By ANNA USHER

Sydney’s most popular community tennis centre has been ordered to vacate its Naremburn base after an Aboriginal Land Council claimed ownership of the site.

The Northern Suburbs Tennis Association (NSTA) must declare game, set and match to eight courts on Tallis St by September 30, after receiving its marching orders from the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council (MLALC), which was handed the land in 2022.

The courts host almost 62,000 players each year, and members say they have been blindsided by the move, forming an advisory group and starting a petition in a bid to keep the nets up.

Paul Francis, Executive Director of Love ‘n Deuce, told 2GBs Ben Fordham last week that the centre is a “real gathering place” and the busiest in the state.

“These are the busiest courts in NSW,” he said, “we have the highest usage rate, which is around 80 per cent, and the national average is 25 per cent,” Mr Francis said.

“The reason we have that is because we cater for everybody, it is not an elitist centre. We’ve got kids playing from the age of two-and-a-half. We’ve got players in their 80s.”

At the centre of the dispute is the financial arrangement governing the site.

The land where the courts are located was passed onto the MLALC on the basis of a ruling that found the centre was not open to the public, a finding Mr Francis rejects, telling Fordham the court was “fed a whole lot of misinformation” and that the centre is open to the public seven days a week.

A petition to save the Talus St courts, which has offered coaching, competitions, clinics and children’s programs for more than 40 years is now gathering signatures.

“It would be such a shame to lose these tennis courts where people of all ages can play, connect and stay active to see the site replaced by apartments. Please protect our local tennis courts and keep this space for the community,” wrote one resident, Katherine.

I’m genuinely shocked with this news,” wrote another, “this was a community run by people who truly cared about the future of kids’ tennis and invested so much into generations of young players. It’s a very sad day for tennis when the value of such a strong and long-standing community can seemingly be overridden by greed.”

Fordham told his listeners that he has personally reached out to MLALC Chief Executive Nathan Moran, who has agreed to sit down for talks with Talus St tennis officials upon his return from overseas.

More than 44,000 sites in New South Wales are currently subject to a land claim. That list reportedly includes the iconic Bondi icebergs, and North Sydney’s Post Office.

The New South Wales Government is pursuing legislative changes, aimed at closing a legal loophole that would make it harder for land councils to lodge claims over community facilities.

Under proposed changes, a lease alone would make land “lawfully used”, ensuring it can’t be claimed.

Debate on the contentious legislation has so far stalled in state parliament, as indigenous groups argue it is an assault on land rights.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said this week the current legislation has moved away from its intended purpose.

“I don’t believe this was the original intent of the Frank Walker land rights legislation in the 1980s,” Premier Minns said.

“If these plots of land are handed over, we can’t ever get them back. We can’t replicate our surf life saving clubs or our tennis infrastructure or our bowling clubs.”

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