A Shirley cricket club will learn if its plan for new padel and pickleball courts will be successful next week. Solihull Council’s officers have recommend Moseley Cricket Club be given the go-ahead for four new courts when the application is considered by the authority’s planning committee.
Padel is a racquet sport which uses the same scoring system as lawn tennis, but is played on a court around a third of the size smaller. Pickleball is similar to padel but uses a different type of ball and a smaller court. Super Bowl winner Tom Brady and tennis champion Kim Clijsters have invested in pickleball – one of the fastest growing sports in America.
The Streetsbrook Road-based club wants to create three covered padel courts and an uncovered pickleball court which can be used in the summer months. In a new report officers say: “Alongside this will be a small outdoor social area to foster a sense of community among players and provision of cycle stores.
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“This would utilise an area of underutilised space. It is proposed to use the courts between the hours of 6am to 10pm seven days per week. The proposal represents an appropriate form of development that will enhance the character and appearance of the area and will not be unduly harmful to the amenities currently enjoyed by neighbours.”
There have been seven letters of objection to the scheme. Residents argue it will increase noise levels in the area – an issue which has led to a backlash against these types of courts in the UK and US. But officers write: “The (noise impact) assessment found the predicted specific noise levels at the closest gardens would be no more than 41 decibels, and would result in less than a 1.1 decibels increase in typical ambient noise levels.
“The proposal has been fully assessed by environmental protection officers and they raise no objections to the proposal.” Concerns were also raised about increased use of the site generally as previous car boot sales at the venue had led to reports of traffic disruption and parking issues.
Solihull Council’s highway authority assessed the plan and is satisfied it will not have a detrimental impact on public highway safety. Officers have also revealed the club has committed to ending car boot sales on the site.
The proposal will go before the next meeting of the planning committee being held at the Civic Suite on January 8. The meeting, which is open to the public, starts at 6pm.