New padel courts at Wellingborough sports club featuring bar and seating area approved
The Old Grammarians in Wellingborough will soon feature six new padel courts and an adjoining bar area after plans submitted in August were approved by North Northants Council (NNC).
Three tennis courts at the sports club in Sywell Road will make way for the new padel courts, replacing the tennis facility to soon feature enclosed padel courts to cater for one of the UK’s fastest growing sports.
Now the plans have been approved, the sports club will construct five doubles padel courts and one smaller court designed for singles play.
Also included in the plans are the bar and outdoor seating area, which will be built by converting a nearby shipping container.
A planning document states: “The existing ground is a concrete base which is being replaced with a smaller permeable paved area with a marquee. There will be no material alteration in terms of size for the development proposed or any of the landscape affected by the works.”
Padel is a court-based game, fusing elements of squash and doubles tennis by using a small, enclosed court to play across a net, bouncing the ball off walls to maintain a rally.
It’s a sport which has seen a significant increase in participation rates in recent years across the UK, with the Lawn Tennis Association noting more than 860,000 people play the budding sport on an annual basis.
In Northamptonshire the availability of padel facilities locally have risen significantly, with courts in Podington, Grendon and Church Brampton in Northampton. Kettering Leisure Village is currently in the process of converting its outdoor beach volleyball area into padel courts and this week plans were unveiled for a new padel ‘destination’ in Corby, which will also offer provision of other sports such as squash and pool.
While the approval to replace the tennis courts will see a loss of tennis provision, is it claimed that there would be ‘sufficient sporting benefit to outweigh that loss’, with the applicant noting the existing tennis courts are ‘of poor quality.’
The full application can be found online here or by searching with the reference 26/02187/FUL on the North Northants Council planning portal.