Ambitious proposals for a purpose-built new padel and pickleball centre in Spalding have been refused by planners.
A local consortium of business owners and community supporters have come together for the bid to build premises north of Bourne Road for the sports which are rapidly growing in popularity.
It’s on land currently allocated for housing, close to where its proposed a school could be built as part of the South Lincolnshire Local Plan.
But officers have refused the padel and pickleball application saying it’s too far out (though it does argue it could have been on land off Wardentree Lane in Pinchbeck) and suggested it shouldn’t be in the area.
“The applicants have limited their search to areas in and around Spalding and have a clear set of requirements for the building that they wish to provide,” the report attributed to the Head of Planning. “Given the aspirations for the venue to cater for a much wider area than Spalding, consideration ought to be given to a wider area of search.
“There is no demonstrable evidence to suggest that alternative, more appropriate locations are not available within the wider area.”
The report argues that Wardentree Lane already has ‘leisure facilities’, but doesn’t mention the Diamondz Dance Academy is also on Bourne Road, where it granted change of use permission in 2018.
It also argues that ‘it would be premature to make a decision that could undermine the future delivery of the Spalding Western Relief Road’.
It doesn’t mention that Lincolnshire County Council, which raised no objection, voted to put roads elsewhere in 2020 after campaigns from householders whose homes were under threat of demolition.
The report states: “Due to the sheer scale of the proposal, the development is considered to represent an unacceptable intrusion into the openness of the countryside, thereby harming the established character of the area.
“As such it would be an obtrusive and incongruous feature undermining the character of the area.”
