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Council Approves New Pickleball Courts, With Possibility Of More

Pickleball enthusiasts in Chatham-Kent are getting 10 new pickleball courts across the municipality after council voted in favour of building the new courts at last night’s meeting.

The proposal brought to council last night was to split the 10 courts in the communities of Chatham, Blenheim, Dresden, Wallaceburg and Tilbury with the five communities getting two courts each. The province is expected to cover 80 percent of the costs for the 10 courts, with the remainder paid by the municipality.

However, pickleball groups have come forward to express a need to create a hub with multiple courts to allow for large events such as lessons, tournaments, and social events.

At the same time, community engagement and consultation done prior to the original proposal had residents lobby for courts to be spread across the community, especially in Tilbury and Blenhem, rather than place the majority of the courts in Chatham.

Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff acknowledged both sides of the debate, saying the courts should be constructed across the municipality, but a hub is needed as well.

He proposed a compromise, suggesting that the 10 courts spread across the municipality be approved, and then he proposed a motion to have administration come back with a report at a future council meeting that would look at building four additional courts to address the need for a hub.

The motion was successful and the report will return to council with a cost assessment, along with fundraising options for the additional courts.

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