Dudley's first indoor padel centre planned for town centre site
An indoor centre specialising in a fast-growing tennis-style sport will open in Dudley town centre, if planning permission in granted.
Padel 7 has applied for permission to convert an empty warehouse next to Duncan Edwards Way into a three-court indoor padel centre to cash in on the craze for the racket-based game.
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Padel, described as Europe's fastest-growing sport, uses a court slightly smaller than a doubles tennis court, and involves using a perforated racket to bounce the ball off a wall.
The company wants to turn the building close to the Duncan Edwards Leisure Centre, to create the first indoor padel centre in Dudley.
It would also be opposite the site of the proposed ice rink in the town.
A statement issued on behalf of the applicant said padel had more than eight million active players and more than 25,000 courts across the world.
"UK growth has accelerated by over 300 per cent in four years, with the Lawn Tennis Association confirming that indoor courts achieve 82–90 per cent peak-time utilisation across all major UK venues," it said.
"Despite this, Dudley currently has zero indoor padel courts and no multi-court indoor racquet facility of comparable scale.
"The proposal therefore introduces entirely new sporting infrastructure into the borough in a format proven nationally to increase participation among women, older adults, ethnic minority residents, beginners and inactive populations."
The company said its plan would introduce a modern, high-growth sport into the borough while bringing an economically dormant 17,300 sqft industrial unit back into productive use.
It said the building, accessed from Hall Street,. had stood vacant for about 12 months and historically operated as a low-intensity storage unit generating negligible employment.
It said no alterations would be necessary to the outside of the building, and the site had 17 car parking spaces.
All courts would have to be booked in advance using a phone app, and the building would also have changing rooms and a reception area.
The plans will now be considered by Dudley Council planners.
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