Planning and noise issues throw doubts over padel's growth curve

When the Daily Mail leads with a headline “Locals next to upmarket fitness club threaten legal action over 'constant' barrage of swearing, floodlights and 'gunshot' sounds on padel courts” you know that a sport has finally made it into the public.

In some ways the interest in padel court planning issues is a good thing for the growth of what is an immature sport in the UK as it should help the administrators and commercial executives understand where problems are likely to occur and then negate them early on. However, the alternative argument is that an already expensive sport to grow will become even harder now that so many potential new padel facilities are finding their permission to build being refused at an early stage.

Take the example of a well established tennis club in the tennis heartland of Hampshire in the South of the UK.

The club converted two all weather tennis courts into three outdoor padel courts during COVID. At the time there were no objections from neighbours and the planning permission was duly approved by the council. Fast forward to late 2024 and the national press in the UK has picked up on the story after the club tried to apply for permission to build more courts.

According to the reports,

“Locals who live next to an upmarket fitness club are threatening to take legal action all the way to the Supreme Court over 'constant' swearing, floodlights and 'gunshot' sounds on its padel courts.

“Occupants of properties neighbouring the club are up in arms about the prospect of an 'exponential' worsening of the 'intolerable' sounds they are subjected to day and night.

“Homeowners told how those closest have to cower in their homes with windows shut due to the 'constant' barrage of rallying, swearing from players and glaring floodlights.”

And this isn’t an isolated case.

When you combine the high construction costs of building new padel courts, which is now running at around £50k per new court, with the difficulty and expense involved in winning planning battles, it will certainly make potential investors and racket clubs think twice before committing to integrate padel into their current sports mix.

In turn this could support the growth of pickelball in the UK.

Currently a distant second to padel in terms of speed of growth, pickleball is far easier to support for clubs looking to add to their tennis offering with another racket sport. The construction costs are tiny compared to padel and there are virtually no issues with planning permission. The potential returns in terms of revenue per square foot of space are also more attractive with pickleball as the court is smaller and doesn’t require as much space around the sides. Combine this with the ageing population in the UK and you’ll realise why such huge operators as David Lloyd Leisure are grabbing hold of pickleball with open arms.

So what can padel do to help ease the situations?

1. Think carefully about the location of any planned new padel court construction to avoid the inevitable noise complaints from neighbours

2. Consider indoor padel from the start. Even though the initial layout is much more the long term returns, especially in the temperate climate of the UK, will be far greater

3. Seek advice from existing padel clubs or consultants and don’t assume that planning permission will be easy. Factor the planning process into the cost model