Most of the funding for the entire complex will come from the sale of 19 house plots and the hotel plot, while the tennis costs would be subsidised by other sports.
“Tennis needs to be surrounded by other things, it needs to be part of a multi-sport thing because tennis on its own doesn't survive unless it is very expensive and that is just not my thing at all, it is of no interest to me,” she said.
“We have set up a multi-sport and leisure [centre] so you make the money off that. It means you can reduce the cost of tennis involved.”
Murray is convinced she can repeat her success with Andy and Jamie.
“I think with what was achieved in Scotland against a backdrop of next to nothing, if you were a business, and there was an incredible area of productivity, you’d think you would invest in that area of productivity,” Murray said.
“Unfortunately it hasn’t been the case. But there’s still time to rectify that, and I think if I can get my centre going, if I can find support from the government and the LTA to build it debt free, I still think there's no reason why we can't do this all over again."
In her bid to help bring tennis to everyone, tennis star Andy Murray's mother calls on governing body to inject cash into projecT
The Herald newspaper
11th November 2018
11th November 2018
Building on Park of Keir development to begin next year, 'probably after Easter,' reveals Judy Murray
Judy Murray expects ground to be broken on her controversial Park of Keir sports development by the spring of next year and completed two years later.
After years of campaigning to create a facility close to the home in which she brought up two world No.1 and Grand Slam winning tennis players, Murray believes the end of the protracted process is in sight with her team close to completing detailed discussions with the local authority on what is known as Section 75 agreement that will allow work to get underway. “We’re finalising the design and the business plan,” she said.
“We have to get a Section 75 from Stirling Council and we’ve got to nail down every single thing that’s being asked of us and we’re very close now. The plan would be to start building next year, probably after Easter to be ready to open in the spring of 2021.”
Murray spoke to The Herald while helping with the launch of a new facility in the Algarve that has the potential to provide something of a template for what she is hoping to do closer to home. "The Campus" is a multi-sports complex within the Quinta do Lago resort which has long been famous as a high class golf venue, but in keeping with Murray’s view of what is required to make tennis more accessible, its owners have recognised the need to broaden its appeal in response to changing markets and Murray – who is setting up a coaching team and will run regular camps there – sees clear similarities in the two projects.
“[In Scotland] We need a roof on it for sure, but I also like the fact that this is not just about the tennis, because there's also obviously the golf here, but they wanted to expand and they’ve done what is almost a no expense campus for football, for tennis and for golf,” she explained.
“It is that thing that I know, from all the years that I’ve been trying to find a way to build a facility in Scotland from which I could operate that tennis can’t stand on its own unless it’s incredibly expensive. So you have to build other things around it and for me, with what we’re doing at Park of Keir, it’ll be a mix of sport and leisure. The leisure elements can make the money that will allow us to make the sports, the golf and the tennis, affordable. It’s a different feel to it.”
While there has been some local opposition to the Park of Keir plan, which initially contributed to its rejection before a Scottish Government planning inquiry overturned that decision, Murray believes more hearts and minds will be won once the detailed plans are available for all to see.
“Once we’ve finalised the design we’ll have something to show people and I do think that when people can see it they’ll just go ‘Wow, imagine having that in your back yard,’” she said.
“I think it’s like a lot of things that those who are against it make a lot of noise and the people who are for it don’t say anything. “At the inquiry there were very small numbers there on all the days it was on, but you’re never going to convert everybody.”
Still very much a local, however, she remains keen to address any remaining concerns about the nature of the venture and the impact on the local scenery and is eager to ensure that the outcome allows the maximum number of people to make better use of an area that is bordered by woodland.
“We’ve set the whole thing up as a charitable trust. It isn’t a commercial venture for anyone. It’s very much that any profits that are generated in time are reinvested in the facility and it is a sport and leisure facility for the immediate catchment around the area,” Murray pointed out.
“So in terms of what it will offer, I just wish there had been things like that when my kids were small, because I was constantly in the car, whether it was going to mini rugby or the swimming pool. Nothing was in Dunblane apart from the tennis club and now we will have a number of sports in one place, where the whole family can come and play and it will be pay and play, it’s not going to be a membership club. We’re going to make it as affordable as we possibly can by spreading the costs around the facility. “We’re building in the fields. We’re not disrupting the woods in any way at all. If anything it will open up the Park of Keir to many more people because at the moment hardly anybody walks on it.”
Judy Murray expects ground to be broken on her controversial Park of Keir sports development by the spring of next year and completed two years later.
