Members of the squash community are shattered at the planned closure of the courts at a gym in Green Point.
Image: File Image
John van der Spuy, Craig Hindley, Gavin Eyre, Dr Kerisha Haripersad, Dr Gareth Kantor, members of The Point squash community
We refer to The Point sports facility, owned by the City and leased to Virgin Active.
We are all members of The Point and in some cases have been members since the facility was established many years ago when the lease reflected conditions obliging the lessee to retain the tennis and squash courts for “public use”.
The property has always included the “original” facilities, including the training swimming pool, several gymnasium and studio facilities, tennis courts, squash courts and ample off-street parking on adjoining Council land.
We are aware that over the history of the lease agreements, the lessee has been obliged to retain the various facilities, specifically the tennis and squash courts and was required to give access to the courts for non-members of the gym.
We are mindful of the City of Cape Town’s commendable responsibility to provide community recreational facilities across the entire municipal area, thus the wide range of sporting facilities on the Common, including the golf club, Hamilton’s rugby, Hellenic football, etc are all enjoyed by residents of Cape Town.
Turning specifically to the squash courts, there are no other squash courts accessible to the wider public and even if one included private squash clubs, there are none in the City Bowl or near Atlantic Suburbs. It therefore is essential that the City continues to require the current lessee of The Point to retain and maintain all of the original facilities on the property to the benefit of members and in fulfilment of the City of Cape Town’s mandate to provide health facilities.
At this point in time, squash has been added as an Olympic sport and it is fully anticipated that there will be an upsurge in public interest in this well established sporting code.On a voluntary basis, there have been in excess of 150 members of the Virgin Active/Point who have signed a petition appealing for the retention of the squash courts.
As an established facility all that is required is maintenance of the courts as with any other facilities. Recently without any input from the gym management itself, the squash section has organised and hosted an internal squash tournament, which was hugely successful. Imagine the potential success of such an effort if it was embraced by the management of The Point, who do market the other gym activities very well.
In the attached Virgin letter (to the City) about proposed changes to the property, mention is made of “co working spaces”, meeting rooms, etc, facilities which are “over supplied” in Cape Town and surely don’t fit the usual sports club definition. The Common is a sports area.
In conclusion, the members of The Point who participate in squash are attracted by the full range of facilities and from a commercial point of view it seems that a number of these members would be lost to The Point should it be allowed to continue on this regrettable path of removing the squash courts altogether.
We appeal to the City to consider this appeal favourably.
• The City of Cape Town responds: This is a commercial lease with a wide range of usage as a gym/sporting complex for health, wellness, sport, recreational and related purposes.
The lease provisions allow the lessee to determine which activities should be incorporated within the lease area, taking into account the needs and requirements of its members and business viability.
The lease agreement also provides for the operation and maintenance of at least two tennis courts, to be open for use by the general public. The lease does not have a similar provision for squash courts and the lessee is therefore not obligated to provide squash facilities as well.
Being a commercial lease, the lessee will consider the highest and best use, subject to the lease conditions. The lessee may therefore elect whether to continue to provide squash courts.