Protesters probing moves to raise funding for Park of Keir this week questioned the role of Tennis Scotland chief executive Blane Dodds.
Mr Dodds and Judy Murray last Thursday hosted a press conference at Cromlix House at which they called for support from the Scottish Government and Lawn Tennis Association in providing a lasting legacy for Jamie and Andy Murray.
Ms Murray also told the Observer that negotiations with Stirling Council over the £37 million Park of Keir proposal were nearing completion.
She dismissed suggestions that the controversial scheme – for sports complex featuring a tennis centre, golf academy, 15-bedroom hotel and Murray brothers museum plus 19 luxury homes, on greenbelt – were in limbo because it was unworkable.
In a letter to the Observer, Park of Keir protest group Residents Against Greenbelt Erosion asked why there had been so much ‘secrecy’ surrounding the negotiations with the council which are believed to concern conditions attached to the planning consent imposed by the Scottish Government.
Papers obtained by RAGE through a Freedom of Information request to sportscotland showed Stirling Council chief executive Carol Beattie met with officials of sportscotland and Active Stirling on November 14, 2018, at which the proposed Park of Keir tennis courts and hotel were discussed.
RAGE also discovered that in August last year Ms Murray formed the Murray Play Foundation, a private limited company with charitable status, run by three directors including Ms Murray and Mr Dodds who took up his post as chief executive of Tennis Scotland on January 8, 2018.
Papers obtained by RAGE also show that in September of last year, in a letter dated September 28, 2018, a letter was sent to Tennis Scotland, on behalf of the Murray Play Foundation expressing interest in applying for funding from the Transforming Scottish Indoor Tennis Fund.
It has £15 million from the Lawn Tennis Association and is jointly administered with Tennis Scotland and sportscotland to fund new indoor courts across Scotland.
A RAGE spokesperson acknowledged that Mr Dodds had ceased to be a director of the Murray Play Foundation last year but added: “Surely this is a conflict of interest for Mr Dodds.”
However, a source close to Mr Dodds said he indicated his intention to resign from the foundation on September 25 last year and took no part in any trustee meeting of the foundation.
“There has been no funding allocated to any of the submissions yet via the Indoor Fund and all applications are referred to TS/sportscotland and LTA,” he added.
“The Park of Keir application was received on March 1 this year.”
The RAGE spokesperson said they objected to public money being used to fund the Park of Keir project `as it would enable the developer to profit from building houses on this greenbelt site’.
“Their argument that the houses would subsidise the sports facilities is weak,” she added. “The location is not sustainable and is just three miles from the existing indoor tennis facilities at Stirling University.”
A spokesman for the Murray Play Foundation said: “We’re hugely excited about the project and will of course apply for funding from wherever is appropriate. It seems obvious that a fund set up to transform Scottish indoor tennis is entirely appropriate.”
