Delayed decision due on padel courts plans

Padel is rising in popularity

A delayed decision could see a tennis club's plans for three new padel courts approved.

The application for changes at the private tennis club, located in an exclusive housing development in Weybridge, has divided opinion.

Residents living near St George's Hill Lawn Tennis Club raised concerns about the noise that could come from the new courts.

Elmbridge Borough Council received 98 letters in support of the application, and 43 letters of objection.

The application was due to be decided in October, but was withdrawn from the planning committee's agenda due to neighbours submitting their own noise impact reports.

An officers' report ahead of Tuesday's decision said padel tennis was "inherently noisier" than tennis due to the shorter court size and the type of racquet used.

Officers said the flat racquets with no strings used in the game created "more impact where the ball hits the racquet".

A separate independent acoustic consultant has since looked at the application and a planning condition will be put in place regarding the noise impact.

The club wants to build a new gym and a new groundskeeper's building as well as the semi-enclosed padel courts.

One objector previously described the proposed new buildings as "crinkly tin sheds" which would not be out of place on an industrial estate, rather than in the club, originally a lawn tennis and croquet club built in 1913.