David Lloyd has appealed a decision to refuse plans for two padel courts at its club in Harrogate.

The leisure company built the courts on the site of a former tennis court and social area without planning permission.

Nearby residents likened the sound of balls being hit to gunshots and said the noise reverberated around Oak Beck valley.

David Lloyd lodged fresh plans for the courts at its Oakdale Place site in February after a previous retrospective planning application was refused.

However, councillors on North Yorkshire Council's Harrogate and Knaresborough area planning committee refused the plan in April.

Now, the company has taken the decision to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, which deals with planning disputes.

A government-appointed planning inspector will now decide whether the padel courts should be given the go-ahead.

‘Continuous noise’

It comes after council officers recommended that the latest plans be approved at a meeting on April 28.

Lisa Alder, case officer at the council, said the proposal had been revised to ensure it would not result in “unacceptable harm” and included measures such as acoustic barriers.

The council’s environmental health officer also recommended that the courts should only be used between 8am and 8pm from Monday to Saturday and between 9am and 7pm on Sundays and public holidays.

David Lloyd had already been using the courts, but stopped last year amid the noise concerns.

However, objectors claimed the courts had led to a “loss of the peaceful enjoyment of homes and gardens” as they were forced to “close their windows to relax”. 

The complaints saw the council step in and issue an enforcement notice in October 2025, which ordered David Lloyd to cease all use of the facilities.

Meanwhile, Patrick Fitzgerald, chairman of the Oak Beck Valley Residents Association, told councillors that residents would have to “tolerate this continuous noise” for seven days a week.

He added that the fencing proposed at the site would be unable to reduce the noise caused by people playing padel matches.

Councillors voted unanimously to refuse the plan on the grounds that local residents would be “negatively impacted” by the noise generated from the site.

'They will not give up'

Following the refusal, Cllr Tom Martin, a Conservative who represents Valley Gradens ward on Harrogate Town Council, warned that the company would not “give up” on the proposal for padel courts.

Speaking at a town council planning committee on April 29, he urged the authority, which had also objected to the plan, to engage with David Lloyd ahead of any further planning applications which may come forward.

Cllr Martin said: