AN exciting plan for five tennis padel courts at Warrington Sports Club in Walton has been submitted to town planners.
The five padel tennis courts and canopies will include an associated customer kiosk, outdoor social area, groundsman store, and car and cycle parking at Warrington Sports Club, on Walton Lea Road.
The application site is situated within the grounds of Warrington Sports Club, Higher Walton, on disused/abandoned tennis courts which have sat vacant for multiple years.
Areas of the unusable clay tennis courts have become overgrown with moss and weeds, and therefore the courts were deemed as economically unviable for repair.
The lawful use of the site is a Local Community Use (Use Class F.2) and is wholly located within the Green Belt and is designated as Open Space.
Padel Tennis is a racquet sport similar to a mix between tennis and squash. The court is one third of the size of a tennis court. It is played on a court surrounded by walls of glass and metallic mesh. Using a short, stringless racquet with holes and a low compression tennis ball, the service is made underarm.
The proposed development would respond to the increased demand for padel for visitors to Warrington Sports Club alongside the wider public. Padel Tennis offers significant health and well-being benefits by attracting people who might not otherwise participate in a sport or indeed who might not otherwise participate in any form of exercise.
A small kiosk will be present within the secure site with a permanent member of staff/coaches on hand to issue equipment, storage purposes and some grab and go food and beverages. This is a wholly ancillary structure which will support the padel facility and to provide basic staff welfare facilities.
In terms of employment the facility will create new jobs including a full-time head coach and part time support coaches and a part time site manager.
The facility would be operated by Pure Padel whose mission is to grow padel in the UK by making it accessible to the widest possible range of participants. The model does not involve any membership fees with booking secured through a smartphone application or online booking. This allows for easy booking and for individuals wishing to take up the sport or develop further to find other competitors to play against. The padel facility will utilise the existing car and cycle parking infrastructure in association with Warrington Sports Club.
Pure Padel say they will provide first-class coaching with all coaches having undergone specialist training in Spain, which is the birthplace of the sport. Users will be able to have either private or public coaching sessions which will facilitate the ongoing growth of the sport generally. Pure Padel will also be rolling out a junior development programme at weekends, hosting female-only sessions and sessions for older persons to ensure the widest possible accessibility to the facilities as part of their inclusion objectives.
The application will be decided by Warrington Borough Council planners under delegated powers.
