Council responds to community requests in new tennis tender

30 July 2010

Community benefit and industry experience will rank higher than costs in deciding who manages the City of Sydney's 18 outdoor tennis courts.

A report to be considered by an extraordinary City of Sydney Council meeting on Monday 2 August recommends community benefit, competency and service quality should count for 80 per cent when it comes to evaluating new tenders for managing the tennis courts.

The report proposes calling for new tenders with submissions to be evaluated against criteria including experience managing tennis centres, knowledge of the industry, community tennis programs, coaching ability, marketing and promotion and understanding of local social and recreational needs.

The report also notes the appointment of a six-person tender review committee including two independent external tennis experts overseen by a probity auditor.

Subject to approval by Council, the call for new tenders will be publicly advertised with all interested parties, including former and new tenderers, eligible to tender.

The decision to call for fresh tenders to manage the City's tennis courts follows a Council resolution last month to abandon the previous tender process after an independent legal and probity review found the integrity of the process may have been compromised.

The independent reviews found no legal or process concerns with the City's internal tender evaluation procedures. The review also found that some tenderers breached the tendering the requirement not to contact Councillors about their tender, whether inadvertently or otherwise.

The 18 outdoor tennis courts are at Alexandria Park, Beaconsfield Park, Turruwul Park, Rosebery; St James Park, Glebe; Prince Alfred Park, Surry Hills, and Rushcutters Bay Park.