A noise ban is looming for an affluent Hampshire tennis club as a city council plans to take action following complaints from neighbors about the loud noise of balls being hit, described as ‘gunshot’ echoes, and the constant use of profanity by club members.
Winchester Racquets and Fitness club has been formally investigated over the sounds players are making on their new padel courts.
The club, surrounded by properties valued at over £1 million each, has alerted its members to the impending noise abatement order expected to be enforced by the end of the month.
Neighbours of the club cited two main noise issues: the forceful and intense impact of shots during play and the noise generated by padel balls striking the glass panels and chain-link fences surrounding the courts.
Padel, which is considered to be one of the fastest growing sports in the world, is unlike tennis as the racquets used are solid with no strings, meaning that a very loud noise can be made when striking the ball.Â
Given the booming popularity of the sport, the Winchester club last year sought to increase its number of padel courts, but this was met with stern opposition from neighbours.
The aggrieved neighbours then lodged their complaints with Winchester City Council, who over the last number of weeks sent an environmental protection officer to conduct a noise assessment at the club.
Following the officer’s assessment, the club issued an update to members in which it stated it expects to receive an official noise abatement order which would leave them with six months to comply with new noise limits.
An aerial view of Winchester Racquets and Fitness club’s three padel courts
Padel is considered to be one of the fastest growing sports in the world, with over 25 million players worldwide
The council official’s assessment did not record any bad language but did however uncover three main sources of noise from the padel courts relating to ball striking, glass panel impacts and the sound of ball striking chain link fencing.
The club added that it had established ‘a working group to urgently review all available information in order to make proposals on how we should mitigate the noise to comply with the order’.
Despite the impending noise ban, the club remains keen to press ahead with plans for increasing its number of padel courts, whilst at the same time working to ‘promote harmonious relationships with our neighbours’.
Reacting to the club’s anticipated noise abatement order, spokeswoman for Winchester City Council, said: ‘Following some recent noise complaints from neighbours living close to Winchester Racquets and Fitness (WRF), we have visited the site to assess the noise and are now working closely with WRF to try and find a positive solution for everyone involved’.
John Colley is one of the disgruntled neighbours whose property backs on the club’s Padel courts.
Saying there were never noise issues when the club only had tennis courts, the 53-year-old added that the noise is ‘constant, all day’.
‘The actual sound from the padel racket is incredibly loud… not withstanding all the shouting and swearing.
‘I’m sitting in the garden with my children listening to people swearing.
‘There’s guys clattering around, you have to go inside and shut the windows but sometimes you can still hear them’, he stated.
John Colley (pictured) is one of the disgruntled neighbours whose property backs on the club’s Padel courts
Peter and Liz Russell live along a separate road, with their house just 11ft from two tennis courts- the noise of which they actually find ‘quite nice’ to hear.
Having lived at the property for 40 years, they have enjoyed a good relationship with the club who previously removed floodlights from the courts which their home backs on to.
However, once the expansion plans for additional padel courts were revealed, the couple decided they must take action.
Russell, a retired company director, stated: ‘I have said I would take it as far as the Supreme Court. Life would not be tolerable in this house’.
He also argued that additional courts would result in the value of his home plummeting and ruin ‘any sense of relaxation’ from the ‘gunshot’ like sounds.
Similarly, Peter Chilvers and his wife’s garden backs on to the padel courts, with the couple needing to shelter from the noise inside.
‘I think it’s a joke’, the 81-year-old said.
‘The tennis club has been there a long time. It used to be a good neighbour, but they have expanded and expanded.
‘Sometimes you might get a noisy coach but that was all part of it.
‘Padel maybe a good thing for the world, but it’s not a good thing for neighbours’.
