Coventry padel court plans turned down

Concerns over noise and disturbance to neighbours has led to plans for new floodlit padel courts at a Coventry tennis club to be thrown out by planners.

The owners of Beechwood Lawn Tennis Club in Earlsdon had hoped to create the new facility to meet the need for the sport that has seen a surge in interest with hundreds of new courts popping up around the country.

They planned to create three floodlit courts alongside four existing tennis courts. There is also a car park and clubhouse at the Beechwood Avenue venue near to Hearsall Golf Club.

A design statement drawn up by agents Labosport explained that the planned location would be the same as the tennis courts so there would be no extra noise or visual impact for neighbours. A 3m-high steel mesh fence and glass end panels of the same height would have been put up around the courts with a further metre of steel mesh on top of the glass.

The report added: “The proposed new padel courts aim to enhance sports facilities for both the club and local community, promoting physical activity, community engagement and revenue generation which can be used to further enhance the club facilities, not just for the current users but also for future generations.”

It was proposed that the courts would be open from 8am through to 10pm seven days a week but the plans led to 17 objections from neighbours. Their concerns centred on excessive hours of operation, overspill of light, an increase in noise and disturbance and fears that the extra facilities would lead to extra traffic.

A report from a Coventry City Council planning officer said: “Within the consultation, a notable level of concern has been raised by surrounding residents as to the impact of the installation of padel courts on the living conditions of surrounding residential occupiers. This was re-iterated by the council’s environmental protection officer.

“In this case, the nature of the sport in a residential setting gives rise to significant amenity concerns, and there is an overly strong reliance in this case on highly obtrusive and large scale acoustic which detracts from the character and appearance of the suburban area.

“Concerns are also raised as to the perceived safety implications of such a feature given the open and permeable nature of the site would be significantly eroded with the car park in particular becoming a concealed feature which could lead to an increase in the fear and perception of crime. For these reasons it is considered that the development is unacceptable in this regard and recommended for refusal.

“Given that there is a substantial level of harm identified upon the character and appearance of the area, it is not considered that there are sufficient benefits which would tilt the balance in favour of approval.”