An East Belfast former garden supply warehouse is to be converted into a new Padel centre by a Dublin company, despite the site recently having been approved for an apartment block.
At the March meeting of the Belfast City Council Planning Committee, elected representatives unanimously approved a proposed change of use of a vacant warehouse to an indoor Padel court facility at Decco Ltd, 1 to 5 Redcar Street, Belfast, BT6, between the Castlereagh and Woodstock Roads.
The plan includes a cafe, changing rooms, a gym, Pickleball courts and other ancillary site development works. The applicant is House of Padel, Old Belgard Road, Cookstown Industrial Estate, Dublin.
There is an existing approval on the site for the demolition of the existing building and erection of 65 apartments, including 20 percent social housing, which was approved in February 2023.
The application site comprises a large, two-storey, vacant commercial building which extends across most of the site, with the remainder used for parking. The site is beside Euston Street Primary School.
There were no objections from statutory consultees on the Padel application, but four letters of objection were received at the council from two local residents. Council officers recommended the Padel centre application for approval.
The objecting residents detailed concerns regarding noise from the resultant development, an increase in traffic and lack of parking, the proposed lighting, and the operating hours of the proposal and the perceived inclusion of a sports bar.
The council officer report states: “Having considered the assessment of the source noise and the potential for noise breakout, Belfast City Council Environmental Health are content that no adverse impact should arise from these activities.
“They note the proposed gym facility may involve the playing of background music, in gyms this often contains a heavy bass beat element. In order to prevent noise breakout therefore, a condition is recommended that the reverberant music noise level in the gym should not exceed 70 decibel in order to prevent adverse impact to nearby noise sensitive receptors.
“In order to prevent adverse noise impact from the development site as a whole at night, (including parking) a condition has been recommended to restrict operational hours to daytime only 0700 to 2300 hours.”
It adds: “The additional comments in relation to a ‘sports bar’ appear to be erroneous as the proposal includes a gym, and cafe but not a public/private bar.”
It states: “The site is highly accessible and will provide an addition to community infrastructure that will help contribute to the health and wellbeing of the community over a long-term basis.”
Padel is a fast-growing sport blending tennis and squash, typically played in doubles on an enclosed glass and mesh court one-third the size of a tennis court. Seen as a socialising sport, it uses stringless, perforated paddles and low-compression balls, and features underhand serves and wall-play, emphasizing strategy.
Pickleball combines elements of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong and is played on a small court with a net, using solid paddles and a plastic ball with holes.
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