Norwich City Council's plan to replace, in partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association, the 10 grass tennis courts in Heigham Park with all-weather floodlit courts is ill-conceived. Quite apart from the issue of needlessly spoiling this green and historic site, there are two major flaws in the plan.

Firstly, when torrential downpours are highly likely to increase in frequency and severity, a grassed area of this size, able to absorb much rain, should be considered to be a valuable asset. Replacing it with asphalt would be likely to result in inundation of drains and increased risk of local flooding, while a black surface would absorb more heat from the higher temperatures to come. It's time the council began to think pro-actively about mitigating the local effects of climate change.

Secondly, there is apparently no basis of evidence of demand for all-weather courts. I asked the Cabinet member responsible: Are there figures to show that the Heigham Park grass courts are already fully used at weekends and on summer evenings? Has a feasibility study been carried out to gauge the extent of potential additional use of these courts in all weathers and after dark? Is there data from elsewhere which evidences the playing of tennis on hard courts in bad weather? I have had no reply.

Within a mile or two of Heigham Park there are already 21 tennis courts in Eaton Park (11 of them hard) and a tennis club in Lime Tree Road. If the council wants to increase provision it should be done in a less well-served area of the city, on an existing hard area. If the real rationale for the plan is lack of money for maintenance of grass courts, then approaches should be made to users of Heigham Park and its tennis courts, the Friends of Heigham Park and local residents with an appeal for help to raise funds and voluntary help in kind.