Iconic tennis courts set for stunning redevelopment

Perth's Robertson Park tennis centre is set for its next stage of redevelopment.
The City of Vincent will begin works on April 22 converting 12 synthetic turf tennis courts to acrylic hard courts in line with Tennis Australia standards.
The central walkway will also be enhanced to incorporate shade structures, seating, drainage and rain gardens with native plants and trees.
Your local paper, whenever you want it.
The works involve installing 350 lux LED floodlighting, replacing the tennis court fencing, widening the central thoroughfare to 10m and establishing rain gardens with native tree planting, as well as an integrated stormwater drainage system, new shade structures and seating throughout the site.
The leisure park upgrades will see expanded public space, new nature play and outdoor experience equipment, lighting, improvements to the dog exercise area, and a new public toilet.
Mayor of Vincent Alison Xamon said the works would ensure that Robertson Park met the needs of the community into the future. Robertson Park tennis centre. Credit: COV
'These upgrades will see Robertson Park become a more flexible, multi-use outdoor recreation space suited to the growing and changing needs of our community,' she said.
In December last year the centre completed the first stage of developments.
The first stage of works involved the refurbishment and conversion of six tennis courts into four multi-sport courts with LED floodlighting and new fencing as well as a dual hit-up wall and half basketball court.
'We are already seeing the benefits . . . it's been fantastic to see the North Perth Dynamites Netball Club now training at Robertson Park,' Ms Xamon said.
The Robertson Park development plan was endorsed by council in September 2021 after it identified a need for more flexible, multi-use public open space in Vincent.
'Robertson Park is important not only as Vincent's largest tennis centre but as a much-needed green community space in the inner city,' Ms Xamon said.
The upgrades to the tennis centre are being delivered with the support of the State Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, which has co-funded the construction works.
The works are also co-funded by Tennis Australia's National Court Rebate.
The tennis centre carpark will remain open to the public throughout the works.
This stage of works is expected to be completed late this year.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

