The ACT government has proposed plans to demolish and relocate the Southlands Tennis Club to make way for a second supermarket in Mawson with shop-top housing.
The committee at the tennis club argue that their courts, some of which were recently resurfaced, should stay at the site adjacent to Mawson Southlands Shopping Centre.
Andrea Griffiths, president of Southlands Tennis Club, said the plans came "out of the blue".
In a meeting with Tennis ACT and the Suburban Land Agency on July 25, Ms Griffiths was told the courts may be relocated to another, larger site in Mawson.
"No one consulted us until we were notified in July," said Ms Griffiths.
Club membership secretary Greg Rutledge said he was disappointed by the lack of warning from Tennis ACT.
"I'd say we were pretty well ambushed with it," he said.
Two options were proposed to the club for the site of the relocation, expected to occur in early 2029. The first is on Athllon Drive, towards the southern end of the nearby playing fields, and the second is adjacent to Mawson Primary School, about a kilometre north of the current site.
The Athllon Drive site, Ms Griffiths was told, would be serviced by nearby street parking, while the site by the primary school would have dedicated parking for the Club.
"With either option, we'd be out of sight and out of mind," said Ms Griffiths.
Part of the appeal of the Southlands Tennis Club, she argues, is its ease of parking and proximity to the shops.
Members regularly visit the tennis club as part of a routine which also includes doing their groceries or visiting the Mawson Club for a drink. The club also has a relationship with the physiotherapist at the shopping centre.
Regular player Becky Griffiths (no relation to Andrea Griffiths) believes many members would cease to play at the courts if they were moved.
"We're part of the community at Southlands," she said. "After tennis, I like to get a coffee and watch the world go by."
Following questions from The Canberra Times, the Suburban Land Agency said in a statement the tennis club is not being pushed to move and could remain in its current location.
"Should the Club not wish to relocate to a larger site, the development of a second supermarket will continue to go ahead, taking into account the Club on its current site," it said.
Andrea Griffiths says she and her fellow committee members never got the impression that the club could stay in its current spot during the initial meeting with Tennis ACT and the Suburban Land Agency in July.
The ACT government website about the development says: "This larger block and required zoning can only move to the south of the existing [shopping] centre. To create this larger block, the tennis court will be required to be relocated."
The agency confirmed that if the tennis club remained at the site the car park next to the south of Mawson Woolworths would need to be demolished.
For Reece Travers, the owner of Southlands Quality Meats, questions about parking remain.
"The state of the parking here is already not good at all," he said. "It's always, always full."
Mr Travers found out about the proposal for a second supermarket on Wednesday, September 2, after a pamphlet detailing the plans was delivered to each shop in the centre.
Though the introduction of medium-density shop-top housing would benefit his business, he believes the planned second supermarket is "unnecessary".
The area is already serviced by a Woolworths and a busy hub of specialty stores.
Westfield Woden, which houses a Coles and another Woolworths, is a seven-minute drive away.
Mr Travers said the money would be better invested in the existing shopping centre.
"There's uneven concrete on the ground, potholes in the car park, and graffiti, too," he said.
"They're going to spend so much money on a new supermarket when they could be spending the money on the shops right here."
The project is open for community feedback via an online survey.
