Three new padel tennis courts can be built at the Withdean Sports Complex after councillors approved a planning application yesterday (Wednesday 5 July).
A meeting at Hove Town Hall was told that a temporary pop up court at the complex had proved popular.
Councillors were told that padel tennis appealed to a diverse group of users as younger and older people were playing the low-impact sport rather than something more physical like tennis.
The planning application was approved unanimously after some discussion over an objection from a neighbour who said that the noise would be too much.
The neighbour, Simon Farncombe, said in a written statement to Brighton and Hove City Council: “The hard bat and ball noise is like being under constant gunfire 14 hours a day.”
But Conservative councillor Ivan Lyons, who represents Westdene and Hove Park, said that the venue had “always been a sports stadium with relative noise”.
He told the council’s Planning Committee that Withdean was previously the home of Brighton and Hove Albion, with thousands of fans going to the football club’s matches there.
The padel courts, which would replace an overflow car park at the eastern end of the sport complex, were about 90 metres away from the nearest homes.
The new courts would also be “surrounded by trees” and semi-enclosed by canopies which would reduce any noise and light coming from the playing area. They would be open from 8am till 10pm daily.
Labour councillor Jacob Allen, who represents Woodingdean, said: “There should be an expectation of noise during the very reasonable hours the applicant has named as this comes from living next to a sports complex.”
A report to the Planning Committee said: “Data from Sport England’s Active People survey, which measures levels of sports participation, shows that Brighton and Hove are in the top 25 per cent nationally in terms of participation but satisfaction with local sports facility provision is in the bottom 25 per cent.
“Supporting enterprising proposals such as a padel tennis centre is one way in which the council can help to redress this imbalance between levels of participation and satisfaction with facilities.”
The latest planning application follows the approval of one last month to create four small football pitches, with covered spectator shelters, at the complex.
A Statuary Noise Nuisance and an Enforcement Notice has now been served on all 3 PADEL stake holders at Withdean, BHCC, Freedom Leisure and Game4Padel.
The enforcement notice suggests that the removal of the existing PADEL facility and surrounding fence will take effect on or before the 12th June 2024 but it seems that in the event of the new PADEL facility failing to go live before this date than the current PADEL stakeholders will have the option to ignore the Enforcement notice without any penalty or consequence.
Antisocial PADEL noise and planning requirements for PADEL courts are well documented on the internet. PADEL noise can be a big problem if appropriate noise mitigation is not considered from the outset. It seems that PADEL revenue is another big consideration for PADEL companies and partners.