Empty warehouse to become padel centre

The former empty warehouse will have four padel courts

Plans to make an empty warehouse into a padel centre have been approved by a council.

Smash Haus Padel Ltd was given permission on 4 November by Peterborough City Council to construct four padel courts in an empty warehouse at 1184 Lincoln Road.

The venue will have a reception area, loos and a storage area for nets and kit on the ground floor, as well as a small refreshment area for drinks and light snacks.

It is the third padel development to be approved in Peterborough over the past few months, with others in the process of being built in Stanground and the Peterborough One Retail Park.

Smash Haus Padel's planning application stated: "Given the identified shortfall in provision within the city, the proposal will improve the range of leisure facilities potentially creating the first padel courts available to use within Peterborough.

"This will assist in promoting the image of the city given the high demand for courts and to attract visitors to the city who wish to play."

Outreach sessions

The centre will employ four full-time staff members and have a car park with 95 spaces, the developer said.

It was proposed that padel sessions would be booked by the hour between 7:00 and 22:00 Monday to Saturday and between 8:00 and 21:00 on Sundays and bank holidays.

The centre will also offer coaching programmes, including school outreach and inclusive sessions for women and girls and disability introduction sessions, the developer said.

The council's planners said: "It's a professional sport that has seen a huge uptake within Europe and is now popular within the UK with many padel facilities popping up around towns and cities.

"As such, officers are supportive of the principle of having this facility available to our residents as well as attracting visitors from outside the city to use these facilities."

The warehouse was most recently used for the storage and distribution of medical equipment and, prior to that, the distribution of furniture.