New Swindon padel centre given go-ahead
The unit will be able to host three full-size padel courts as well as seating areas, a mezzanine viewing deck, offices and charging and shower rooms.
Fans of one of the fastest growing sports in the world might be leaping the net with jubilation.
Nilesh Chavda and Christopher Pomphrey, who run Padel Nova Ltd, have been given the go-ahead convert a food service supply depot, a very large industrial unit, at the Rivermead Industrial Estate off Mead Way for a new padel centre.
The unit will be able to host three full-size padel courts as well as seating areas, a mezzanine viewing deck, offices and charging and shower rooms.
The new centre will have 15 parking spaces allocated to it in the industrial estate.
That could accommodate three games of doubles players and three staff if they all come in separate cars.
The application said: “The padel court premises will be frequented by those working in the industrial estate, as well as the Shaw residential suburb. It could become an important local amenity.”
Swindon Borough Council planners approved the change, saying it was considered only a partial change of use, so the building will retain its use as a storage facility or warehouse.
N&B Foodstuffs owns the building and intends to do so for the foreseeable future but the company does not need the depot and will not be using it.
This is the second permission for the conversion of industrial buildings to padel courts in the last six months.
In May PDL SLZ (Investco) Limited applied to be able to use an empty unit in Garrard Way right next door to the Greenbridge retail and entertainment park for the same purposes, and was given permission at the end of July.
In that development,the industrial unit is to be converted to hold four full-size padel courts and two pickleball courts.
At the time of this application, there was only one other padel facility in the area, at the Basset Downs Sports Complex, west of Wroughton.
The application says of the sport: “Padel tennis is essentially a mix between squash and tennis, with the court area being around one-third the size of a standard tennis court. The court is surrounded by walls of glass and metallic mesh. During the game the ball can be played off the glass walls similar to squash.
“Padel tennis is more accessible to those whose level of fitness, agility or skill make conventional tennis or squash overly challenging and difficult to play, and is therefore also a social sport for those that play.”