August M
Across the UK, padel tennis has surged in popularity. But in Bath, efforts to introduce the sport have repeatedly run into opposition.
In Bath, Southwest UK, where not a single padel facility exists, efforts to introduce the sport have repeatedly run into opposition — most recently ending in the collapse of a proposal for four new courts.
Residents near the Odd Down sports ground argued that the sound of padel play would be overwhelming, with some describing the repetitive ball strikes as intolerable.
One neighbour, 77-year-old Melvyn Caldwell, told the Daily Mail he was “delighted” the council rejected the plans, saying the sharp sound of play reminded him of “gunfire” and would disrupt daily life.
Caldwell said he knew someone who had left Spain due to similar noise and warned she would have moved again had these courts been approved.
The case highlights a defining tension: a fast-expanding sport meeting deep local sensitivities about neighbourhood tranquillity.
Past planning battles
Tennis players in Bath have encountered the same resistance before.
More than 60 members of the nearby Lansdown Tennis Club regularly travel to Bristol to play padel, after their own application for two courts was rejected last year, Daily Mail notes.
Councillors argued then that the noise could affect residents’ wellbeing, with one saying it would verge on the World Health Organization’s threshold for “seriously annoying” sound levels.
The Planning Inspectorate upheld that decision, concluding that padel produced more frequent and noticeably louder ball impacts than tennis, leaving neighbours vulnerable to even small increases in noise.
Views from the community
According to the Daily Mail, not all locals supported the rejection.
Retired teacher Christine Mottram, 72, said losing the courts was a missed opportunity to encourage active habits among young people, calling the decision “shortsighted.”
Her husband Ray, 73, said it undermined efforts to offer constructive activities for teenagers.
Former nurse Marianne Pearson, 79, echoed those concerns, arguing that access to sport should be prioritised and questioning whether padel could truly be noisier than existing football matches at the site.
Players left in limbo
For some residents, the setback is personal.
Spaniard Daniel Cano, 47, who learned padel in Spain before relocating to Bath, said he was “devastated” by the cancellation.
He insisted the game was not excessively loud and argued that football in the area created far more noise than padel rallies.
Calling the lack of any local facility “ridiculous,” he said the decision had deprived the community of an accessible, multigenerational sport, Daily Mail reports.
Search for alternatives
The shelved padel proposal formed part of a wider redevelopment plan for the Odd Down sports ground, including a gym, a mini cycle track and upgraded lighting — a revised application without padel is now awaiting a decision.
Councillor Steve Hedges, who opposed the original blueprint, said he believes a compromise is possible.
He suggested that new designs could place the courts farther from nearby homes and house them within a noise-dampening structure, Daily Mail notes.
Hedges said he would support such an option if satisfied that sound concerns were addressed “effectively”.
What comes next
Bath and North East Somerset Council has yet to comment publicly, and a separate application for padel courts may still follow.
For now, enthusiasts must continue travelling to nearby towns to play — a striking contrast with the sport’s rapid expansion elsewhere in Britain.
The debate illustrates the growing friction between community concerns and the momentum behind padel’s rise, raising questions about how councils can balance demand for new sports facilities with residents’ expectations of peace and quiet, Daily Mail reports.
