Letters: Richmond tennis courts littered with cigarette butts

Dear Editor,

I’m contacting you to let you know of a problem that I believe is getting worse every month.

As a regular tennis player, I use the public tennis courts that this beautiful city has everywhere. I will cite in particular those of Minoru Park and the Thompson Community Centre.

These two great facilities have many courts in excellent condition with adequate lighting to play even at night.

The problem is related to cigarette butts. They are everywhere. Inside the courts and especially just outside the fences surrounding the court.

Literally thousands of them!

I picked up a lot to keep the area clean but obviously that’s not a viable solution. They are everywhere!

To my knowledge, there is a bylaw that prohibits smoking at least 50 meters from sports arenas in Richmond.

This regulation is neither followed nor applied. The same goes for trash.

I have lived in this beautiful city for over 20 years and believe that we should all do our civic duty to keep it clean and also take care of its upkeep.

What I don’t understand is that trash cans are usually inside the courts or just outside nearby, but some people just throw their cigarette butts on the grass or on the ground without caring about their community.

I sincerely hope that we can solve this problem which is also a health and safety problem.

Gino Suarez

RICHMOND