New courts planned for Halifax tennis and squash centre

Tony Morris, of Queens Sports Club, Moorlands View, Halifax, is seeking permission from Calderdale Council to replace two outdoor tennis courts with three Padel courts which would have rain canopies and en entrance lobby to the club’s existing indoor court building.

Padel, invented in Mexico in the late 1960s and a sport very popular in Spain, is described as a mix between tennis and squash.

A supporting statement with the club’s application, from property consultants T. D. Jagger, says: “It’s usually played in doubles on a partially enclosed court, surrounded by screens of glass and metallic mash.”

Popular in a range of countries, the racquet sport has a similar scoring system to tennis but has its own rules and techniques.

The balls used are similar to tennis balls but with less pressure and the court has walls which balls can be played off in a similar way to squash.

Special racquets are also used.

The proposal would see the three Padel covered courts developed on the footprint of two of the existing illuminated outdoor hard courts at the club. Padel courts are a third of the size of a tennis court.

Plans also include construction of a small extension to the existing indoor court building adjacent the proposed Padel courts, which will provide additional changing, and toilet facilities for disabled players.

The existing outdoor courts have 11 metre high external lighting columns providing flood lighting but the proposed Padel court lighting is fitting within the canopy frame at 6 metres high.

This means that beams spread from the lighting will be significantly reduced compared with the existing lighting which is there now, says the supporting statement.

Canopies and screens should also provide additional noise attenuation potentially reducing the noise levels at the site boundary, says the document.

The application, number 22/00425/FUL, can be viewed on the council’s Planning Portal.