The fences aren’t doing much good at the Hawker Tennis Centre. Photo: James Coleman.
It looks like a scene out of Fallout. In reality – beneath the overgrown grass, burnt couches, car tyres, washing machines, and folds of rusty chicken wire – it’s what’s left of the once-bustling Hawker Tennis Centre.
And 16 years after it closed, locals have had enough of the eyesore it’s become.
A petition has been launched calling on the ACT Government to take the site away from its current owners by terminating the lease and then redeveloping it as a public sports and recreation facility.
Sound familiar? It should, because just up the road at Jamison, the government has also written to the owners of Big Splash Waterpark about plans to terminate that site’s lease after years of empty promises and community pressure.
According to the Opposition, this situation is happening far too often.
The courts have become Belconnen’s illegal dumping ground. Photo: James Coleman.
Once bustling, now dilapidated
The Hawker Tennis Centre was established on block 9, section 3, Hawker, in 1977, and quickly became a “highly valued and successful sporting facility” for residents from all over Belconnen.
“I’ve been a Weetangera resident for 45 years, and raised three children here who are now in their 30s and 40s,” one, named Chris (last name omitted by request), recalls.
“All of them came to this tennis centre for tennis lessons, and the owners also ran school holiday camps which were fantastic because it kept kids active in the holidays … It was a highly valued facility … and it was a sad day when it was sold to development interests.”
At its peak, the centre was coaching 300 to 400 students per week, and no visit was complete without also buying a bag of lollies from the clubhouse.
In 2010, the site’s lease transferred from Bruce and Stephanie Larkham to Pelle Projects, and that’s when it all started to go south.
“To the best of my recollection, there was still tennis here until 2012,” Chris recalls.
In 2018, fire destroyed the Larkhams’ former home and the clubhouse, both located on the site. About five years ago, Pelle applied for a lease variation to build a childcare centre on a portion of the site.
“There wasn’t any opposition to the centre, because it was a legitimate use of community land, but nothing ever happened,” Chris says.
“They kept getting extensions, and they all expired … We’ve been going for a decade, trying to get this situation remediated without any luck.
“It’s very sad to see it today. It’s another instance, like Big Splash, where developers have purchased property and the community loses the use of it.”
Local residents (including Chris, centre) and Neighbourhood Watch ACT Hawker/Weetangera’s Melissa. Photo: James Coleman.
Striking while the iron’s hot
The Hawker/Weetangera division of Neighbourhood Watch ACT has taken up the cause, making the most of the current heat on Big Splash.
“Look, Big Splash is a big part of it,” coordinator Melissa (last name omitted by request) says.
“It’s also the fact that the development application that had been in place has now expired. So now is the time for us to be able to do something as a community.”
She hopes to drive action in response to the severe safety concerns.
“Only last week, we had the ACT fire brigade out here for a small fire, and that’s obviously very concerning with the amount of bush that’s around here, as well as the Hawker Bowling Club who are right behind us … and houses in quite close proximity,” she says.
Unwanted household items litter the site. Photo: James Coleman.
The site also backs onto Belconnen High School, and with the fences riddled with holes, there’s not much to stop children from wandering onto the grounds.
“There are safety concerns about what kids might do or find. There’s been dumped rubbish, dumped cars, and … evidence not so long ago of drug use as well.”
The site might originally have comprised 12 outdoor tennis courts, but at this point, the petitioners would welcome any community sports facility.
“There is so much unused potential here … to have somewhere for sport and recreation, that can be used all year round – even an indoor facility – that everybody can use again.”
A growing problem
Canberra Liberals MLA and Member for Ginninderra Peter Cain is sponsoring the petition, which so far has attracted more than 200 signatures.
“I door-knocked here a couple of weeks ago … and people were talking about this centre and the safety issues they face,” he said.
“Look at what this place has become. Imagine what it could be with some proper oversight by the ACT Government.”
The ACT Government is preparing to take regulatory action against the owners of seven sites across the ACT for failure to meet lease conditions, thanks to new powers granted under the Planning Act 2023.
Big Splash and Richardson Shops are on the list, but the government has yet to confirm if Hawker Tennis Centre is too.
“These actions are in differing stages of the processes required under the legislation, and no further comment can be provided at this time,” an ACT Government spokesperson told Region in late January when asked for the names of the seven locations.
Canberra Liberals MLA Peter Cain is sponsoring the petition. Photo: James Coleman.
Mr Cain said he’d met similar vagueness.
“Late last year, I sought a briefing on the Hawker Tennis Centre, and the minister said, ‘Access Canberra is acting, so a briefing is not needed at this stage’. That’s a pretty poor answer to an elected official.
“It’s a question of why has the government let it get to seven … There have been two DAs on this site, both have expired, so it’s not like the owners have not had an opportunity to do something with it.
“It does get to the point where the government needs to step in … resume the lease and find what the community would like the land used for. And certainly recreational sporting use would be high on the agenda.”
The Hawker Tennis Centre petition is open on the ACT Legislative Assembly website until 24 March 2026.