The Advertiser

20 hours ago

• The Advertiser

Japan scraps US meeting after defence demands

Japan has cancelled a regular high-level meeting with its key ally the US after the Trump administration demanded it spend more on defence. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had been expected to meet Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Defence Minister Gen Nakatani in Washington on July 1 for annual security talks. But according to the Financial Times, Tokyo scrapped the meeting after the US asked Japan to boost defence spending to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product, higher than an earlier request of 3 per cent. Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday that President Donald Trump's government was demanding its Asian allies, including Japan, spend 5 per cent of GDP on defence. An unnamed US official told Reuters that Japan had "postponed" the talks in a decision made several weeks ago. A non-government source familiar with the issue said he had also heard Japan had pulled out of the meeting but not the reason for it doing so. The Financial Times said the higher spending demand was made in recent weeks by Elbridge Colby, the third-most senior Pentagon official, who has also recently upset another key US ally in the Indo-Pacific by launching a review of a project to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. In March, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said other nations do not decide Japan's defence budget after Colby called for Tokyo to spend more to counter China, during his nomination hearing. Japan and other US allies have been engaged in difficult trade talks with the United States over Trump's worldwide tariff offensive. The paper said the decision to cancel the July 1 meeting was also related to Japan's July 20 upper house elections, expected to be a major test for Ishiba's minority coalition government. Japan's move comes ahead of a meeting of the US-led NATO alliance in Europe next week, at which Trump is expected to press his demand that European allies boost their defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP. Japan has cancelled a regular high-level meeting with its key ally the US after the Trump administration demanded it spend more on defence. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had been expected to meet Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Defence Minister Gen Nakatani in Washington on July 1 for annual security talks. But according to the Financial Times, Tokyo scrapped the meeting after the US asked Japan to boost defence spending to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product, higher than an earlier request of 3 per cent. Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday that President Donald Trump's government was demanding its Asian allies, including Japan, spend 5 per cent of GDP on defence. An unnamed US official told Reuters that Japan had "postponed" the talks in a decision made several weeks ago. A non-government source familiar with the issue said he had also heard Japan had pulled out of the meeting but not the reason for it doing so. The Financial Times said the higher spending demand was made in recent weeks by Elbridge Colby, the third-most senior Pentagon official, who has also recently upset another key US ally in the Indo-Pacific by launching a review of a project to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. In March, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said other nations do not decide Japan's defence budget after Colby called for Tokyo to spend more to counter China, during his nomination hearing. Japan and other US allies have been engaged in difficult trade talks with the United States over Trump's worldwide tariff offensive. The paper said the decision to cancel the July 1 meeting was also related to Japan's July 20 upper house elections, expected to be a major test for Ishiba's minority coalition government. Japan's move comes ahead of a meeting of the US-led NATO alliance in Europe next week, at which Trump is expected to press his demand that European allies boost their defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP. Japan has cancelled a regular high-level meeting with its key ally the US after the Trump administration demanded it spend more on defence. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had been expected to meet Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Defence Minister Gen Nakatani in Washington on July 1 for annual security talks. But according to the Financial Times, Tokyo scrapped the meeting after the US asked Japan to boost defence spending to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product, higher than an earlier request of 3 per cent. Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday that President Donald Trump's government was demanding its Asian allies, including Japan, spend 5 per cent of GDP on defence. An unnamed US official told Reuters that Japan had "postponed" the talks in a decision made several weeks ago. A non-government source familiar with the issue said he had also heard Japan had pulled out of the meeting but not the reason for it doing so. The Financial Times said the higher spending demand was made in recent weeks by Elbridge Colby, the third-most senior Pentagon official, who has also recently upset another key US ally in the Indo-Pacific by launching a review of a project to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. In March, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said other nations do not decide Japan's defence budget after Colby called for Tokyo to spend more to counter China, during his nomination hearing. Japan and other US allies have been engaged in difficult trade talks with the United States over Trump's worldwide tariff offensive. The paper said the decision to cancel the July 1 meeting was also related to Japan's July 20 upper house elections, expected to be a major test for Ishiba's minority coalition government. Japan's move comes ahead of a meeting of the US-led NATO alliance in Europe next week, at which Trump is expected to press his demand that European allies boost their defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP. Japan has cancelled a regular high-level meeting with its key ally the US after the Trump administration demanded it spend more on defence. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had been expected to meet Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Defence Minister Gen Nakatani in Washington on July 1 for annual security talks. But according to the Financial Times, Tokyo scrapped the meeting after the US asked Japan to boost defence spending to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product, higher than an earlier request of 3 per cent. Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday that President Donald Trump's government was demanding its Asian allies, including Japan, spend 5 per cent of GDP on defence. An unnamed US official told Reuters that Japan had "postponed" the talks in a decision made several weeks ago. A non-government source familiar with the issue said he had also heard Japan had pulled out of the meeting but not the reason for it doing so. The Financial Times said the higher spending demand was made in recent weeks by Elbridge Colby, the third-most senior Pentagon official, who has also recently upset another key US ally in the Indo-Pacific by launching a review of a project to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. In March, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said other nations do not decide Japan's defence budget after Colby called for Tokyo to spend more to counter China, during his nomination hearing. Japan and other US allies have been engaged in difficult trade talks with the United States over Trump's worldwide tariff offensive. The paper said the decision to cancel the July 1 meeting was also related to Japan's July 20 upper house elections, expected to be a major test for Ishiba's minority coalition government. Japan's move comes ahead of a meeting of the US-led NATO alliance in Europe next week, at which Trump is expected to press his demand that European allies boost their defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP.

Perth Now

a day ago

• Perth Now

Japan scraps US meeting after defence demands

Japan has cancelled a regular high-level meeting with its key ally the US after the Trump administration demanded it spend more on defence. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had been expected to meet Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Defence Minister Gen Nakatani in Washington on July 1 for annual security talks. But according to the Financial Times, Tokyo scrapped the meeting after the US asked Japan to boost defence spending to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product, higher than an earlier request of 3 per cent. Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday that President Donald Trump's government was demanding its Asian allies, including Japan, spend 5 per cent of GDP on defence. An unnamed US official told Reuters that Japan had "postponed" the talks in a decision made several weeks ago. A non-government source familiar with the issue said he had also heard Japan had pulled out of the meeting but not the reason for it doing so. The Financial Times said the higher spending demand was made in recent weeks by Elbridge Colby, the third-most senior Pentagon official, who has also recently upset another key US ally in the Indo-Pacific by launching a review of a project to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. In March, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said other nations do not decide Japan's defence budget after Colby called for Tokyo to spend more to counter China, during his nomination hearing. Japan and other US allies have been engaged in difficult trade talks with the United States over Trump's worldwide tariff offensive. The paper said the decision to cancel the July 1 meeting was also related to Japan's July 20 upper house elections, expected to be a major test for Ishiba's minority coalition government. Japan's move comes ahead of a meeting of the US-led NATO alliance in Europe next week, at which Trump is expected to press his demand that European allies boost their defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP.

