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A Brighouse warehouse can become a centre for the increasingly popular racquet sport padel, planners have agreed.
In the early summer Mr Sebby Khan applied for permission to convert the warehouse space at the former Dove House, Birds Royd Lane, into courts for the sport – and Calderdale Council planning officers have now given the go-ahead.
Allocated as employment land, the officers noted that in this case the applicant has provided evidence that the property has been actively marketed for employment purposes for over 12 months through a range of methods, including specialist commercial property websites, direct marketing to industrial occupiers and the erection of a letting board.
Despite this marketing exercise, very limited interest was received from industrial occupiers, and no offers were forthcoming, with the marketing agent concluding that there was little to no demand for the building in employment use, they said.
The alternate use is therefore acceptable, they agreed.
The new use could create four full time and two part time jobs, according to supporting papers with the application.
According to the papers, four indoor padel courts together with associated changing rooms, toilets, office space, reception and refreshment areas will be included.
Padel originated in Mexico in the 1960s and combines elements of tennis and squash.
According to the Lawn Tennis Association, it is growing rapidly in popularity.
The LTA reports the number of people playing padel in Britain at least once in the previous 12 months rose from 15,000 in 2019 to just over 400,000 adults and juniors by the end of 2024 – more than trebling in a single year from 129,000 in 2023 to 400,000 in 2024.
Sport England’s Active Lives data, cited by the LTA, shows adults playing at least twice a month doubled from 23,000 in 2022–23 to 51,000 in 2023–24, indicating not just casual but regular participation is increasing.
Industry and consultancy reports describe court bookings that are frequently at capacity and characterise padel as one of the UK’s fastest‑growing sports, based on the combination of rising participation, rapid court installation and sustained commercial investment.
The LTA says padel is usually played as doubles on an enclosed court, with a net in the middle and glass or mesh walls around the outside.
The aim is to hit the ball over the net so it lands in the opponent’s court and they cannot return it legally – like tennis, scoring goes 15, 30, 40 and game, and sets are usually won by reaching six games with a two-game lead.
What makes padel different is that the walls are part of play after the ball has bounced once, which creates longer rallies and more tactical shots.
Serves are underarm, must bounce in the correct service box, and each team only gets one bounce on its side before returning the ball, according to its guidance.