After years of campaigning to create a facility close to the home in which she brought up two world No.1 and Grand Slam winning tennis players, Murray believes the end of the protracted process is in sight with her team close to completing detailed discussions with the local authority on what is known as Section 75 agreement that will allow work to get underway. “We’re finalising the design and the business plan,” she said.
“We have to get a Section 75 from Stirling Council and we’ve got to nail down every single thing that’s being asked of us and we’re very close now. The plan would be to start building next year, probably after Easter to be ready to open in the spring of 2021.”
Murray spoke to The Herald while helping with the launch of a new facility in the Algarve that has the potential to provide something of a template for what she is hoping to do closer to home. "The Campus" is a multi-sports complex within the Quinta do Lago resort which has long been famous as a high class golf venue, but in keeping with Murray’s view of what is required to make tennis more accessible, its owners have recognised the need to broaden its appeal in response to changing markets and Murray – who is setting up a coaching team and will run regular camps there – sees clear similarities in the two projects.
“[In Scotland] We need a roof on it for sure, but I also like the fact that this is not just about the tennis, because there's also obviously the golf here, but they wanted to expand and they’ve done what is almost a no expense campus for football, for tennis and for golf,” she explained.
“It is that thing that I know, from all the years that I’ve been trying to find a way to build a facility in Scotland from which I could operate that tennis can’t stand on its own unless it’s incredibly expensive. So you have to build other things around it and for me, with what we’re doing at Park of Keir, it’ll be a mix of sport and leisure. The leisure elements can make the money that will allow us to make the sports, the golf and the tennis, affordable. It’s a different feel to it.”
While there has been some local opposition to the Park of Keir plan, which initially contributed to its rejection before a Scottish Government planning inquiry overturned that decision, Murray believes more hearts and minds will be won once the detailed plans are available for all to see.
“Once we’ve finalised the design we’ll have something to show people and I do think that when people can see it they’ll just go ‘Wow, imagine having that in your back yard,’” she said.
“I think it’s like a lot of things that those who are against it make a lot of noise and the people who are for it don’t say anything. “At the inquiry there were very small numbers there on all the days it was on, but you’re never going to convert everybody.”
Still very much a local, however, she remains keen to address any remaining concerns about the nature of the venture and the impact on the local scenery and is eager to ensure that the outcome allows the maximum number of people to make better use of an area that is bordered by woodland.
“We’ve set the whole thing up as a charitable trust. It isn’t a commercial venture for anyone. It’s very much that any profits that are generated in time are reinvested in the facility and it is a sport and leisure facility for the immediate catchment around the area,” Murray pointed out.
“So in terms of what it will offer, I just wish there had been things like that when my kids were small, because I was constantly in the car, whether it was going to mini rugby or the swimming pool. Nothing was in Dunblane apart from the tennis club and now we will have a number of sports in one place, where the whole family can come and play and it will be pay and play, it’s not going to be a membership club. We’re going to make it as affordable as we possibly can by spreading the costs around the facility. “We’re building in the fields. We’re not disrupting the woods in any way at all. If anything it will open up the Park of Keir to many more people because at the moment hardly anybody walks on it.”

Herald Newspaper, 10th September 2017.
2nd September 2017.
Listen to Judy. There is no formal partnership between Judy Murray & the Kings group. Video clip from the public enquiry Sep. 2016
Listen to Judy. There is no formal partnership between Judy Murray & the Kings group. Video clip from the public enquiry Sep. 2016
1st September 2017.
Mark spoke to Good Morning Scotland about the Scottish Government's Park of Keir decision this morning.
Click the image to hear the interview.
Mark spoke to Good Morning Scotland about the Scottish Government's Park of Keir decision this morning.
Click the image to hear the interview.
1st September 2017
Jamie Murray said he did not believe the project would alienate the Murray family from the local community.
He said: "I think there are very few people, but the people who complain, they're the loudest.
"Maybe older people that don't want change. They are worried about green belt.
"I've lived there 30 years, there's never been anything growing on it, the whole of Scotland is green belt."
Jamie Murray said he did not believe the project would alienate the Murray family from the local community.
He said: "I think there are very few people, but the people who complain, they're the loudest.
"Maybe older people that don't want change. They are worried about green belt.
"I've lived there 30 years, there's never been anything growing on it, the whole of Scotland is green belt."
1st September 2017
2nd September 2015
28/2/2015 Stirling Observer