West Australian

2 days ago

• West Australian

What the State Budget means for the Pilbara

The Pilbara has once again been heralded as the 'powerhouse' of WA, with the 2025-26 State Budget outlining investments in health, housing, education and economic infrastructure for the region. Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson addressed a crowd at the KDCCI and Pilbara Development Commission State Budget Breakfast, breaking down the State Government's key Pilbara priorities. In healthcare, the State Budget outlined $1 million for an eight-bed Karratha Renal Dialysis Facility and Hostel and $18.5m to increase the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme (PATS) fuel subsidy from 26c per kilometre to 40c per kilometre. Also allocated is $55m to the Tom Price and Paraburdoo hospital redevelopment projects. 'I'm very pleased to say that Paraburdoo is out for tender, and the Tom Price tender has been awarded,'Ms Sanderson said. 'The tenderer is finalising with the local government on some of the resilience required, particularly around extreme weather events, and they'll be getting on with that construction. 'One of the things that we did with the Tom Price tender is we tendered it as a region; all of the government projects, including schools, hospitals, police stations. 'So rather than just going project by project, we actually tendered as a region, and that has made those projects viable. Without the work that this government has done, these projects would not be getting off the ground.' Pilbara housing was another hot ticket item, with $43.2m allocated to the Mulataga housing development in Karratha, $13.7m for regional staff accommodation costs to attract and retain staff (mainly across the North West) and $103.8m to double Government Regional Officer Housing (GROH). Cost of living support for Pilbara residents was also outlined; including $250 for every secondary student and $150 for every primary and kindergarten student, a $100 top up for regional pensioner travel card holders, $337m towards the WA Residential Battery Scheme and $3.5 billion over the next four years to keep regional water and power prices in line with metropolitan prices. The Regional Airfare Zone Cap Scheme will continue, caping airfares at $299 one way for Karratha, Port Hedland, Newman and Paraburdoo residents travelling to Perth. The education sector will also have a share, with a handful of Pilbara primary and high schools receiving a boost along with a stake in the School Breakfast Program to provide free breakfasts five days a week. Around $277m per annum will be invested to deliver Vocational Education and Training, career and employment advice, and TAFE support services across regional WA. Funding will also be allocated to regional roads, with $250m over five years to expand the Regional Road Safety Program to local roads across the State, however, Ms Sanderson did not specify which Pilbara roads would see an upgrade. 'Main Roads will work with the local governments across the Pilbara to identify the pipeline of work over the next four years, and how we prioritise that,' she said. $35 million has been allocated to progress road works at the Utah Point Bulk Handling Facility in Port Hedland and an additional $20.6m for the Onslow Seawater Desalination Plant. The State Government is also upping the ante for regional police and security with more than $480m per annum for regional WA Police, including 123 police stations and around 1900 police officers and staff. $2.3m has been allocated for additional CCTV across the State to help combat antisocial behaviour including additional cameras in Karratha, Newman, Port Hedland, South Hedland, Roebourne and Wickham. $11.5m has also been put aside to expand the Safe at Home program that supports victim-survivors of family and domestic violence, including expanding the service to Karratha. Clean energy investments are on the table, with $1.6 million towards the Pilbara Energy Transition Plan. Pilbara sporting and recreation groups haven't been forgotten, with $22.5m towards the construction of a new aquatic facility in South Hedland, $100,000 for the Norwest Jockey Club for key infrastructure upgrades and $7.5m for the Newman Youth and Community Hub. 'We want the Pilbara to be a vibrant region in which to live, work and raise a family,' Ms Sanderson said. 'At the same time, we are investing in major infrastructure projects including common-user transmission infrastructure as part of the Pilbara Energy Transition Plan that will unlock the region's clean energy potential, help major proponents to decarbonise, and generate benefits for the entire Pilbara community.' For the full State Budget outline, visit: